CITY OF ESPOO

City Development project: How to reach and involve young and international residents in city development?

Course project, 2022

Designing for Services

Aalto University

Department of Design

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Project carried out with Natalia Trzmielak, Tuike Rantanen, Nikolas Kristovič, Fengfan Yang

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Creating a Sense of Belonging: Enhancing Participation Among Young and International Residents in Espoo

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In collaboration with the City of Espoo and Aalto University’s Designing for Services course, our team tackled the challenge of how to better reach and involve young and international residents in city development. Research revealed that a sense of belonging is essential before residents feel motivated to participate in civic life.

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We focused on the onboarding experience of international Aalto students as a case study, mapping their journey from receiving an admission letter to settling in Espoo. Insights from interviews, fieldwork, and co-design activities uncovered key barriers: lack of accessible information, cultural unfamiliarity with participation, and delayed connection with the city.

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Our final proposal included a set of onboarding interventions such as welcome videos, integrated city communications, and participation opportunities introduced early in the relocation process. We also defined eight actionable design principles to guide Espoo in building inclusive, participatory services, emphasizing timely engagement, language accessibility, and cross-organizational collaboration.

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This project offers a scalable framework to support other resident groups in forming meaningful ties with the city from day one.