General
Course summary
The city of Lahti, situated approximately 100 km north of Helsinki, provides an interesting case study for strategic spatial planning. The city is currently facing a number of uncertainties that are directly or indirectly reflected in urban issues: the changing role of municipalities in Finland, the relationship between Europe and Russia, technological advances in the field of transport, further enlargements of the Helsinki functional region, the potential construction of a tunnel between Finland and Estonia… After a merger with the municipality of Nastola in the beginning of 2016, Lahti is also dealing with a new administrative geography.
In the Planning Studio course, students will develop scenarios about the future of Lahti and work on plans and policies that enable short range decisions while keeping in mind long term strategies and uncertainties. The course will put special emphasis on the integration of the former Nastola municipality into Lahti’s transport system and urban structure.
Planning Studio (10 cr) is a compulsory course in the master's programme "Spatial Planning and Transportation Engineering".Course teachers
Raine Mäntysalo, raine.mantysalo@aalto.fi
Jouni Ojala, jouni.ojala@aalto.fi
Vesa Kanninen, vesa.kanninen@aalto.fi
Eva Purkarthofer, eva.purkarthofer@aalto.fi
Course structure
The course consists of weekly learning sessions (see Course Schedule for detailed programme), group work and individual studying.