AI-Powered City Centre Workshops – October 1–2, 2025

Citizens Co-Design the Future of Oulu’s City Centre with AI

Join us in shaping the future of Oulu’s city centre and see your ideas come to life in AI-powered workshops at Cultural Centre Valve on October 1–2, 2025.

In the workshops, Oulu residents will step into the shoes of urban planners. Their thoughts on what the city centre could offer and how it might look will be transformed into vivid visions and images of different areas using AI. Designers and planners from the City Centre Vision working group will guide participants throughout the process.

Workshop Schedule

Wednesday, October 1
- 16:00–17:30 – Students in architecture, geography, construction, and professionals in the cultural sector
- 18:00–19:30 – Residents of the city centre and downtown Oulu

Thursday, October 2
- 11:00–12:30 – Youth and young adults (ages 13–25)
(Note: This session has been rescheduled to Thursday, October 2)
- 14:00–15:30 – Seniors (ages 65+)
- 16:00–17:30 – Immigrants and international residents and students in Oulu
(Workshop held in English)
- 18:00–19:30 – Entrepreneurs, employees, and property owners in the city centre

Registration

Register for the workshops via the city centre vision website by September 28, 2025 (see the link below).

Each workshop can accommodate 20 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. If the groups are full, you’re welcome to attend as an observer and engage in conversation with the urban planners.

From LEGO Dreams to AI Visions: Citizens Shape Oulu’s City Centre

These workshops represent the cutting edge of urban planning: participants will get to ideate new features for Oulu’s city centre and help create visual concept images of its future using the UrbanistAI tool. UrbanistAI generates images based on participants’ ideas and preferences.

Learn more about the UrbanistAI tool on its official website.

Oulu residents have already played an active role in shaping the City Centre Vision. A survey conducted at the beginning of 2025 revealed key themes and popular public spaces, which were further developed during a LEGO-themed event in May. The dreams collected during that event now serve as material for the AI workshops. The ideas and wishes refined in these workshops will be woven into the City Centre Vision to be published in 2026—ensuring that the future of the city centre reflects the vision of its people.

Would you like to ask for more information about the AI workshops?
 

Get in touch with our urban planners — you can find their contact details on our website.