Urban research

The Urban Research Unit conducts applied urban research for the administration of the City of Helsinki, for the citizens and for enterprises located in Helsinki. The aim of the research activity is to analyse contemporary urban phenomena from various perspectives. Research areas include studies on

• population and housing
• living conditions
• regional and municipal economy
• city administration and civic participation
• urban culture
• urban environment

There is an increasing demand for comparative and evaluative analyses, including also international comparisons. Such studies are often conducted in co-operation with other research organisations.

The general outline and key research projects are listed in City of Helsinki’s Research Programme. This programme is revised every three years and approved by the City Board.

Applied research orientation and high academic quality characterise research activity.

Availability of research findings

An important way of distributing research findings is to issue publications. The most important publication forums of Helsinki City Urban Facts’ research are the Internet, the publication series such as Research Series, Study Reports, Discussion Papers, the Kvartti quarterly including the English-language Helsinki Quarterly, and the special publications on various phenomena. In addition, research findings are disseminated in publications and periodicals of many other research centres and academic journals.

Researchers of the Unit also function as experts in various key projects and give lectures at various forums in Finland and abroad.

The Urban Research Unit co-ordinates and promotes urban research on Helsinki conducted by other city authorities. An important task is to enable research co-operation between various universities and research organisations located in the Helsinki region.

The Urban Research Unit prepares the decisions for granting Helsinki City research scholarships, the Helsinki City Scientific Award and awards for academic theses.