Research Session 2:
Urban and territorial innovation with Living Labs
Living labs for user-driven urban planning –
Empirical findings regarding new ways to
engage citizens in the development processes
Lotta Haukipuro, Tommi Heikkinen & Anri Kivimäki
University of Oulu, Finland
The 4th ENoLL Living Lab Summer School
27th-30 August 2013
Manchester School of Arts
Pilot project: User-driven city planning
– Hiukkavaara - the largest new city part to be built in Oulu,
Finland (20,000 residents)
– will be developed into a model neighbourhood of
sustainable urban planning – with user-driven methods
– Feedback for the development of Hiukkavaara will be
collected from citizens in all phases of planning and
implementation
– The first study was conducted in April 2013 as a pilot
project of MAINIO*
*MAINIO (Methods and Innovation Networks in OULLabs) is a two-year project financed by the
Council of Oulu Region and the European Regional Development Fund, University of Oulu (Center
for Internet Excellence and Media Team Oulu), Oulu University of Applied Sciences, City of Oulu, and
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. OULLabs has been further developed during the MAINIO
project 2012-2014.
Hiukkavaara Centre serves 40,000
citizens
”Sustainable and smart - forerunner of
model cities”
”Nature starts at your front door”
”Winter city of dreams”
RQ: How can citizens be engaged in user-driven development
processes with various methods in urban planning, especially in
the development of a new city part?
A variety of methods:
– Online discussion at PATIO
forum www.patiolla.fi for
deeper insights of citizens
– A questionnaire at 15 large
interactive public displays
(UBI hotspots)
– E-survey (ZEF)
– A test group of PATIO users
evaluated Hiukkavaara 3D
model in the 3D virtual
laboratory (CAVE)
• Immediate discussion &
feedback
• Post discussion at PATIO online
forum
Results
– Altogether 200+ participants
– Succesful implementation and combination of
novel methods for involving citizens in the city
planning processes:
• Many ideas to support urban planning
• The combination of the CAVE and PATIO online forum
is a unique way to involve users
• Comparable and liable results through multiple
surveys (UBI + ZEF)
• Engagement of users through various methods
• New age group reached
• Experience of the usage and integration of various
methods
– Creation of continuous user-driven development
process in the city planning
What next?
• Second user-driven city planning phase under preparation
– Online discussion and e-surveys (PATIO, UBI, ZEF)
– Evaluation of the further developed 3D model of Hiukkavaara city part in
the 3D virtual laboratory (CAVE)
– New methods
• Research
– The abstract will be extended and submitted to a journal or conference
– Multi-disciplinary research collaboration will continue
Thank You!
Lotta Haukipuro
Project Coordinator, Ph.D student
Center for Internet Excellence / OULLabs
University of Oulu, Finland
lotta.haukipuro@cie.fi