Local Urban Knowledge Arenas (LUKAs)

Emerging concept introduced by the Swedish International Development Agency during the World Urban Forum in 2007. It argues that cities can be breeding places for innovative solutions in addressing challenges such as urban development and poverty as well as adapting to fast track changes constantly unfolding in a an ever urbanising world. Urban knowledge generation and dissemination is viewed as key to the realisation of this potential. But there is a concern that conventional methods, such as academic research or classroom training, may not be appropriate. In this context, the concept of Local Urban Knowledge Arenas (LUKAs)ⁱ is being explored as a form of knowledge management that provides a flexible way of generating, accessing, sharing and applying demand-based knowledge for local development.