Briefing: Initial findings from the urba project

This briefing describes the research project The Future Concepts of Urban Housing (Urba), which was initiated in 2007 to develop new ideas, concepts and cooperative practices for Urban housing in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The area suffers from Urban sprawl, soaring prices and a lack of feasible and attractive housing alternatives as a result of the narrow and inflexible housing market. Moreover, the housing sector suffers from a lack of cooperation. Urba is a multi-disciplinary research project that brings together a wide range of stakeholders and actors in the housing sector. The first phase of the project has produced an initial selection of promising Urban housing concepts that will serve as the basis for the development phase. The development phase is structured in the form of a collective learning and invention process that involves a wide group of participants from the housing sector.