Åbo Akademin University; FI, Tallinn University; EE, Universié Libre de Bruxelles; BE, Leibnitz-Institut für Länderkunde; DE

Public transport research remains dominated by economistic and technocratic readings and remains peripheral in the humanities literature. Yet, public transport embraces intense and intimate sites for encountering cultural diversity, facilitating social integration and negotiating public space. In this project, ‘Public Transport as Public Space in European Cities: Narrating, Experiencing, Contesting’ (PUTSPACE), we aim to humanise transport research by studying diverse narratives, experiences and contestations of public transport, as they have been unfolding in cities across Europe since the late nineteenth century. The project places public transport at the frontline of contesting what is, can be, or should be public in the city.
PUTSPACE examines public transport as one type of public space, challenging existing definitions of public space. The project will explore how public transport confronts citizens with social diversity, speaks of different types of ownership, surveillance, subversion, interaction and transformation of social norms.

Malmö Universitet; SE

The Institute for Urban Research (IUR) seeks to consolidate and widen this urban research environment at Malmö University. Based at the Faculty of Culture, IUR exposes contemporary challenges emanating from urbanization processes. IUR brings together knowledge from various disciplines to propose possible solutions to urban societal challenges. IUR engages with citizens, civil society, private actors and public authorities to communicate our research results and find ways to implement solutions. Our main research themes are housing and urban renewal, social sustainability, urban migration, urban economics, mobilities, smart cities and urban ecology.

Lund Universitet, Malmö Universitet; SE

K2 is Sweden's national center for research and education on public transport. This is where academia, the public sector and industry meet to discuss and develop the role of public transport in Sweden.

Florence; IT

Is it possible, through sound, to make public transportation a pleasant and unexpected experience to share with others? Could it be possible to transform the waiting time into an imaginary journey?
Is it possible to break into the commuters’ isolation? how can we invite people to get out of the bubble of their own personal devices so to find themselves as part of a moving - even if temporary - community?
The goal is to bring the travelers, the commuters, to a surprising elsewhere, to let them experience even just for brief moments other places: new, far away, real or imaginary...sonic travels to other panoramas than those they can see at the tramway stops.