Live Baltic Campus

Live Baltic Campus: Campus Areas as Labs for Participative Urban Design

The aim of the project is to develop university campuses as innovation hubs and high-quality urban environments for users, residents, and businesses contributing to new job creation in the local economy in the Baltic Sea region.

In the joint project, Mobility Lab studies the activity space of the users of campus facilities in order to understand locational impacts of university campuses on user behaviour, activity locations and mobility as well as the resulting environmental load. We examine space‐time‐use of students and staff members side‐by‐side with the various functions of the space, e.g. the presence of cafes, pubs and restaurants, groceries, other shops and multi‐use environments, or in‐ and outside recreation facilities, as well as the accessibility of the facilities. The survey is enabled by the use of GPS‐equipped smartphones with YouSense/MobilityLog software.

The results of our study help develop knowledge-based planning guidelines for universities and local governments. The joint outcome of the project will be integrated urban management plans, developed together with city planners, governments, campus developers, and stakeholder groups.

Research output

  • Poom, A. (2019). Tegevusruumiuuringud GPSi andmete abil: mobiilsusuuringute labori andmeinfrastruktuur. [GPS-based studies on human activity space: data infrastructure in the Mobility Lab of the University of Tartu]. Publicationes Instituti Geographici Universitatis Tartuensis 113. Uurimusi eestikeelse geograafia 100. aastapäeval, Pae, T., Mander, Ü. (Toim.).
  • Ahas, R., Poom, A., Aasa, A., Silm, S. (2017) Experimental Study for Planning Tartu Campuses Based on Mobile Phone Tracking. In: Schewenius, M., Keränen, P., al Rawaf, R. (Eds.) Dreams and Seeds: The Role of Campuses in Sustainable Urban Development. Stockholm: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, pp 83−85.
  • Poom, A., Ahas, R., Silm, S., Aasa, A., Post, K. (2017) Integrated campus development plan. Report for the project ‘Campus Areas as Labs for Participative Urban Design’ supported by Interreg Central Baltic programme.
  • Poom, A., Metspalu, P., Ranniku, I. (2017) Campuses as Influential Actors. In: Schewenius, M., Keränen, P., al Rawaf, R. (Eds.) Dreams and Seeds: Campuses’ Role in Sustainable Urban Development. Stockholm: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, pp 92−95.

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