Grassroots movements and the entrepreneurial city: The case of Neubad

Becoming more entrepreneurial in their government approaches is a concept aimed at supporting today’s cities in dealing with complex challenges. However, to date, knowledge about how cities can apply such approaches still remains a puzzle. This article presents the case study of the Neubad Lucerne initiative in order to contribute to the generation of a comprehensive picture and of instructive knowledge for city municipalities on their way toward an entrepreneurial city. It asks particularly how city governments and municipalities can stimulate grassroots initiatives toward an entrepreneurial city in a play way instead of a managerial way. The focus is therefore on playful rather than managerial city government processes that stimulate the emergence and activities of grassroots initiatives, the role and organizing mechanisms of networks that develop, and the role of temporary spaces in enabling activity and the construction of social identity.