Sustainability of living labs in a smart city context: a conceptual framework on business model design

This paper introduces a specific type of innovation intermediary, which is frequently cited in the context of quadruple helix innovation and the realization of the SDGs, the so-called ‘Living Lab’. The focus then turns to living lab literature, the three different levels of analysis within living lab phenomena and an empirical observation of the sustainability of living labs. Recently, we observe a proliferation of living lab initiatives and at the same time high mortality rates among accredited living labs. So far, research lacks of comparative studies on their business models, which would allow an assessment of their sustainability. Empirical findings and a case study are used as a means to design a conceptual framework model to pave the way for a comparison of different initiatives and their organizational structure. We distinguish among four different types of living labs and give an outlook on future research steps and potential hypotheses.