Sampo Ruoppila Email & Phone Number

Urbanist, scholar (PhD, Title of Docent), knowledge broker, urban policy expert, e-participation developerFrom 2025 I shall begin to work on commissions and part-time basis. My assignments for 2025 and beyond include Visiting Professorship (spring semester 2025) at the Politecnico di Milano, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, teaching the course "Contemporary city, descriptions and projects" (MA level, 10 ECTS); Senior Researcher position (30%, 2025-27) at the University of Helsinki, Urban Studies Programme / Geo Sciences and Geography, in the project "Contested waterfront transformations. Renegotiating social inclusion within the financialised urban growth machine", funded by the Research Council of Finland; increasing my efforts in Spin Unit Lab Oy, including UrbanistAI; and selected consulting through my own company Kaupunkikettu (tmi/tradename). I am currently open for tasks from August 2025 onwards. My interests include urban policy and planning consulting, research-based policy advice, knowledge brokering, and participatory AI.Until the end of 2024, I continue to lead the Turku Urban Research Programme, a pioneering joint initiative of the City of Turku, the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, focusing on policy-relevant research on all strategic urban issues. Since 2010, my role has been to bridge the gap between municipal policy makers and academic researchers, to develop and manage the programme's activities, including the distribution of research funds and to support collaboration within the projects. As the Research Director of the University of Turku (Urban Studies), I have also secured funding for and led several multidisciplinary research projects and taught urban studies. At the beginning of 2025, I will hand over the position of Research Director, including the leadership of the Turku Urban Research Programme, to my successor (selection in progress). My publications can be found via ResearchGate or Google Scholar. Full list of around 100 scientific and professional publications on request.

Listed skills include Urban Planning, Research, Qualitative Research, Sociology, and 22 others.