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On Wednesday 17 December a group of Aalto researchers working with and interested in the smart city assembled in a meeting tentatively titled "Aalto Digital Planning and Design Community". The purpose of the meeting was to exchange ideas and discuss possibilities for more collaboration around smart cities, digital planning tools and design within Aalto University. The participants had diverse backgrounds from industrial design to architecture and traffic planning.

Since most of the participants met for the first time, the event began by people introducing themselves and their current research projects and interests. Among other things, the participating researchers were interested in architectural democracy, open source architecture, transportation ecosystems, integrating functions of buildings, service focus and design thinking in architecture and urban planning. The group emphasized the human aspect and shared the need for a holistic approach to the social, technological and environmental systems of the city.

The need for more collaboration over the discipline and unit borders in Aalto University was one major topic emerging from the discussion. It was deemed a good idea that researchers could collaborate under different themes, such as the smart city.

More information: Aija Staffans, .