The project application was among the successful ones submitted to the INTERREG Central Baltic Programme 2014-2020 under priority "Sustainable use of common resources", specific objective "Better urban planning in the Central Baltic region" during the first call. It was granted funding by the decision of the Programme's Steering Committee on 26 August 2015, with the official implementation period starting 1 October 2015 and will last until 1 October 2018.
During its planned three years life-span Baltic Urban Lab will develop and test new integrated models for brownfield regeneration, tackling an increasing need to build attractive, high-quality and sustainable urban areas that is a common challenge for all Central Baltic cities. Baltic Urban Lab will identify and promote already existing good practices on brownfield regeneration and facilitates exchange of experiences between planners and experts in the Central Baltic region. It will eventuall result in more inclusive urban planning encouraging the participation of different societal groups including citizens, NGOs, land owners, developers, businesses and other stakeholders in the planning process, maximizing the use of knowledge and resources of different parties for the development of high quality living and working environment.
During the project, four cities - Riga, Tallinn, Turku and Norrköping - produce concrete integrated plans and development strategies for selected brownfield sites creating base for development projects and better utilization of brownfields. Baltic Urban Lab is led by the UBC Sustainable Cities Commission; Nordregio – Nordic Centre for Spatial Research is coordinating activities of City Pilots on integrated planning and partnership models, and University of Turku – the mutual learning, transfer of good practice and recommendations.
