Press release -
Jackpot in Las Vegas for Gävle’s students in spatial planning
Two teams with students from the programme in spatial planning at the University of Gävle won first and shared second prize in Las Vegas in major contest on developing sustainable cities.
Podcar City conference
Autonomous bus in Las Vegas. Photo: Pontus Gustafsson
The Podcar City conference is an annual major conference on autonomous buses and cars with participants from all over the world. Its location alternates between US and Europe and contains the student contest Urban International Design Contest.
This year, teams were from Perth in Australia, Las Vegas, Washington DC, Jacksonville Florida in USA, as well as from Gävle and Sundbyberg in Sweden. The contest lasted for three days and among the judges were people from Google transport.
The winners
Second from the right, the winners: Team Sundbyberg represented by Josefine Berg, University of Gävle. In the middle, shared 2nd place, Team Hemlingby/Gävle, represented by Adeline Ekegårdh, University of Gävle. Second from the left, shared 2nd place, Team Jacksonville, represented by Brendan O´Malley, Florida Polytechnic University. Photo: Johan Magnusson
Swedish students very good
In the contest, participating students from a University cooperate with a city to design a sustainable city plan with autonomous public transit. Cities from all over the world participate.
“I have worked with the students the whole time and was struck by how very good the Swedish students are,” says Pontus Gustavsson from 4Dialog and moderator for the contest.
In the judges’ motivation, the winners are described as being “very innovative and with good examples of use of autonomous buses. The designs were very well planned containing walking lanes, buildings, bus stations and also envisioned ways to decrease segregation.”
Team Sundbyberg
The winning team Sundbyberg, Josefine Berg and Tobias Wennergrund. Youtube
Thinking outside the box
Sundbyberg wanted to change a four-lane street into a two-lane street in their city plan, as the aim was to convert the road from being a high traffic road into a low-traffic one.
The students made a visualisation, but they also went through with their idea to connect Sundbyberg with Rissne to break segregation by linking the two areas with autonomous buses running at high frequency. They also envisioned a long flight of steps with a centre and market place leading up to Rissne.
“Giving us the chance to think completely independently enabled us to use all knowledge we had learnt. And winning the whole contest, in Las Vegas of all places, was a little bit like a dream,” Tobias Wennergrund says.
“A very good design. Sundbyberg had representatives there who were very impressed. It shows that students can do quite a lot, as they think in a different way if they are given free reins,” Pontus Gustafsson says.
Team Hemlingby/Gävle
Lag Hemlingby/Gävle, som kom på delad 2:a plats, Adeline Ekegårdh och Elin Björinder. Se Youtube
You should never have to take the car to go shopping.
Team Hemlingby/Gävle who shared second place, Adeline Ekegårdh och Elin Björinder
This team of students made a sustainable design for Hemlingby’s new city centre together with Gävle Municipality.
In their design, you should never have to take the car. You go by podcar from the city centre to Hemlingby, and then, in the area, you are transported by autonomous buses.
“This means a lot for a student. Through this experience I have had the possibility to network with future colleagues. Participating in the contest in itself was a great honour and, then, in addition, to win a prize…” Adeline Ekegårdh says.
Pontus Gustafsson
Foto: Johan Magnusson
You get a job directly
Pontus started the programme in spatial planning in the autumn of 2014, and he was very pleased with the programme in Gävle.
“It is good that you gain both a theoretical and a practical background: it’s a very good basis. I hear that other universities are very theoretical in their spatial planning programmes. The practical aspect is a great advantage as work places greatly appreciate the fact that graduating students already know the CAD programmes.
As a Stockholmer, he appreciates the fact the university here is on the smaller side and that everything is close by. He also thinks that Gävle is a nice city and he will live here for a long period of time.
Pontus completed his studies in the spring of 2017 and was employed directly by 4Dialog. He became project manager for Gävle Innovation Arena, a platform built together with FPX, ESRI, Lantmäteriet, knowit and several more. It is a platform where everyone can go in and innovate, a geographical data zone with data for the whole Gävle area, which gives every one the opportunity to meet challenges from businesses; and all this is located in one place.
In our 4D model you can, for instance, visualise where all the bicycle pums are located in Gävle ,or see the urban development plan. To create such an arena is something that many municipalities have talked about but haven’t realised. We are the first in Sweden, maybe in the whole world.
“Almost everyone who graduated at the same time as I did got a job directly. The programme in spatial planning in Gävle is such a good one, so you have a lot in your backpack when you meet the municipalities or private businesses,” Pontus Gustafsson concludes.
For more information, please contact:
Pontus Gustafsson, 4D-visauliser, project manager 4dialog AB
Phone: 073-500 14 57
Email: Pontus.gustafsson@4dialog.com
Topics
- University, University College
Categories
- pontus gustafsson
- elin björinder
- adeline ekegårdh
- tobias wennergrund
- josefine berg
- autonomous buses
- spatial planning
- samhällsplanerarprogrammet
- ersity of gävle
- urban international design contest
- podcar city conference
- sustainable cities
- spatial planning program
- university of gävle
Education and Research at a Scenic Campus.
The University of Gävle has approximately 17 000 students, more than 50 study programmes and second-cycle programmes, about 1 000 courses in humanities, social and natural sciences and technology.
Research Profiles
Built Environment and Health-promoting Working Life are the general research profiles of the higher education institution. Important parts included are Spatial Planning with a specialisation in Sustainable Built Environment and Musculoskeletal Disorders with the purpose to prevent work-related injuries. In 2010, the higher education institution received permission to carry out third-cycle programmes in the profile area of Built Environment.
The higher education institution has applied for permission to carry out third-cycle programmes in technology, humanities and social sciences.
