Estonian Human Development Report 2019/2020

The Eesti Human Development Report 2019/2020, titled Spatial Choices for an Urbanising Society, is the ninth in a series of reports issued by the Estonian Cooperation Assembly.

The editor-in-chief of the report is Vice-Rector Helen Sooväli-Sepping, Professor of Environmental Management and Senior Research Fellow in Cultural Geography at Tallinn University. Thirty-nine scientists from the University of Tartu, Tallinn University, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonian Academy of Arts, University of Helsinki and Manchester University of Architecture have contributed to the report.

The Estonian Human Development Report 2019/2020 focuses on the spatial development of Estonia and its impact on the wellbeing of the Estonian people and its social processes. In a situation where 40% of Estonia’s land resources are state-owned, 1% are owned by local governments and 59% are privately owned, the following question is relevant: how to recreate and grow Estonia’s spatial wealth and quality democratically and in the interests of society as a whole.

The report deals with space broadly, by analysing Estonia’s settlement structure, natural areas, urban space as well as urban design and the discussion space that unites us. Space, as the umbrella term in this report, refers to the common space that serves the public interest and provides a public good.