Our work contributes to a wide range of research from urban geography, land use and transport planning to sustainability and conservation science. Methodologically, we are experts in mining and analysing spatial data, ranging from user-generated Mobile Big Data to more traditional data sources. We develop spatial analysis frameworks and combine them with machine learning. We pay special attention to ethical and privacy issues.
Our interest in
We aim to develop new knowledge on how different types of built environments interact with social and ecological sustainability, and thus ultimately help planning better cities. To accomplish these aims, we use mostly quantitative methods but also focus on developing theoretical understanding of urban sustainability. The research on SUS is at heart transdisciplinary and conducted in close collaboration with methods from economics and spatial sciences, as well interacting with relevant theories in political and economic geography, urban sociology as well as urban and spatial planning.
Solving interactions between urban surface and the above atmosphere.
Currently over half of world's population lives in urban areas and the fraction is expected to further increase in the future. Thus, increasing number of people is exposed to local urban meteorology and climate at the same time when emitting increasing amount of air pollutants and greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Our group studies the coupling between the urban ecosystem and the atmosphere using state-of-the-art observations and modelling (
Diverse, inclusive, and Collaborative evidence-based knowledge towards biodiverse and livable cities.
The main goal of the
In many cities, poor and rich people are increasingly living in separate neighbourhoods. Socio-spatial segregation – the uneven distribution of different social groups across the city – is not only growing on the neighbourhood level, but simultaneously affects other life contexts. Educational institutions, such as kindergartens and schools, are strongly connected to the socio-spatial fabric of the city.
In the
Urban green infrastructure, including man-made features such as vegetated roofs and walls, produce regulating, provisioning and immaterial ecosystem services such as improvement of microclimate, balancing of hydrological cycle, carbon sequestration, habitat provision, active cooling/insulation, dust filtering, opportunities for gardening and local food production in kitchen gardens, aesthetic improvement, additional green space and recreational services and educational services via e.g. nature paths on the roofs. The area of roofs and walls in cities is enormous, so why not make good use of it for ecosystem services provided by building surfaces.
The research programme "
We are a group of researchers working on topics related to climate change and urban environmental policy. Additionally, our research concentrates on other environmental issues and beyond urban context. Most of our members affiliate with Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS). Follow us on X (formerly Twitter): @UEP_group and for information about our research, search #UEP_research.
The increasing demand for land due to urbanization often takes place at the expense of urban green areas. These threatened greenspaces, including their soils, likely have reduced capacities to provide important functions or ecosystem services (ES), such as sequestering and storing carbon and maintaining biodiversity. An important aim of the
The group operates primarily in the fields of sociology of education and urban studies, and aims to operationalise and analyse the phenomena on macro, meso and micro levels, as well as between them, through intersectional lenses.
Urbaria has started a research project on indicators of social, ecological and economic sustainability in Finland, which can be monitored on a neighborhood level.
The Indicator Project is based on several dialogues between various leading experts, aiming to guide urban development in a more sustainable direction in a versatile and practical way. The purpose of the research is to stimulate discussion among decision-makers, urban planners, and citizens. We aim to make Finland's future cities more sustainable and resident-centered through academic expertise.
The year-long project will be implemented starting from May 2023.
In this project, we investigate the immigrants’ housing pathways, realities and perceptions, focusing on the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The housing situations and choices by various groups, including second generation Vietnamese- and Somali-speaking groups, Chinese, western African, Iranian and South Asian groups are explored in this research.
The project leverages recent developments in urban informatics. Guided VR experiments and wearable sensors will be used to determine the significance of green tourism environments to people, why green areas are essential in tourism settings, and which environments hold particular importance for individuals. Through more traditional methods, such as street view images and 3D modeling with computer vision, essential vegetation areas will be mapped from a human perspective, considering seasonal variations.
Mobile big data will be utilized to study the movement patterns of urban populations and investigate the fairness of exposure to green spaces during their daily travels, including various modes of transportation.
If successful, the project will generate valuable knowledge about the importance, accessibility, and equity of green urban tourism environments. It will introduce innovative and transferable methods for analyzing green tourism environments in Europe and beyond.
The shift towards ethnic diversity in the Nordic countries is tangibly observable in residential areas of cities, where communities composed of first and second-generation immigrants have emerged. These residential areas typically find themselves in a disadvantaged position concerning well-being and political influence.
Contact information:
Oskar Rönnberg
+358 40 5310893,
One of the project's business partners is Kone, with whom the University of Helsinki signed a strategic cooperation agreement in March 2022. Kone intends to leverage the research findings in the development of sustainable and intelligent cities. The project's city partners include Helsinki, Espoo, Lahti, Oulu, and Turku.
In the fight against climate change and coping with pressures arising from urbanization, cities worldwide provide solutions for modifying air pollutant emissions and thermal comfort.
The intended long-term impact of the
To be liveable, equitable, resilient and positive contributors to global sustainability, cities need to be designed and governed as complex systems where technological and digital infrastructure supports ecological-biophysical and social-institutional-economic dynamics. We must cut across silos in disciplines, approaches, and knowledge systems by bringing technology, people, and nature together.
Urban green spaces have an important role to play in mitigating climate change and adapting to its effects. It is therefore possible to utilize the potential of urban green in carbon sequestration more efficiently than at present. CO-CARBON is a multidisciplinary research project that aims to measure and model the carbon sequestration capacity of urban green. New solutions for the design, implementation and maintenance of carbon-efficient urban green are being developed not only through scientific research but also interactively with residents, businesses, cities and other actors.
Urban areas are major emitters of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Along with a growing concern of climate change, several cities worldwide are pursuing carbon neutrality by reducing their carbon emissions and aiming at maximizing the carbon sinks of their green space, i.e. vegetation and the soil beneath. However, it is still not know how effective these natural carbon sinks can actually be in different cities under the current and future climates. This is partly due the complex land use and microclimate present in urban areas. Particularly processes concerning urban soils are poorly understood.
The results of CarboCity provide us with detailed information on the processes and impact of urban green space in reducing carbon from the atmosphere, and means to maximize the natural carbon stocks in different cities. The results will directly benefit local stakeholders, urban planners and citizens by giving research-based knowledge about the effectiveness of different urban planning solutions in storing carbon from the atmosphere. The results support directly the carbon neutrality aims set by Finnish government as well as those of countries and cities around the world.
The Healthy Outdoor Premises for Everyone – HOPE project is about promoting a healthy urban environment in collaboration of different actors from local government and citizens to businesses and scientists. The project is led by the City of Helsinki and co-funded by the Urban Innovation Actions programme of the European Union. Within the project, we at the Digital Geography Lab aim to provide a better understanding of the multiple environmental exposures during travel. We study how people in the Helsinki capital region are exposed to air pollution, traffic noise and street-level greenery while walking or cycling, and what are their opportunities to experience healthier travel routes. We have developed an open-source
Rats have lived with humans since the beginning of agriculture. Rats have also been studied by scientists in laboratories around the globe and we know quite lot about them. Nevertheless, we do not really know what they are doing when they live wild in city parks, sewers and tunnels, in their evolutionary new and ever-changing habitat. Our research project aims to uncover the spatio-temporal variation in rat populations, how rats share and spread parasites and pathogens and how humans feel and think about rats in urban setting.
More about the project
Cities in Finland and around the world are becoming increasingly multilingual and -cultural. Consequently, there is a growing need to understand urban multilingualism and its effects.
Contact information
Assistant professor Tuomo Hiippala
+358503773366, +358294123416
UH-VTT-GTK research consortium is studying, how to mitigate induced seismic risk associated with deep geothermal power stations in the Helsinki capital region? Small low magnitude earthquakes pose a risk to the critical tremor sensitive infrastructure such as
Risk can be mitigated with transparent permitting, seismic monitoring and regional planning.The project will publish a set of seismic hazard maps of Finland and assess the potential impact of seismic waves on different parts of the capital area via 3D models: shear wave tomography, conceptual soil and bedrock model. In addition the project will study the different roles the national, regional and municipal governance in the wicked permitting processes. It will also study what sort of information and at what level of detail do the authorities need on induced seismicity and associated risks?
Find more details about project at
The research project ”
Specially, the project studies the applicability of GIS (geographic information systems) when supporting decision making and planning. The project is developing new GIS data outputs and even indicators and tools to describe the spatial and temporal nature of residents’ activities and active lifestyles. It has been noticed earlier that active and healthy lifestyles helps to prevent exclusion.
The project combines researchers from the research group
Contact information
University lecturer Petteri Muukkonen
+358 50 448 9195, +358 2941 50775
How do religion and religious communities influence the life and well-being of cities and people living in them?
The overall aim of
Our project aligns with the tradition of humanistic urban research, where the central focus is on the interaction between humans and their environment, as well as the meanings and emotions manifested in the relationship to places. The research employs both ethnological and toponymic approaches.
Conflicts and Rethinking at the Margins of Kinship (
The Connecting Community Gardens was an interdisciplinary research project that examines allotment gardens as multifunctional green infrastructures that enhance vitality and reduce inequality in Vantaa. The project investigated the social relationships formed among neighborhood residents through allotment gardens and, more broadly, the potential of allotment gardens in preventing segregation and activating unused urban space.
Vantaa's suburbs are ethnically diverse and rapidly growing residential areas. The City of Vantaa has significant potential to cultivate and develop the role of green spaces in its suburbs.
Contact information
Postdoctoral researcher Seona Candy
+358294150774, +358504750915
The research focuses on the so called third and fourth sectors, referring to associations, non-governmental organizations, and religious communities and self-organized civic engagement and activism by local residents, respectively. Local businesses and the city organization are examined as partners of the third and fourth sectors.
We will investigate how residential areas of Helsinki differ from one another in their communal activities during the pandemic, and what kind of a role these activities have in the wellbeing of residents in these areas. What kind of segregation of community resilience exists in Helsinki, and how can different actors, especially the city organization, prevent such segregation during the COVID-19 pandemic and also in future crises. Particular attention is paid to people in the most vulnerable position and their wellbeing.
We refer to the combination of churches, cooperatives, housing companies, student unions, and similar entities as a paradigmatic democratic system: membership is voluntary, it exists alongside formal democracy, and it significantly influences everyday life. Formal democracy encompasses all that we commonly refer to as institutional democracy: representative democracy, such as municipal, parliamentary, and European elections, as well as other forms of citizen participation such as hearings and citizens' initiatives.
"