Department of Built Environment

Spatial Planning and Transportation Engineering

Deeply rooted in the complexities of key societal challenges in our everyday environments, the Spatial Planning and Transportation Engineering (SPT) group employs practice-focused and science-based research approaches. Addressing a range of wicked challenges, this research group covers a spectrum of topics related to sustainable built environments, transportation planning, and systems design.

Traffic in Mannerheimintie, photo Aalto University/Annamari Tolonen

Urban realities are increasingly dynamic, complex, and fragmented while demands for their liveability, sustainability, equity, competitiveness, and attractiveness are growing. Our research connects spatial planning and transportation engineering to develop new scientific knowledge needed in systemic understanding, problem-solving, and integrative planning and policy-making beyond sectoral boundaries.

The sustainability of our modern living environments is challenged by rapid processes of urbanisation and climate change. In addition to contributing to advances in digitalisation and automation, shaping our futures requires deeper understanding of human behavior and values, urban systems dynamics, citizen participation, and inter-sectoral institutional collaboration.

Our research themes

Understanding human multidimensionality and diversity is a central focus area, relying upon a range of economic, psychological, and sociological approaches. Investigating human needs for living and moving within urban and surrounding environments is accompanied by the development of advanced data collection and analysis methods. In particular, the development of place- and activity-based data collection and analysis methods relies strongly on advances in digitalisation and automation.

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This research area focuses on planning and managing urban and surrounding environments considering environmental,procedural, and institutional complexities. Development of concepts, methods, and computer models covers a range of spatial and temporal scales, from regional and long-term envisioning to detailed neighbourhood levels. Our research into decision-making methods and processes considers governing mechanisms, institutional arrangements, actor constellations, self-organization, and communicative dynamics.

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Based on a deep understanding of technological transition processes, this research area develops a range of strategies and services in the domains of housing, urban structure, and mobility. Grounded in a human-centered approach, this development considers liveability requirements, carbon neutrality, and mobility systems dynamics. The resulting systems contribute to steering emerging technological roadmaps focused on such trends as sharing, automation, servitization, and connectivity, as well as steering national and international policies and regulation.

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Risk en route : Women’s mobility and exposure to gender-based violence in public spaces in Curitiba, Brazil

Agnes Silva de Araujo, Geisa Tamara Bugs, Joana Barros, Jaqueline Massucheto, Phâmela Alves, Flávia da Fonseca Feitosa 2026 Urban Studies

Collaborative water resources management: A multilayer social network analysis

Thomas Banafa, Susa Eräranta, Johanna Yletyinen, Mia Pihlajamäki, Marko Keskinen 2026 Journal of Hydrology

Evaluating Ghent’s built and social environment for age-friendly initiatives in activity-travel contexts

Caroline Beckers, Hannah Hook, Greet Cardon, Long Cheng, Frank Witlox 2026 Journal of Urban Mobility

Spatial (in)justice shaping the home as a space of work

Dalia Milián Bernal, Jasmin Laitinen, Hannah Shevchenko, Oxana Ivanova, Sofie Pelsmakers, Essi Nisonen 2026 Buildings and Cities

Integrating more-than-human approaches in urban planning pedagogy : A case study from Europe

Susa Eräranta, Adrianna Czarnecka, Monika Piotrkowska, Jonne Hytönen 2026 Environmental Science and Policy

Social Learning as Treadmill, Harness and Springboard: a multi-perspective examination of the ambiguous potentials of social learning in planning practice

Susa Eräranta, Kim Carlotta von Schönfeld, Patsy Healey, Raine Mäntysalo, Wendy Tan, Antonio Ferreira, Jonathan Metzger 2026 Conversations in Spatial Planning