The aim of the co-operation is to consolidate urban studies that support the development of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area as a university discipline of research and education, and to strengthen the innovation system of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and its cities. The substance of the programme consists of issues in need of research in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The content of the programme has emerged above all as the result of a dialogue between municipal actors and academic urban research.

Common strategic information needs and research priorities in the entire metropolitan area are discussed. Five focal areas of research are named:

Five so-called "urban laboratories" are presented: Aviapolis, Karisto, Kumpula-Arabianranta, Myllypuro, and Suurpelto. The "urban laboratories" are districts in the participating cities, where new solutions to lifestyle and the production of the urban community are being both developed and tested.

The Ministry of Education, University of Helsinki, Helsinki University of Technology, and the cities of Espoo, Helsinki, Lahti and Vantaa.

The heart of the project are academic chairs in urban research, of which there are nine in the most extensive stage of the project.

The principal objective of the project is to develop urban studies co-operation in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. To achieve this goal, the project brings together academic and municipal research units and seeks to improve the interaction between them. At the same time, the project consolidates urban studies as a university discipline of research and education and strengthens the innovation system in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. An important long-term goal of the project is to train academics who have an understanding of the problems of cities; university degrees will gain research-based content that is interesting from the point of view of the cities.

University of Helsinki, Network for Urban Studies
Mr. Kimmo Kurunmäki, tel. +358 9 191 24583

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Urban Policy > Economy knowledge & employment

Research & innovation