Porvoo wanted to redesign its main square, but good precedent research is hard to do well — most benchmarking relies on site visits and impressions. This study used the same activity-mapping method across six cities to make the comparison consistent and evidence-based.
Built on a methodology first developed and validated across roughly 220 Finnish and Swedish cities and 200 further European examples under the Academy of Finland-funded URMI project, co-authored with Finnish urban-research partner Kaupunkikettu (“Urban Fox”).
Reclassified Foursquare’s roughly 1,000 fine-grained venue categories into Jan Gehl’s necessary/optional activity framework, mapping and comparing five already-renovated squares — Lappeenranta, Kuopio, Kristiansand, Umeå, and Tallinn’s Baltijaama market — against Porvoo’s current state, including before/after comparisons where renovation data allowed.
Delivered as a 23-page benchmark report in spring 2020.
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