Parallel sessions

1 Business Models in the Built Environment

Chair: Professor Christian Nielsen, Aalborg University, Business Model Design Center

Adjunct professor Petri Ahokangas, University of Oulu, Oulu Business School

Dr. Sari Hirvonen-Kantola, University of Oulu, Oulu School of Architecture

Built environment provides a context for researching innovative opportunity and advantage exploration and exploitation behaviors through business models. For instance, any attempt to understand integrative and proactive urban planning and design, and building design as interactive processes, requires them to be related to the prerequisites, opportunities and advantages of the smart city. In the same vein, it is important to consider the background and experience of the participants in the planning, design, and development practices of the city. These processes of exploration and exploitation, in the business models in the built environment, should be studied in more detail.

We invite researchers to contribute to the advancement of the business model research by submitting papers that address the recent developments and findings of the theme in the urban context. Both conceptual and case study approaches are welcomed. In the context of the built environment, the research questions could cover topics such as:

  • Ecosystem and network-based business models
  • Innovation ecosystem orchestration for new business models
  • Public-private-partnerships in new business models
  • ICT middleware as an enabler of new business models, for example IoT
  • Design thinking in business model innovation
  • Business model configurations as a basis for analyzing performance
  • Sustainable business model development in the built environment
  • Circular and sharing economy configurations affecting business models

The conference organizers will encourage authors of selected papers to develop and submit them for review to the Journal of Business Models. The authors will be asked to finalize their manuscripts after the conference according to the journal’s Author Guidelines (See: https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/JOBM/about/submissions#authorGuidelines) by January 31st 2018 either in a standard 6.000-8.000 word format or according to Journal of Business Model’s short paper format.

2 Emerging Urban Form

Chair: Professor Ari Hynynen, Tampere University of Technology

Research on urban form has a long tradition. The morphological method has been used for conceiving changes in physical urban structures as well as explaining their societal and cultural background. The modernist revolution evoked new building types and spatial transformations, giving birth to typomorphological approach in urban research. Later on, the need for understanding interaction between social life and physical space brought about studies on spatial syntaxes. Then, the growth of cities, enabled by advanced transport and communication technologies, highlighted the network theory and related topomorphological research. So, what’s next, as our cities are turning smart?

Urban transformation is an ever continuing process. Although we could picture limits for quantitative urban growth, qualitative changes progress limitlessly, for sure. What are these changes now and in the future? How are they manifested in urban form? What are the drivers behind the transformation? What kinds of methods do we need for analyzing them? Should we expand our morphological toolbox? Do we need new urban design and planning principles?

We encourage you to tackle this theme from fresh and diverse standpoints. Theoretical and more practical approaches are equally welcomed, as well as spatial and temporal explorations through different urban scales and eras.


3 Experience and Participation

Chair: Dr. Anna Luusua, University of Oulu, Oulu School of Architecture

In this session we will scrutinize,

  • How will smart development change the experience of the built environment?
  • How will smart changes affect issues of participation, democracy, agency and access in the design, planning and development of the built environment?

4 Smart Lighting

Chair: Dr. Henrika Pihlajaniemi, researcher, responsible leader, SenCity project, Oulu School of Architecture, University of Oulu

Dr. Eveliina Juntunen, Senior researcher, project coordinator, SenCity project, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd

Lighting – an essential element of architectural and urban environments – is turning to smart as intelligent controlling, sensing technologies, and IoT solutions are spreading gradually to our everyday environments. Smart lighting as a concept can be seen to possess great potential concerning sustainability and energy-efficiency, functionality, well-being, and multifaceted experiential value. As technology and solutions are developing with intense pace, there is a growing need for research about design factors, methods for implementations and the results of pilot projects. Topical research perspectives include, for example, users’ experiences, technological solutions, impact to environments and communities, as well as innovative future visions.

We invite researchers to contribute to the advancement of the Smart Lighting research by submitting papers that address the recent developments and findings of the theme. The research questions could cover topics such as:

  • The role of lighting in smart city and smart architecture contexts
  • Smart design for smart lighting
  • Users’ experiences of smart lighting
  • Well-being and added value
  • Smart lighting and services
  • Smart lighting technologies and solutions
  • Sustainability
  • Smart daylighting
  • Critical perspectives and theoretical insights

The conference organizers will encourage authors of selected papers to develop and submit them for review to the journal Lighting Research and Technology. The authors will be asked to finalize their manuscripts after the conference according to the journal’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines (See: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/journal/lighting-research-technology#submission-guidelines) by January 31st 2018.

5 Smart Building Design and Construction

Chair: Dr. Janne Pihlajaniemi, professor, responsible leader, Modern Log City -project, Oulu School of Architecture

Design and construction of buildings are developing towards more intelligent solutions and practices. The use of different design tools and methods, more advanced systems to connect design and building phases, novel construction methods, as well as innovative use of building materials can be recognized as examples of this progress. This has produced an obvious need for research about design factors, methods for construction as well as the implemented results of these. A special interest in this track will be an innovative use of massive wood as a design or building material, but the research related to all other building materials is also welcomed.

We invite researchers to contribute to the advancement of the Smart Building Design and Construction research by submitting papers that address the recent developments and findings of the theme. The research questions could cover topics such as:

  • The role of architect in novel design processes
  • The development of design and construction tools
  • The development of building materials and construction methods
  • Designers’, constructors’ and end-users’ experiences
  • Well-being and added value
  • Critical perspectives and theoretical insights


Special event, free of charge: ICT infrastructure for Smart Living. IoT and Digital Transformation

Chair: Vadim Kramar, Researcher, Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Finland

Pekka Jokitalo, Super IoT Alliance Leader, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Verkotan Ltd, Finland

Smart Living is a concept of building people-oriented lifestyles supported by a smart environment that consists of smart spaces – interoperable, and possibly nested or intersected. Smart City, Smart Home, Smart University, Smart Factory, Smart Hospital, Smart Community, and many others are examples of smart spaces.

Development of solutions within the Smart Living concept assumes involvement of a diversity of technology enablers (such as printed electronics, wireless communications, energy harvesters, etc.) in a great number of application areas (such as government, health, education, culture, art, commerce, etc.) and a variety of business domains (construction, energy, service, health, banking, industrial,
transportation, etc.). We invite people from business and research circles to discuss a use of IoT technologies in the development of smart spaces and cities:

  • What are the gups and challenges of the current Smart City IoT solutions?
  • What are the business interests of IoT companies with respect to smart city domain?
  • How may Super IoT Alliance help to satisfy the business interests?
Companies are welcome to present R&D projects ideas and discuss with possible partners to form project consortia. Horizon 2020 calls relevant to smart city domain are to be reviewed during the event. We plan to start forming a consortium to develop a Horizon 2020 project application. Project ideas suitable for other international, or Finnish national, or Hilla project funding instruments, are welcome as well.