Co-creating urban transformation: A stakeholder analysis for germany's heat transition

This study analyses a real-world experiment (RWE) on heat transition in the urban context of a city–university partnership in Bochum, Germany, highlighting the theoretical foundations, methodological design and practical challenges of transdisciplinary research. Informed by concepts of transdisciplinarity and RWEs, the study situates RWEs as hybrid infrastructures linking scientific enquiry with societal transformation. Transdisciplinarity is conceptualised as a reflexive and integrative principle that fosters reciprocal learning between academic, municipal and civic actors. The research applies the Three-Circle Model of actor involvement as a heuristic to map the evolving, and over time changing, roles of stakeholders. The study employs participatory observation, ethnographic field notes, document analysis and informal interviews. The findings reveal how RWEs function as relational infrastructures that balance experimental rigor with public accessibility, while navigating challenges such as power asymmetries, participation myths and institutional constraints. By embedding agile methods and low-threshold participation formats into everyday urban settings, RWEs emerge as sites of co-creation, democratic innovation and iterative learning. The study offers practical guidance for designing inclusive, transdisciplinary experiments that bridge theory and practice in urban transformation.