The lived city at the core of urban planning
Project description
The doctoral research of Valtteri Nurminen examines how the lived city, including residents’ needs, experiences, and behaviors, can be more effectively integrated into urban and transport planning. Using participatory mapping and mixed methods, the study produces spatial data on daily activities, mobility patterns, and perceived environments. The study investigates how such knowledge can be produced, analyzed, and applied in real-world planning processes.
Focusing on light rail interventions in the Helsinki Capital Region and Tampere, the research examines how mobility behavior changes over time and how responses vary across population groups and contexts. It also investigates how participatory knowledge is used in municipal planning processes and how urban transformations are experienced by local stakeholders.
By emphasizing the lived dimension of the city, the research contributes to advancing more responsive, context-sensitive, and human-centered urban planning approaches that better reflect the diversity of everyday urban life.
Research themes
Participatory planning
Project details
Project contact
Valtteri Nurminen
