Photo: Mauri Helenius
Dr. Aija Staffans is an architect and works as Senior Research Fellow at Aalto University, Finland. Her research interest is in urban planning and design, especially in collaborative processes and knowledge integration, interpretations and implementations of sustainability in the practice of land use planning, and the digitisation of planning in the context of smart cities. She is a pioneer in developing participatory methods and digitally supported platforms for land use planning. Dr. Staffans has initiated and managed several major research projects with over forty public and private partners. Since 2018, she manages the multi-disciplinary key research area of human-centered living environments, Aalto Living+. In 2016-2019 she visited Politecnico di Milano as a Visiting Professor of Architecture for the Smart City and from 2021 she is affiliated to Tallinn University of Technology. Dr. Staffans holds several positions of trust and expertise in academic, professional and NGO organizations.
I am an architect, D.Sc. (Tech) and work as Senior Research Fellow at Spatial Planning and Transportation Engineering Group, Aalto University. Recently, I started as a Platform Manager of Aalto Living+, a multidisciplinary research platform of human-centered living environments. I am also affiliated to Politecnico di Milano, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies as a Visiting Professor of Architecture for the Smart City.
I teach land use planning and city development, and lead a research group which operates in between the academia and practise by making action research in urban planning & design processes, land use planning and local development. I am interested in the interpretations and implementations of sustainability in planning practice, and in the digitisation of planning in the context of smart cities. I am an expert in developing participative methods, digitally supported platforms and interactive environments for urban development and collaborative processes. My inspirator has been the Aalto Built Environment Lab ABE, an interactive modelling and visualisation space at Aalto University, School of Engineering, which we have been actively developing with my team.
I hold several positions of trust and expertise in academic, professional and NGO organisations.
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