In January and February 2022, the oPEN Living Lab Tartu engagement working group conducted a survey among residents of the Annelinn neighbourhood. The aim was to collect their opinions, wishes and preferences in relation to their homes, buildings and living conditions, mainly considering a potential renovation, as well as the neighbourhood and surrounding public areas, and to understand their habits, the neighbourhood’s demographic makeup, and the apartment and building characteristics. The survey results provide valuable input for the oPEN Lab working group to compile a concrete renovation proposal and their Communication and Engagement Plan. All in all, 507 residents responded to the survey and were happy to share their thoughts and opinions.
Overall, respondents seem satisfied with Annelinn as a neighbourhood that they feel is well situated and provides all vital services. This is backed up by the fact that most respondents own their apartments (79%) and do not plan to sell them or move in the coming years (68%). It turns out that while more than half of the respondents are over 60 years old, the vast majority is supportive of renovation: nearly 60% would like their apartment buildings to be renovated.
However, financing is a significant source of concern with a quarter of the respondents declaring not willing to pay monthly fees for renovation, even though they admit that issues such as poor ventilation and high heating bills are present. It turns out that, when it comes to reliable information on the renovation, people are most trusting toward builders and technical consultants, which highlights, even more, the importance of establishing RaaS – a service that Tartu city and Tartu Regional Energy Agency are building within the oPEN Lab project. The aim of this service is to create a human-centred and customer-friendly one-stop shop for renovation. Find more information here.
