T-winning Spaces 2035

While remote work is most often associated with working from home, many people still prefer an office environment when their job can be done remotely. The proportion of such people is high in Finland: according to the CASTELLUM study, 70% of respondents in Finland in 2024 could partly or totally imagine working from a co-working office.   However, the spatial distribution of current co-working spaces in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area - where Finland’s largest job market is located - is quite unbalanced. Most existing co-working spaces are in or around the city center, while only a few co-working spaces can be found in Espoo and even fewer in Vantaa. Existing co-working spaces serve the largest number of remote workers, who predominantly live in the city center and surrounding neighbourhoods. However, co-working spaces in non-central areas are essential, as residents of the city's periphery travel longer distances, creating more greenhouse gas emissions.   To study optimal locations for new co-working spaces, the Urban Physics Research Group at Tampere University analyzed data on existing co-working facilities and developed an algorithm to maximize the spatial distribution of new co-working spaces while minimizing the amount of new co-working offices. The algorithm ensures that co-working spaces are accessible from almost any point in the city within 15 minutes on foot, maintains a minimum walking distance of 30 minutes between any two co-working offices, and restricts new facilities to areas with existing office buildings.   The proposed co-working space locations support the 15-minute city concept, where essential services are accessible within a 15-minute walk. This approach reduces car dependency and subsequently decreases greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, reduced reliance on automobiles promotes active travel modes and helps to reduce the number of premature deaths by increased physical activity. The map and analysis by Petr Anashin

In the recent FFRC blog post, Prof. Emerita Sirkka Heinonen and Project Researcher Amos Taylor write about their roundtable discussion with Cynthia Selin and Jerome Glenn during the #FuturesConference2025. If you are interested in #futures of #technology and #work, and the certainties in a future often described as overwhelmed with uncertainties and risks, take a look: https://lnkd.in/d2Mgihzg 💡 Follow the blog to get updates on forthcoming posts: https://lnkd.in/dJJ-pUex #futuresstudies #foresight

How have the shifting conceptualisations of ‘work’ and ‘home’ spatialised in the home, and what does this mean for the design of the home? These are the questions that Essi N., Sofie Pelsmakers, and Dalia Milián Bernal from Tampere University, discuss in their latest publication in Buildings & Cities entitled: The unfitness of dwellings: why spatial and conceptual boundaries matter. Visit https://lnkd.in/ds6j3t38 to read the full article. The study was conducted within the framework of the T-winning Spaces 2035 research project funded by the Research Council of Finland | Suomen Akatemia. Nisonen, E., Milián Bernal, D., & Pelsmakers, S. (2025). The unfitness of dwellings: why spatial and conceptual boundaries matter. Buildings & Cities, 6(1), 619–633. https://lnkd.in/ds6j3t38  

I wish to share with you some thoughts and findings from our interviews and Futures Cliniques at FFRC within the T-winning Spaces project on futures of hybrid work where the focus seems to shift towards a stronger call for wholeness and flexibility in working arrangements to nourish the wellbeing of employees.

Remote work can substantially decrease the number of commuting trips. However, the effects of this phenomenon on the city’s transport system might be twofold. On the one hand, reduced demand for commuting trips lowers the number of car journeys, which are currently the main source of greenhouse gas emissions from transport. On the other hand, it may also pose challenges for public transport systems due to fewer passengers and reduced ticket revenue.   On the presented map, you can observe how the number of public transport passengers within the Helsinki Metropolitan Area may change throughout the day in a potential scenario of maximum teleworking. The most significant reductions in commuting flows are observed along the main transport arteries connecting residential areas and business districts, while in the city's outskirts, where population density is lower, the reduction is much less pronounced.

June has been eventful for the T-winning Spaces 2035 team! WP1 and WP4 participated at the Futures of Technologies conference organized by Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC) - Tulevaisuuden tutkimuskeskus and WP4 conducted a workshop titled "Hybrid horizons of futures workplaces". The workshop started with an insightful key note by Sirkka Heinonen. We are grateful for the opportunity to share our future images for workplaces 2035 and collaborate with stakeholders who are equally passionate about shaping the future of work. In addition to the participants a big thank you to our workshop facilitators: Lassi Tähtinen, Olivia Matilainen, Mattia Galleani, Aino Ruohola, and Riikka Kyrö and the leader Saija Toivonen! Stay tuned for more updates and insights from our ongoing research project! By visiting our website you can find more about our published work including the abstract for this workshop: https://lnkd.in/d8rkXeYW

Last week, T-winning Spaces 2035 (WP2) participated at the International Social Housing Festival together with VUB (Vrije Universitat Brussel) Architectural Engineering and organised a workshop entitled "Urban transformation: Reconversion of offices to housing and work homes Post-COVID". The workshop started with presentations by Paulien Beeckman (VUB) on office conversions and Jaana Vanhatalo (Tampere University) on home as a space of work. The workshop dealt with challenges and possibilities of office conversions to housing and work-homes. The discussion led by prof. Waldo Galle (VUB) was vivid and highly interesting, and though there are many challenges upon us, there is also need to study these matters more closely in order to overcome them. Thanks to Sofie Pelsmakers, Irem Hancioglu, and Katja Maununaho for the support in making the workshop possible.

When working from home, some of us can end up more sedentary - where we move less and are less physically active - which is not good for our health. Do you have any tips for increasing the activity levels of remote workers? Is there a role for employers in encouraging activity in their remote workers?

Wednesday, 21 May 2025, we visit the research group of Urban Planning at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg and present T-Winning Spaces 2035 project. Thanks Natacha S. Quintero González for this invitation.