The City of Helsinki’s sustainability journey to become a smart city
Photo Š Tom Toikka
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City of Helsinki: a smart city, a functional capital, a sustainable future WRIT TEN BY
L AUR A MULL AN PRODUCED BY
LE WIS VAUGHAN
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The Market Square in front of City Hall is perhaps the heart of Helsinki. Stara’s street maintenance vehicles wash it every day after the Market Square quiets down for the day. Photo Š Veikko Somerpuro w w w.he l .f i/s t a ra
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Blending digitisation and an environmentallyconscious approach, the City of Helsinki is no longer just a European powerhouse. Today, it’s also being recognised on a global stage for its sustainable smart city initiatives.
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ntwining spectacular Baltic bays, a stylish design scene and a dependable economy, the Finnish capital
of Helsinki regularly tops the leaderboard as one of the world’s most liveable cities – and it has the numbers to back up this claim. For the past decade, the capital’s population has grown by more than 1% on average every year and, by 2050, Helsinki expects to add an extra 250,000 residents. As other cities struggle to accommodate swelling populations in limited urban spaces, the City of Helsinki has devised a meticulous plan to ensure that it remains a world-class location for businesses, residents and visitors alike.
Stara is in charge of approximately 70% of the public areas in Helsinki. Washing statues in the spring is just one of Stara’s tasks. Photo © Veikko Somerpuro
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THE MOST FUNCTIONAL CITY IN THE WORLD ‘Functional’ is a term that is synonymous with Helsinki but, as part of its 2017-2021 strategy, the Nordic capital aims to take this one step further by becoming the most functional city in the world. Together with residents, the capital is rallying to create coordinated, efficient and humane public services which will make everyday life easier for citizens. Helsinki City Construction Services, Stara, undoubtedly has a pivotal role to play in this roadmap, delivering construction, environ06
mental management and logistics services to the capital. With almost 1,400 employees and hundreds of utility vehicles and other machines, this municipal enterprise is responsible for maintaining and constructing the streets, parks, natural areas and city-owned buildings in Helsinki. As the city pushes ahead with its five-year plan, Sami Aherva, Head of Stara Logistics, points out that whilst technology is a vital tool, the primary focus will always be on the needs of citizens. “The strategy hopes to make Helsinki competitive on a global scale,” he explains. “It’s a pretty bold aim. We don’t want to be among the top 10; we want to be the most functional city in the world. We are going to remodel our services and enhance the lives
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of our citizens through technology. However, this will be based on citizen demand; we’re going to make sure that we listen to every single inhabitant to create a meaningful city structure.”
SMART CITY POWERHOUSE Digitisation goes hand in hand with the City of Helsinki’s five-year strategy, and as such the capital has also ramped up its efforts to become a smart city. When the European Parliament published its findings on 468 smart city projects in Europe in 2014, Helsinki was ranked in the top 10 smart cities, alongside w w w.he l .f i/s t a ra
Amsterdam, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Manchester and Vienna. But what exactly propelled the Nordic capital to the top of this report? The city was praised thanks in part to Forum Virium Helsinki – an innovation unit within the City of Helsinki which develops smart city technologies in partnership with other units and residents – as well as the opening up of municipal data and decision-making data.
“We want to be the most functional city in the world. We are going to remodel our services and enhance the lives of our citizens through technology”
By looking at the numbers behind Helsinki’s economy, education system, 08
health services and more, open data
— Sami Aherva Head of Stara Logistics
was seen as the first step that the capital needed to take to become both
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E
Sami Aherva Sami Aherva, Head of Stara Logistics, is senior level director. He is an experienced Director of Logistics with a demonstrated history of working in the government administration industry and is skilled in procurement, transportation, R&D, quality management, and organisational leadership. A strong operations professional, Aherva qualified at the University of Helsinki and Aalto University Executive Education. Photo © Stara Communications
CLICK TO WATCH : STREET REBOOT2 HIGHLIGHTS — STARA’S BIG DATA CHALLENGE 09
a functional and smart city. Ilpo Laitinen,
our own services. We are at that stage
Head of Stara Administration, argues
where we are now developing our
that this accessible data has not only
services and engaging citizens to be
made the city more transparent but it has
a part of the process.”
also helped to foster citizen engagement. “Through the open data project, one
By creating participation engagement programmes and making residents
of the data sets that you can access is
a part of this journey, the Nordic capital
the city’s decision-making data which
isn’t implementing technology for
helps to make this an increasingly
technology’s sake but rather is implem-
transparent process,” he explains. “At
enting digitally-savvy public services
the same time, Helsinki also wanted to
which are community based. “Our
create an open source services platform
coders follow certain codes of conduct
whereby companies, SMEs and even
and guidelines, to ensure that they’re
residents can work together to develop
making services based on citizens’ w w w.he l .f i/s t a ra
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The Market Square in front of City Hall is perhaps the heart of Helsinki. Stara’s street maintenance vehicles wash it every day after the Market Square quiets down for the day. Photo © Veikko Somerpuro
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needs, rather than experimentation,”
our smart city initiatives that can be
Laitinen adds.
scaled up to other parts of the city as
But what does this mean for daily life
well,” Laitinen notes. “A number of
in Helsinki? What impact are these
infrastructure services have been and
strategies having? To see this first
will be automated. Solar panels, smart
hand, it’s best to take a look at Kalasa-
metering and smart remote control
tama, a former harbour and industrial
systems have also been embedded here.
area in Helsinki that has been trans-
Additionally, the district has also tested
formed into a hotbed of innovation.
a unique vacuum waste collection
The City of Helsinki has been experi-
system whereby waste collection points
menting with everything from social
transport waste to waste management
and healthcare services to waste
facilities via underground pipelines.”
management, energy solutions and
Additionally, the City of Helsinki and
even smart parking. “It’s a testbed for
Stara have encouraged locals to ‘Reboot
“Our coders follow certain codes of conduct and guidelines, to ensure that they’re making services based on citizens’ needs, rather than experimentation” — Ilpo Laitinen, Head of Stara Administration
the City’ by hosting a series of hackathon events. This has led to the creation of ‘helper’, an app which provides optimal routes for Helsinki winter maintenance crews, as well as Call Plate, an automation technology which alerts car owners to when they have parked in restricted places.
A GREENER WAY OF LIVING Helsinki has set itself bold targets for the next five years but it doesn’t stop there. On top of this, the capital has committed to an ambitious goal to
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E
Ilpo Laitinen Ilpo Laitinen, Head of Stara Administration and Adjunct Professor is both a senior level director and a researcher, demonstrating his ability to work across the boundaries of academia and the public sector. The work that he undertakes in both of these realms involves looking for new solutions to improve the quality of the public sector in Helsinki, a city that is among the world leaders in providing services to its people. He is internationally experienced both in science and management, including public administration and public management, public value of services, digitalisation of public services, smart cities and innovation management.
Photo © Stara Communications
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Photo Š Veikko Somerpuro
C OMPA N Y FA C T S
• Helsinki aims to become carbon neutral by 2035 • In order to become carbon neutral by 2035, Helsinki needs to reduce its CO2 emissions by 1.62% every year • Helsinki wants to become ‘the most functional city in the world’ as part of its 2017-2025 plan • In 2017, Helsinki had a population of 629,512 and, by 2050, the city expects to add an extra 250,000 residents.
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Due to the slush on Finnish streets in wintertime, gravel is spread onto streets throughout winter to combat slippery conditions. Stara machinery collecting chips on a busy route as winter turns to spring. Photo © Veikko Somerpuro
become completely carbon neutral by
Stara has also taken up the fight
2035. In Helsinki’s metropolitan area,
against climate change and has
the electrification of buses has already
switched to biofuels to power its non
begun, with an aim to have over 100
-road vehicles. “Stara is a cleantech
electric buses in operation by 2020.
leader,” observes Aherva. “My person-
The city has also been a testing plat-
al goal is that I would like to robotise the
form for new smart mobility solutions
whole fleet of vehicles and processes
such as the Mobility-as-a-Service
we have. We are also using several
model, which hopes to make car own-
means of clean technology like biofuel,
ership unnecessary by promoting
electric, hybrid and fuel cell. In order to
existing services like ride-hailing, trip
achieve our 2035 goal, we need to
planning and car-sharing.
reduce our CO2 emissions by 1.62%
City of Helsinki executives rode on the eco-friendly Stara truck that runs on biofuel in the 2018 Pride parade. The parade had a record turnout of 100,000 participants. Photo © Akifoto
Hackjunction was a success for Stara. The team to ultimately win the event grand prize of 20,000 euros was one of the teams that participated in the Stara big data challenge. Photo © Teemu Heljo
“We are trying to solve real problems for real people in Helsinki” — Sami Aherva, Head of Stara Logistics
every year. We’ve done that by using
just yet, but by creating an ecosystem
biofuel but to bridge the gap we also
that fosters R&D and innovation, Stara
need to look at new technologies.”
hopes to make this sector greener and
HOTBED OF INNOVATION
more efficient. Providing a platform for Vilakone Oy
A key part of Stara’s daily business
(a leading environmental management
involves using snow ploughs, city
machinery firm in the country), Stara
sweeps and other environmental man-
hopes to help the company develop and
agement machinery to ensure that the
investigate the use of energy efficient
city can continue to run regardless of
machinery. “We are providing Wille with
the whether it’s sunny, rainy or snowing.
the environment to develop market-
This industry may not be fully developed
ready products that may be electric or w w w.he l .f i/s t a ra
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Photo © Veikko Somerpuro
“It’s not just about data: it’s about better decisions and better approaches to city issues. When it comes to our services – be they technical, street maintenance, construction or logistics” 18
— Ilpo Laitinen, Head of Stara Administration
hybrid,” observes Aherva. “Once they have the ready-for-market machinery in place they can then also sell it everywhere. This showcases our role as a development platform for innovation and new energy efficient innovations.” As Helsinki’s 2021 deadline inches closer, Aherva says that the city will not only transform its processes and technologies, it will also “change the whole culture of the city.” He says: “The city’s services are going to transform. It’s a game-changing type of approach.
19 Ilpo Laitinen, Head of Stara Administration (left), and Sami Aherva, Head of Stara Logistic, examining Stara machinery that utilises digital technology and favours eco-friendly solutions. Photo © Stara Communications
The role of the public and private sectors
have. We want to collaborate with these
will no longer be black and white: it’s
innovators and networks to renew and
more collaborative. Helsinki is the
improve our city. This program is very
platform that many companies need
much about social capital; it’s about
to try something new.
improving the quality of life for our resi-
“We are trying to solve real problems
dents and our companies.”
for real people in Helsinki,” he concludes. “It’s not just about data: it’s about better decisions and better approaches to city issues. When it comes to our services – be they technical, street maintenance, construction or logistics – we don’t want to deliver services the way we always w w w.he l .f i/s t a ra
PL 1660 Ilmalankuja 2 L 00099 Helsingin kaupunki Finland E stara@hel.fi www.hel.fi/stara