Chapter 2 Chapter 2
41 and Art Vantaain SmartBusiness, City Mobility,Development
Chang Liu Noora Haavisto & Barbara Radaelli-Muuronen Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018
gagement and expanding public participation Introduction (Smart cities 2017). On the other hand, con- cerns are raised regarding private data use, The smart city concept has been widely used the risk of loss of privacy, as well as a and discussed in city planning and brand- growing monopoly of Internet of Things (IoT) ing. Smart city strategies usually refer to corporations. To avoid these risks, The improving the city’s design or solving city Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communica- problems by using high technology meth- tions has launched “My Data,” a Nordic model ods. It has become a trend that more and for human-centered personal data management more cities are embracing the smart city and processing (Poikkola et al. 2017). concept in their policies and strategies. Also, electromagnetic field (EMF) pollu- Smart mobility, smart waste management, and tion caused by 5G wireless antennas has to a startup culture are all related to this be taken into consideration. In response to phenomenon. health concerns on possible health effects, In Finland the “Six City Strategy,” the World Health Organization (WHO) has known as 6Aika, aims to develop more open launched a large multidisciplinary research and smart services. It is a common smart effort. The WHO concluded that current evi- city strategy for the six biggest cities in dence does not confirm the existence of any Finland: Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, health consequences from exposure to low Oulu, and Turku. Around 30 percent of Fin- level electromagnetic fields. However, some land’s population lives in these cities. The gaps in knowledge about biological effects strategy is funded by the European Regional exist and need further research (Electro- Development Fund, the six cities themselves, magnetic… 2017). The concept of smart city 42 the Finnish government, and the projects itself aims for well-being and sustaina- making up the Six City Strategy. The funding bility. Smart mobility was developed to be is for 2014–2020 (Uutta kaupunkia… 2017). an ecological alternative which influences health in a positive way. In order to ensure The purpose of the Six City Strategy is citizen safety and wellbeing, EMF emissions to create efficient urban services, and is have to be kept under control. based on three focus areas. These focus ar- eas are: open innovation platforms (physical Critics also raise concerns about poten- and virtual environments), open data (mate- tial negative effects of technology, includ- rial for the development of new services) ing heavy technology users not having enough and interfaces, and open participation and opportunities to use their imagination or customer service. The aim is to make cit- creativity (De Loach 2015). Smart solu- ies more open and to create new operating tions are used to reduce time consumption models, so that the whole community can take and increase resources. As human beings, we part in the development work (Uutta kau- still have to preserve handcraft skills and punkia… 2017). avoid excessive automatization. On the other hand, a positive smart city example can be The aim of Vantaa within the strategy is found in Helsinki’s Kalasatama neighborhood. to create a more transparent city and create Here, innovations are not solely made from more open public data (Läpinäkyvä Vantaa technology, but innovations also come in 2017). However, Vantaa’s current city strat- the social form, including participation and egy was made before the Six City Strategy civic collaboration (Fiksu Kalasatama 2017). and does not mention anything about smart cities (Valtuustokauden strategia... 2015). This thematic chapter studies Vantaa as However, the smart concept and The Six City a smart city from three points of views. Strategy are mentioned several times in the The first part is about innovative busi- budgetary plan for 2017–2020 (Talousarvio… ness development in Vantaa. The content 2017). includes: the current situation analysis; how smart city strategies and open innova- The smart city concept promises access tion platforms can help Vantaa in creating a and opportunities while building civic en- more creative business environment; how the Chapter 2
entrepreneurs, city, and other factors are
REFERENCES De Loach, P. (2015). The four negatives 43 sides of technology, Eudemic. 15.12.2017.
them? How are they influenced in the eco- Smart City Strategy for system behind the innovative platform? What Future Vantaa - Create is the relationship between the municipality and the entrepreneurs, during the coopera- an Innovative and Vibrant tion? What are the barriers and the opportu- nities, and how can the system be improved? Business City I have also zoomed in to the innovation platform-working model, based on the organi- zation system in Vantaa. Through the for- by Chang Liu mal and informal organizational connection, three big factors are influencing each other Introduction in the network: the municipality, the en- Many cities in different parts of the world trepreneurs themselves, and social problems. are working hard to solve social problems The Vantaa working model has its own prob- and make the city a better place to live. lems about segregation and lack of invest- Urban issues and urban problems used to be ments, but there are many ways to improve considered to be the research area for urban the working model and improve the attraction planners and city architects. However, with for entrepreneurs. I claim that seeing the the rapid development of advanced technology big picture and acknowledging the func- and open access to big data, a new class of tions of the whole system can help the City technology-based entrepreneurs has emerged: of Vantaa develop and test its smart city civic entrepreneurs. Civic entrepreneurs strategies, as well as to enable better con- recognize the opportunities to solve social trol of innovation business development in 44 problems and finance business with ser- the future Vantaa. vice-oriented programs such as Uber and Air- bnb. Their initiatives fill in blanks spaces Vantaa Master Plan and Regional Business De- in the market and reduce the pressure on velopment Situation the city administration offices for public infrastructure and service provision. The In its four-year term city strategy plan benefits for cities and the ability to en- 2013–2017 (made by The City of Vantaa city hance productivity have been well document- strategy), Vantaa drew up its vision for ed, and include such things as pooling the 2025: labor market, sharing inputs, and technolog- ical and information spillovers (Rosenthal & Wealthy Vantaa [Vakavarainen Vantaa] is Strange 2003). an international center for sustainable This study leans on a mixed methods ap- growth, with the city and the quality of proach. First, the main problems in Vantaa services developed together with resi- have been identified by comparing Vantaa’s dents. Vantaa is safe for residents as a city master plan and future vision with Van- hometown, the best partner in Finland for taa’s reality – weak business development in companies, and best country-led city for a suburb city. Geographic Information System workers. (Valtuustokauden strategia… 2015; (GIS) and data analysis were used to illus- Table 1) trate the gaps in between. Second, the case From the goals Vantaa set for itself, we of Vantaa has been contextualized through a can see that Vantaa is under great pres- literature review on the use of smart city sure to create more job opportunities and strategies. I have asked how smart business to improve job quality, transforming the strategies can help with Vantaa’s situation, traditional retail and service dominated especially in creating an attractive busi- industries into a multi-layered structure ness environment for innovative businesses. with high-technology companies and high- Third, I have analyzed the entrepreneur’s ly-educated people as the driver. Accord- perspective: What features in the business ing to the 2013–2017 strategy plan, Vantaa environment are considered attractive to hopes to improve the economy and employment Chapter 2
through improved policy, to Table 1. Economic and employment goals of Vantaa for 2017 provide a safe environment, (Valtuustokauden strategia… 2015). to update gender equality and equal opportunities, to halve Vantaa goals 2014 2017 the rate of immigrant unem- ployment, and to strength- reduce unemployment rate 11.6% 10.5% en the education level and identity by building a new raise employment rate (15-54) 73.8% 74.0% urban landscape (Valtuusto- raise foreign-language employment rate 56.1% 60.0% kauden strategia… 2015). This pressure encourages Vantaa to add KIBS work-seats - 300 new seats bring in more innovative in- dustries, which can help cre- add City office work space - growth 0.5% per year ate an English-language work- ing environment for its large percentage of foreign-lan- guage speaking groups. The quest for information and communications technol- ogy (ICT) based jobs can be seen in the recent employ- ment statistics. During the years 2008–2014, the number of jobs in Vantaa increased 45 steadily (Figure 1). By the end of 2014, there were 1,616 more jobs than in 2008, even though the ICT industry lost 133 jobs by the end of 2013. From 2013 to 2014, the number of ICT-jobs bounced back to 2,073, having 32 more com- pared to the year 2008 (Fig- Figure 1. Jobs (all industries) in Vantaa from 2008 to 2014 (Data: Helsingin seudun… 2017). ure 2). In total, the ICT in- dustry contributed less than two percent of the employment growth in Vantaa as a whole. If we compare the ICT job growth with the other two regions in the Helsinki metropolitan area, Vantaa’s ICT industry growth has been slower than that Espoo and Helsinki (Figure 3). Espoo is the high-tech hub of the Helsinki metropolitan area. With Aalto University and a large group of highly-educat- ed people, Espoo is lead- ing in the growth of the ICT industry. Helsinki is the Figure 2. ICT industry jobsin Vantaa from 2008 to 2014 old metropolitan city, the (Data: Helsingin seudun… 2017). Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018
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Figure 3. Job Growth Rate in ICT Industry (2010–2016), new jobs/job number in 2010 2014 (Data: Helsingin seudun… 2017). Chapter 2
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Figure 4. Job Growth Rate in ICT Industry (2010–2016) in 4 regions (Data: Helsingin seudun… 2017). Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018
culture center, and the startup hub. With Smart City Strategy high quality resources and services nearby, Helsinki has also seen rapid development in Smart City as an Attractive Business Envi- ICT industries. ronment Since Vantaa is starting from a small- There is no universal definition of a smart er point when it comes to the ICT industry, city, but it is considered to be the enabler the growth rate could be a better way to of a better future city. The Oxford Internet compare the development of ICT industries Institute (Smart Cities… 2017), for example, between Vantaa and the other two cities. defines the idea of smart city by claiming From Figure 4, we can see that Helsinki, that it gives as the traditional metropolitan city, has a higher density of ICT work places. There […] urban policymakers real-time infor- is a major cluster of job units in the city mation on a whole variety of indicators center with an increasing number of ICT jobs about their city (traffic, environment, (shown as red points), while the units with services etc.) in order to improve deci- a declining number ICT jobs are also every- sion making and optimize service deliv- where (shown as blue points). It seems that ery. However, the initial vision, mostly ICT development in the center of Helsinki is centered around adding sensors and RFID changing quite rapidly and that while many tags [radio frequency identification] to ICT companies have been established, many of objects around the city, so that they those companies did not survive. would be able to communicate, has thus far remained unrealized. ICT companies are more widely distributed in south-eastern Espoo, especially along the Consequently, smart city strategies have 48 two sides of Turunväylä, whereas in Van- been used to improve cities and solve many taa, ICT companies can be found along both aspects of urban issues. Over many years of sides of the main railway line. There are development, these aspects have been consid- not yet many ICT companies along the Ring ered: (1) mobility and transportation; (2) Rail III (opened in 2015), but the growth waste management; (3) urban data analytics; rate is quite high in some individual are- (4) energy management; (5) infrastructure; as. The Aviapolis area stands out in Vantaa (6) community services; and (7) administra- as an area with dense work unit rate and a tive control and transparency. high job growth rate. The “Aviapolis Airport There are many factors that will influ- City” is an on-going project in Vantaa which ence a company’s decision to locate in a was launched in 2016. According to Vantaa specific city. High-tech companies usually City (Smart Airport… 2017), the Aviapolis consider the following factors attractive: Airport City will become the economic engine a skilled workforce, digital infrastruc- of Finland in the future, hosting 1,900 com- tures, open data, and municipal policies panies, employing 35,000 people, and grow- (CITY keys… 2017). Smart city strategies can ing by 600,000 new residents in the airport help the municipality enable these factors. area. It is the driver of the business de- In Vantaa, the Vantaa Business Department velopment in Vantaa. has been working with smart city strategies, Comparing Vantaa’s vision to the current and they have developed a series of pro- business development situation, we can see jects to provide open and smart services to that there are both challenges and opportu- entrepreneurs (Eskelä 2017). However, lack nities, and Vantaa still has a long way to of investment has limited their ability to go. While boosting new drivers and construc- empower more projects. tion from outside, providing a more attrac- To improve their ability to tempt new tive business environment for entrepreneurs businesses, the six largest cities in Fin- could be the next step. land (Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, Tur- ku and Oulu) have created a collaboration, funded by the European Union: “6Aika.” 6Aika Chapter 2
is a solution-oriented thematic collabora- es and other users. The “Data Insights and tion with the aim of creating new business, Business Project” is meant to provide “work know-how, and jobs in Finland. The collab- packages” with data practice and experience. oration focuses on improving open data and These work packages include: the “Aviapolis interfaces, open participation and customer Service” package for travelers, the “Good relationships, and open innovation plat- Long Life” package for health research, and forms. The member cities develop their own the “In Training Insights and Business” projects that target their own city prob- package for utilizing analytics and service lems, call for proposals, and provide fund- design. This project started in August 2016, ing for the projects after selection (Vantaa and it is expected to be completed in Decem- – 6Aika 2017). ber 2017 (Datasta oivalluksia... 2017). Companies and the city can bring their own Vantaa Smart City Strategy for Businesses development projects to innovation plat- forms that will be discussed, developed, and Entrepreneurship is seen as the enabling tested in collaboration with residents and factor in these initiatives. Due to the workers. This user-oriented model creates resilience, adaptability, and transforma- new innovations and new business (Vantaa – tion-potential of large metropolitan areas, 6Aika 2017). The city community is a unit entrepreneurs are encouraged to develop new consisting of citizens, companies, research solutions for current and future city chal- and educational institutions, and public ad- lenges (Eraydin & Tasan-Kok 2012). ministration. Innovation platforms are work- Vantaa has generated localized smart ing environments that enable the develop- strategies for businesses on the basis of ment of new products, services, and markets 6Aika’s focus areas (Vantaa – 6Aika 2017). while allowing the entire city community to 49 Vantaa wants to open their data to support work together to create new services, solu- the creation of new innovations, both func- tions, and businesses (Figure 5). Innovation tionally and technologically, for business- platforms are tools that cover the entire
Figure 5. Innovation Platforms. Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018
lifecycle of a service - from idea to test- Entrepreneurs in the Innovation Platform ing, and from testing to production (Vantaa – 6Aika 2017). Technology-Enabled Local Entrepreneurship To create this innovation platform, Van- The Internet of Things (IoT) has created taa has launched a few projects that can be value in diverse domains such as healthcare, explored. First, in the areas of Myyrmäki, transportation, environmental sustainabili- Martinlaakso, and Tikkurila, regional entre- ty, advertising, and brand management. (Nam- preneurship and services will be developed bisan 2017) horizontally with various parties. Second, Advancements in new technologies are once the Petikko-Varisto business area develop- again enabling cities to solve their broader ment aims to improve the vitality of the problems, particularly in the areas of mo- area. The city will take measures in co-op- bility, public services, and infrastructure. eration with the region’s merchant associ- In an effort to do so, smart cities often ation and entrepreneurs. Third, the library emulate technology platforms, by espousing will be developed as the heart of urban open data conduits - opening up their data development and as a working environment for for local entrepreneurs to leverage and cre- the business community. The libraries will ate solutions that lead to urban transforma- create common workspaces, enabling start-ups tions (Almirall et al. 2016). and ideas for entrepreneurship. Each library Technological innovations are not re- will make a strong use of the locality, and stricted to local or even national pro- the first phase will included Lumo Library jects or ventures but are open to all global Kori, Tikkurila Library, and Point’s Li- companies and technologies (Sarma & Sunny brary in Kartanonkoski. Fourth and finally, 2017). Entrepreneurs that recognize the op- new solutions to the challenges of the city 50 portunity to solve social problems, provide are being sought; businesses tell the city their solution with the goal of making a about their own procurement solutions, from financial profit, while municipalities gain which the city gets new ideas to solve their the solutions through their cooperation. own challenges. Thus, the city will develop new, need-based procurement solutions (6Aika Even though it sounds like a win-win plan 2017). for both the entrepreneurs and the munic- ipality, it can be challenging for social To open involvement and customer relation- ventures to operate and scale while trying ships as well as develop e-business servic- to balance financial and social missions, es, Vantaa plans to provide residents with especially in a context where the city is a digitalized, comprehensive services that customer as well as a developmental partner. can be used by the customer regardless of Which, then, is the primary goal: place- time and place (Hautanen 2017). For exam- based social impact or short-term economic ple, home-serviced pill dispensers are being gain? Such dual focus results in ambiguity tested in Vantaa. Additionally, Vantaa’s for entrepreneurs (Townsend & Hart 2008). health clinics are working with technology companies to develop “Medicine Robots” that To learn from the entrepreneur’s perspec- can help speed up a patient’s case instruc- tive, we interviewed an engineer who worked tions and improve medicine safety. with the Helsinki Municipality on the Kala- satama project. This interview is not spe- Some innovations and projects have also cifically about Vantaa, but nonetheless it been proposed for the Aviapolis area. The gives the audience a general understanding City of Vantaa is developing Aviapolis in about cooperation between entrepreneurs and close co-operation with a range of stake- the city. His company worked on the develop- holders and business networks (Smart Air- ment of trash bin sensors that will be pro- port… 2017). Proposals includes green walls moted in the whole area. We asked him about and vertical gardens, car-sharing, auton- his working experiences, responsibilities, omous indoor flying robots, and IoT solu- how the company communicated with the city, tions. and what the benefits and challenges were Chapter 2
Aspects Benefits and Challenges
Scale Municipal tasks can help the company to expand their markets very quickly. Once the product is ready, it will be used everywhere in the region.
Profit Generous investments for product research and large profit potential for the companies.
Requirements Municipalities have a reputation as demanding clients.
Value pursuit Municipalities pursue the add-on values for branding and marketing in addition to the product’s functions.
Bureaucratic The bureaucratic process consumes a lot of time and energy for the Table 2. Benefits and challeng- legacy company (endless meetings and long-waiting process). es in the cooperation with the municipality.
51 working with the municipality. We summarized taa is transparency. That is why the city is his main points in Table 2. developing its operating methods and tools to be participatory and open. According to their idea of “Time Strategy,” Vantaa wants Barriers and Support to open its own functions, facilities and, Having data open to the public has been more generally, the urban environment for an important factor in enabling innova- various experiments (Vantaa – 6Aika 2017). tive platforms. However, being exposed to With the municipality as the customer and big data does not necessarily mean that a cooperator, keeping the system transparent startup knows how to use the data for the can create an open and equal atmosphere in problem they want to tackle. There seems to the innovative platform. be an abundance of data at the city level Some of the barriers for entrepreneurs are that is being made available to the public the municipality’s bureaucratic methods and by local city governments, through open data their lack of flexibility. The most signifi- portals (Berrone et al. 2016). Even though cant barriers to adopting smart city solu- there have been many successful cases of tions are the multi-party or multilevel pro- startups working successfully with big data, cesses in cities (Falconer & Mitchell 2012). there are still problems when it comes to Many areas of government are still locked data utilization. Large companies have the in legacy systems and incumbent inertia, at experts and experience, while startups lack times from the change drivers themselves technical ICT skills on a large scale to (Hodgkinson 2011). Entrepreneurs began with deal with the big data. This creates an in- smaller projects, and the limited scale and ability to see the big picture regarding the scope in hackathons and other events made design as to how the raw data can be used idea generation an end in itself. This po- (Sarma & Sunny 2017). tentially explains why the number of ven- In the case of the “Vantaa Open Innovation tures created from data projects has been Platform,” the principle of the City of Van- limited, and why entrepreneurial activity Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018
ends upon completion of project objectives There is a third-party organization (7) (Cohen et al. 2016). that works like a neutral agent, looking at Startups need the continuous input of both sides and passing on opinions between funding to survive. It either comes from the municipality and entrepreneurs. In Van- government funding, EU funding (like with taa, 6Aika is one of the organizations that 6Aika), or from private angel investments. play the role of agent. Agents usually are However, these local entrepreneurs who are the expert on one specific area and have embedded in collaborative networks also gen- connections with governments. They advise erally lack the formalized capital that most the municipality (8) on the policy level, corporate innovators are likely to possess. while at the same time, they work close- Even with well-functioning laboratories, in- ly with entrepreneurs (9) on real projects. ventive or creative problem solving does not When small startups are being working on readily occur for corporate leaders given with a municipality, the agent, as an ex- that they lack the local context of the ear- pert, can help fill the gap between the lier groups (Browder et al. 2017). A healthy broad versus narrow scale. ecosystem is needed to empower the entre- In the case of smart Vantaa projects, the preneurs and provide the tunnel of resource smart city strategy was first utilized in exchange to survive in this open innovation the business department, where the motiva- platform. tion was to provide better business ser- vices. Then the strategy expanded to other social areas like transportation, mobili- Working Model ty, and culture (Eskelä 2017). The driving In Vantaa’s innovation platform, the City of force is still restricted within the same 52 Vantaa is the original organizer and spon- team; the knowledge and experience stays in sor of many smart city projects, with 6Aika the silo, and thus it lacks input from other supporting Vantaa’s Business Department to governing units (10). promote smart city strategies in business How startups turn solutions into prof- development. The same intention of solving it is still unclear (11). In the smart city the city’s problems bonds the city and the context, most entrepreneurs are offered an civic entrepreneurs together. After all the opportunity to solve a social problem in investigation and analysis we have tried to which financial returns are not readily conclude with the main factors, draw up the clear, nor are the solution’s sustainability working model behind smart city projects, (Sarma & Sunny 2017). This is further com- illustrate the direct and indirect connec- plicated by the fact that social and envi- tion between the factors, and finally reveal ronmental impacts are problematic, and ways the limits of the factors and how they are to gauge performance measurement are still influencing each other on a specific aspect lacking (Austin et al. 2006). Due to the (see Figure 6 for an overview of the working missing interaction with their “customer,” model). it is hard to predict the risks early in the In a smart city project, the municipality, process. Who will pay for the solution after entrepreneurs, and the social problems are it is produced? Can the results meet the the three main factors in the working model requirements of the municipality? Who should (1,2,3). The City of Vantaa seeks solutions fund the prior research? Startups need both for social problems through this platform technical and financial support to survive. (4), so they play the role of ´Customer´. From our talk with officers from the City of Entrepreneurs play the role of ´Vendor´ by Vantaa, there is a limited amount of funding providing the solutions utilizing technol- (12), so only a few projects can feasibly be ogies on the issue (5). However, we failed implemented. to find any formal connection defined in the governing system between the ´Customer´ and Open Discussion the ´Vendor´, they have no channel for di- rect dialogue (6). After analyzing the current business devel- Chapter 2
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Figure 6. Working model of Vantaa innovation platform. Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018
opment and employment situation in Vantaa, (2016). The open kimono: Toward a gen- Helsinki and Espoo in the context of the eral framework for open data initiatives Helsinki metropolitan area, we can see that in cities. California Management Review Vantaa is developing rapidly in some busi- 59(1), 39–70. ness areas, but the business volume is much Browder, R. E., Aldrich, H. E., & Bradley, smaller compared to the other two cities. S. W. (2017; working paper). Entrepre- Smart city strategies could help Vantaa cre- neurship research, makers, and the maker ate a better environment for new technology movement. DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.20230.37441 business development. Vantaa and 6Aika also realized the power enabled by open innova- CITY keys list of city indicators (2017). tion platforms and open data, so the Vantaa European Commission, 9–11. Business Department has started to create Cohen, B., Almirall, E., & Chesbrough, H. various new projects on e-services and smart (2016). The city as a lab: Open inno- mobility. With the influence of the busy vation meets the collaborative economy. Helsinki Vantaa Airport and the on-going California Management Review 59(1), 5–13. Aviapolis Airport City project, the business Datasta oivalluksia ja bisnestä – COSS.fi potential could be huge in the future. (2017). 27.11.2017.
Institute (2017). University of Oxford. 27.11.2017.
55 Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018
mark. This means that the ratio of vehicles Car Use in Vantaa: Oppor- to people was 1:6.75 (World vehicle… 2011). tunities That Smart Mo- The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) predicts that by bility Could Offer 2050, the growth of mobility will increase at least 30 percent (Transport outlook… 2011). In 2015, approximately 83 percent of kilometers travelled in the European Un- by Noora Haavisto ion were done in private cars (Modal split… Introduction 2017). However, the utilization rate of cars is extremely poor, as cars are not in use 95 It is clear that cars evoke a wide range percent of the time (Shoup 2005; Urban mo- of feelings. It can feel liberating when bility… 2015). If the passenger miles-trave- you are able to move around, and empower- led-per-person stays the same, and ownership ing because you are your own master. You can of cars increases along with GDP, as it has decide when and where you want to go, and until now, the passenger miles could dou- it offers social inclusion when you have the ble (McKerracher et al. 2016). To function, opportunity to see your friends and family. urban areas need efficient and sustaina- On the other hand, if you are not able to ble transport systems to boost the economic drive, you might feel social exclusion and growth and social wellbeing (Schippl & Puhe disempowerment. Some see car ownership as an 2012; A closer look… 2013; McKerracher et individual right, while others are concerned al. 2016). about the negative effects of cars in our While cars have affected our lives pos- everyday lives, which will be presented be- itively in so many ways, and even though 56 low. Some even feel that new mobility solu- transportation is crucial for a lively and tions are an attack on not just their car, competitive urban area, it is also a huge but their culture (Sheller 2015, 221–230). source of negative impacts such as emis- It is presumed that people always make a sions, noise pollution, reduced space for rational choice when choosing their travel living, accidents, traffic congestion, and mode. However, this distorts our understand- urban sprawl (Mitchell et al. 2010; Ban- ing of everyday mobility, because people of- ister et al. 2011; Schippl & Puhe 2012; A ten do not make rational choices when there closer look… 2013). David Banister et alia are so many feelings involved. This is also (2011) describe greenhouse gas emissions the reason why so many attempts to change as the most immediate problem in the field the behavior of private car usage have of transportation. Traffic congestion costs failed. Often when drawing up strategies billions of dollars; in the United States to change people’s mobility behavior, it is alone, costs are estimated to be 115 billion forgotten that the car culture consists of dollars a year (McKerracher et al. 2016). material and social dimensions, but above In 2013, 1.25 million people were killed all, affective dimensions. In this instance, in road traffic accidents globally (Global affective dimensions refer to the feelings status… 2015). On top of that, 50 million people have towards their cars (Sheller people suffer from non-fatal accidents every 2015, 221–224). year, which has economic costs and impacts If cars are so important to us, why do we on the quality of life (Arbib & Seba 2017). need to change our habits when the ever-ex- These all are serious problems that should panding mobility of people provides access be carefully considered. to employment opportunities, health ser- There is demand for sustainable transpor- vices, shopping, and to maintaining social tation (Banister et al. 2011), and mobil- networks (see Mitchell et al. 2010; Banister ity will most likely look quite different et al. 2011; A closer look… 2013)? In 2010, in the future (Hensher 2017). To achieve for the first time ever, the number of vehi- sustainable transportation, we need to put cles in the world surpassed the one billion effort into developing vehicle technology Chapter 2
and infrastructure, and, most importantly, 56–57). to reduce car dependency through changing In this way, Ford had a considerable im- the behavior of travelers (Graham-Rowe et pact on the mass markets being formed. This al. 2011; Schippel & Puhe 2012). Individuals growth in available commodities created the will be the key for new modes of transpor- birth of suburbia in the 1950s. After that tation to succeed (McKerracher et al. 2016). cities were no longer planned for pub- Urban transportation needs to be viewed from lic transport, but for private cars. Hence a holistic perspective, as transportation is private cars enabled the birth and growth a system consisting of technical and social of suburbs (Perkins & Thorns 2012, 56–57). aspects. It is important to understand these As cars have had such a major impact on the aspects and how they interrelate, and to birth of suburbia, it would be difficult to be able to influence them (Schippel & Puhe argue that cars are not part of suburban 2012). identity. This study concentrates on the conditions Of course, it would be a sweeping gener- inside Vantaa and tries to recognize pos- alization to assume this is also the case in sible car use differences between “suburban Vantaa, and it is also important to recog- centers” and “suburban suburbs.” The aim is nize that the book by Perkins and Thorns was to answer the question of whether the car not written in the Finnish context. However is a part of the Vantaa suburban identity, according to Sari Hirvonen (2005), who wrote by studying inhabitants’ car use in Vantaa. the history of urban planning in Vantaa, This has been done by analyzing several da- the opportunity to own your own car did tasets, such as data on the number of cars, strengthen Vantaa’s position as a suburb of traveler income, and travel preferences. Helsinki. During the great depression in the This information is crucial if we want to 1930s, as an action of support, the gov- 57 change the car identity and people’s mobil- ernment employed unemployed people to build ity behavior. Without knowledge it is hard highways. As a result, all the main highways to make changes. Finally, at the end of this to Helsinki went through Vantaa. Car traf- paper, there will be a discussion around fic was suitable for the rural municipality, smart mobility and how it can help in the where distances were long and commuting by context of Vantaa. bus was difficult. In 1951, the metropoli- tan region had a transportation crisis, and private car ownership was considered to be a way to relieve the pressure of the need Car and Suburban Identity in Vantaa for improved public transportation. Thus, traffic planning was based on private cars Car Use in Vantaa (Hirvonen 2005, 15–21). Urbanization in the 1900s was mostly caused Nowadays, inhabitants of Vantaa are in- by industrial expansion, which was enabled creasing their use of private cars. The by assembly lines and the growth of services Helsinki Regional Transport Authority made a and commodities. Industrialization made it study of mobility preferences in 2012. This possible to build cities based on mass tran- study indicates that in the Helsinki met- sit modes. Responding to this modernization, ropolitan area, private car usage is only political and administrative decisions were increasing in Vantaa. Between 2008 and 2012, made so that people could actually afford the number of no-car households increased to consume these products. This is called in Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. Only in Fordism as Henry Ford, the founder of the Vantaa has the proportion of no-car house- Ford Motor Company, was one of the first who holds decreased, and the proportion of two- thought it was important for his employees car households increased. In Helsinki, half to be able to buy the products they manu- of all trips were made by public transport, factured. He created the famous Model T car, while in Vantaa the proportion was only one- so that the working class could actually third (Liikennetottumukset... 2015, 69–93). afford to buy a car. (Perkins & Thorns 2012, Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018
When comparing the proportion of com- still have strong effects on the mindset muting to that of leisure/shopping by car, of the inhabitants and officials of Vantaa, the difference is quite large: 66 percent even today. Also, according to Oya Duman of commutes were made by car, whereas the (in this book), Vantaa is still in the very amount for leisure/shopping was 80 percent. early stage of multicentricity, and the only One interesting thing to note is that people true center that can be identified in the in their thirties (many of whom have chil- Helsinki metropolitan area is Helsinki. dren) were the ones who increased their use After undertaking this analysis it became of public transport, whereas the over-65 clear that post code areas are not precise demographic increased their use of the car enough for analysis. For example, Tikkuri- (Liikennetottumukset... 2015, 69–93). la has a center around the railway station, but also has large areas that are character- GIS Analyses ized more often as suburban. Additionally, the postcode area of Hakunila is vast, so it Figures 7 and 8 have been created to vis- cannot entirely be considered to be a center ualize important facts that can help us to from end to end. define the role of cars in Vantaa’s subur- Interestingly, along the railway lines ban identity. The data came from Statistics in the east from Tikkurila to Korso, and in Finland (Income and… 2017). The car data are the west from Myyrmäki to Martinlaakso, the from 2016, and the number of inhabitant is car ratio is almost invariably in the two from 2017. Figure 7 shows the ratio of cars lower quantiles. It needs to be taken into in proportion to inhabitants in Vantaa. The account that the Ring Rail (opened in July residential areas are included to show how 2015) had only been operating for 18 months 58 much of one post code area is actually in- when these car data were collected, which habited. Figure 8 shows the average income partly explains why the car ratio is quite of one post code in 2017. By comparison, the high along that part of the railway lines. average income of Finland was 28,750 euros This is compelling evidence that good public in 2015 (Income and… 2017). For both maps, transport can decrease the number of cars, the classes have been divided into quar- and this is itself important information, tiles, so each class contains one quarter of even though it does not directly answer the the post codes. research question. This analysis contrasts the car usage Also interesting in this analysis are the ratio of suburban areas and center are- clear differences in the car cultures of as. Center areas were considered to be the east and west Vantaa. Could this be ex- five city centers which Vantaa is currently plained by the different quality of pub- developing: Tikkurila, Aviapolis, Myyrmäki, lic transport? According to Vantaa’s 6Aika Kivistö, and Hakunila. Figure 7 indicates specialist Elina Eskelä (2017), who was that Hakunila and Myyrmäki are in the lowest interviewed for this study, east and west quartile, none of Vantaa’s city centers are Vantaa identify themselves very differently. in the second lowest quartile, Tikkurila and This is only strengthened by the fact that Kivistö are in the second highest quartile, before the Ring Rail, the public trans- and Aviapolis is in the highest quartile. portation connections between the east and These results do not directly support the west were very poor. So, is the car a part assertion that cars would be a part of sub- of the western Vantaa identity but not that urban identity because the center areas also of east-Vantaa? Should the research ques- have a high ratio of cars. These results tion be, “Are cars more a part of western from city centers vary greatly and subse- Vantaa’s identity compared to east-Vantaa’s quently raise the question: what is suburbia identity?” Then the car identity would not and what is a center? According to Hirvonen be explained by the suburban characteris- (2005, 95), at least until the 1970s, Vantaa tic of one’s living habitat, but more by was officially considered to be a suburb of the geographical location’s accessibility. Helsinki and not its own city. This could Could it be that cars have an agglomeration Chapter 2
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Figure 7. The ratio of cars to the population. Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018
effect, so that if your neighbor has a car, with the actual use of public transport, you will buy one also? because 56 percent of respondents used a car As the car ownership ratio is drastical- daily or almost daily, but only 31 percent ly different between the east and west, it used public transportation daily or almost is also interesting and important to analyze daily. the income differences. According to Salla Why were the respondents generally some- Kuisma (2017), who studied the daily travel what satisfied with the public transport of Finnish people, 29 percent of low income of Vantaa, but still did not use it often, (under €20,000) households have a car in even when inhabitants had the opportunity Finland, whereas 86 percent of high income to use different public transport modes more (over €40,000) households own one. The dif- than a car? This could be explained with the ference of income related to car ownership pleasantness of different transport modes. can be seen also in Figure 8. West Vantaa Table 4 indicates that almost 80 percent has more cars but also higher incomes. In of respondents feel that travelling by car western Vantaa around half of the post codes is very pleasant or pleasant, whereas only have income in the two higher quartiles, around 30 percent feel that busses are, and whereas eastern Vantaa has only a few. This 40 percent feel that trains are very pleas- supports Kuisma’s thesis that people with ant or pleasant. Thus, it is probable that more money have more cars. So, is the car cars are used more often, because people identity related more to geographical loca- feel more pleasant travelling with them. It tion and income, than living environment? is important to study which factors would make the public transport more pleasant to passengers and then make adequate changes. Travel Preferences of Vantaa Inhabitants 60 When asking the respondents about the Kuisma (2017), in cooperation with VTT Tech- factors that are important for their travel nical Research Centre of Finland, has stud- to work or study places, speed was the most ied the travel preferences of Finnish people important factor (Table 5), as 56.8 percent in the five biggest cities in Finland. She of the respondents answered that speed was kindly allowed us to use her questionnaire very important. This also explains the use data, of 1,163 respondents, in this study. of cars, as they are usually considered to For this study the data have been limited be the fastest travel mode. The second most to considering only the 109 respondents from important factor was freedom of not being Vantaa. The questionnaire was executed by bound to transport time tables; people like Taloustutkimuskeskus, and the data were ana- to travel when they feel like doing so. The lyzed by SPSS software. third most important factor was changing be- Of those 109 respondents in Vantaa, 87 tween vehicles. It is not considered pleas- percent had a car in their household, 90 ant if you cannot get to your destination percent had a driving license, and 87 per- with only one vehicle. The disadvantages cent had a public transport pass. Table3 of public transport are thus considered to indicates the transport mode options the be the slow speed, binding timetables, the respondents had on their ordinary trips. effects of weather conditions, and indirect Almost all respondents had the opportunity lines. to use the bus in their everyday travels, and only 75 percent had the option of using Smart Opportunities in Vantaa a car. From the respondents in Vantaa, 20 percent Smart mobility is one of the main charac- were very satisfied, and 47 percent were teristics of smart cities: it will help to quite satisfied with the public transport reduce congestion, lower accident rates, connections in their city; meaning 67 per- improve air quality, shrink the urban foot- cent were satisfied with the public trans- print required for parking, and be a tool portation in Vantaa. This does not correlate for achieving sustainable city development. There is no standard definition for smart Chapter 2
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Figure 8. The annual average income by postcode. Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018
Table 3. Inhabitants On ordinary trips, do you have the possibility to use car, bus or train? (%) possibility to use dif- in Vantaa (n=109) ferent mobility modes (Kuisma 2017). Mode of transportation Yes No Table 4. The pleasant- Car 75.2 24.8 ness experienced by the inhabitants of Vantaa Bus 93.6 6.4 when using different mobility modes (Kuisma Train 79.8 20.2 2017).
Table 5. The importance of different factors when travelling to work/ How pleasant do you usually find travelling with the following modes? (%) study (Kuisma 2017). in Vantaa (n=109)
7 = Very pleasant Car Bus Train 1 = Very unpleasant
7 56.9 7.3 15.9
6 31.2 22.0 24.8
5 7.3 25.7 26.6
62 4 1.8 25.7 18.3
3 - 12.8 5.5
2 - 3.7 4.6
1 0.9 0.9 0.9
How important are the following factors for your trips to work/study? (%) in Vantaa (n=109)
9 = Very Travelling I travel by the I am not bound As little I don’t have to Number of important doesn’t require fastest means to transport walking as be outside in changes 1 = Not at much money possible timetables possible bad weather between all important vehicles
9 18.9 56.8 40.5 5.4 21.6 36.5
8 10.8 12.2 10.8 9.5 14.9 16.2
7 14.9 9.5 14.9 13.5 16.2 9.5
6 13.5 8.1 5.1 6.8 12.2 10.8
5 14.9 4.1 6.8 8.1 12.2 6.8
4 6.8 4.1 2.7 9.5 6.8 2.7
3 4.1 2.7 9.5 18.9 4.1 4.1
2 5.4 1.4 6.8 6.8 6.8 4.1
1 9.5 1.4 1.4 17.6 4.1 6.8
Chapter 2
mobility, as the research is still only in are of course important to some inhabitants, its early stages (Faria et al. 2017). Albino as they enable some people to only drive to et alia (2015, 11) describe smart mobili- the station, versus all the way. But these ty as, “the use of ICT in modern transport should not be considered the best solution technologies to improve urban traffic.” to the “last mile problem,” because it still There are also other definitions, but they involves the use of private cars. all have in common that information and com- Since the usage of private cars is in- munication technologies (ICT) should be used creasing in Vantaa, one solution could be (Faria et al. 2017). robot busses. Interviews done with passen- Finland is currently one of the leading gers of the “Easymile EZ-10” robot bus (that countries in the field of smart mobility, operated in Otaniemi, Espoo, in the fall and Vantaa should take advantage of that. of 2017) (Robot bus… 2017), revealed that Finland is the home to the first mobil- even those who strongly preferred a car as ity-as-a-service ecosystem in the world, their primary mode of transportation, stat- called “Maas Global” (see Better than… ed that they would be willing to travel by 2017), and Finnish legislation is favorable robot bus, even though they would not use towards autonomous vehicles (Smart mobility a normal bus. Over all, the respondents of 2017). Therefore, it is disappointing that those interviews considered robot buses as the public transport report for Vantaa’s a positive innovation. Harri Santamala, the master plan 2020 does not mention smart mo- project manager of the robot bus project at bility at all (Joukkoliikennekaupunki Vantaa the Metropolia University of Applied Scienc- 2014). Does this mean that smart mobility es, stated in an interview in Kauppalehti solutions are being left only to private (Viljanen 2016), that he believes that when businesses to worry about? Businesses can there is better access to public trans- 63 only accomplish so much on their own; they port, and it takes commuters closer to their need efficient policies and regulations to destination, it will discourage the use of support their endeavors, as well as close private cars. He also says that robot busses cooperation with city officials. are convenient during bad weather, which was According to the Vantaa Strategy 2013– one of the important factors of respondents 2017, the transportation system based on in Kuisma’s (2017) questionnaire. In this public transport will tie Vantaa into the sense, robot buses could transport people Helsinki region city network. Densification from the railway station to home, and the of the city structure and development of other way around. The effects of robot buses public transport provide the opportunity to could be intensified with the ability to renew the service structure. The key objec- summon the bus in real time so that it would tives are to concentrate building along the take you directly home. This could also be railway lines, so the need for private cars one solution for the last mile problem of diminishes (Valtuustokauden… 2015). This is train stations. Robot buses could be sum- evidence that Vantaa has realized that some- moned to your home and transport you to the thing must be done with the use of private station, in which case there would not be a cars. However, the strategy does not provide need to build more park-and-ride lots. an explanation of how precisely they are go- The question that Vantaa’s urban plan- ing to decrease the number of private cars. ners should be considering is how can public The simple need for decreasing private cars goals, (such as encouraging higher produc- does not mean that the number of private tivity and reducing congestion, while the cars will actually decrease. As a matter bringing related benefits of fewer traffic of fact, Vantaa is increasing the number accidents, better air quality, and a smaller of parking lots in park-and-rides along the urban footprint for parking), be supported railways (Valtuustokauden… 2015). The offi- with today’s expanded mobility ecosystems cials of Vantaa need to be careful that the (Viechnicki et al. 2015)? The advantage Van- increased number of park-and-rides will not taa has is the ring rail. Figure 7 indicated just encourage people to drive more. They that there are fewer cars beside the ring Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018
rail. It is not beneficial to build rail- relation can be found with income and geo- way lines to all parts of Vantaa, but it is graphical location. Also, data more precise possible to increase the range of the area than postcodes would be needed to define if which the railway lines influence. This is the car is a part of suburban identity, as possible with the so-called last mile solu- there can be a variety of different living tions, like robot busses. environments in a single postcode. But this Vantaa has a large role in the 6Aika raised the question of if Vantaa is just a strategy, which will lead to the develop- suburb of Helsinki, and therefore it does ment of more open and smart services and its not have centers, thus the suburban identi- aim is to provide more knowledge, business- ty cannot be defined in this study. But if es, and jobs in Finland (Uutta kaupunkia... a car is indeed a part of Vantaa’s identity 2017). But according to Eskelä (2017), Van- it can only encourage other inhabitants to taa has the least application submissions acquire a car for the feeling of belonging. for 6Aika. It would benefit the municipality Then the disadvantages of cars will be em- to support the local businesses in apply- phasized. ing for funding from 6Aika and develop their Travel preferences revealed that inhabit- business ideas. One good action could be to ants of Vantaa are generally satisfied with improve awareness of the 6Aika program. One the city’s public transport. However, that innovative shared taxi startup company which satisfaction does not actually correlate was funded by 6Aika in Vantaa is “Vedia.” with the use of public transport. Only 31 Vedia provides shared trips to people going percent of residents used public transport the same direction, creating cheaper and daily or almost daily. This is the gap on more environmentally friendly ways to travel which Vantaa should take action. Even when 64 (Vedia Taxi… 2016). cars are considered to be the most pleasant The important factors of traveling, ac- mode of travel, it is important to note that cording to the respondents of Kuisma’s busses and trains were not considered to be (2017) questionnaire, were speed, not being unpleasant. It would definitely be possible bound to timetables, not waiting in bad to increase the inhabitants’ use of public weather, and the number of vehicle changes. transport; especially with regards to the How smart mobility could tackle these prob- factors residents felt were important when lems should be explored. The speed could be travelling, which are generally not realized solved with better management of transporta- in public transport today. The travel pref- tion and better applications that illustrate erence data of Vantaa inhabitants should be the possible mobility options. If smart exploited to make a change in the behavior mobility manages to make public transport of car users. more attractive, by increasing the number Mobility practices are changing and new of users, it would be possible to have more mobility services, based on the concept of vehicles, and thus more frequent trips. This smart mobility, are popping up constant- would help with the current feeling of being ly. Therefore, it is a bit disappointing bound to timetables. that Vantaa does not mention smart mobili- ty in their public transport report, which Conclusions is related to the 2020 master plan. Indi- vidual private mobility projects will not Private cars have negative effects on our diminish the use of cars, which is the key lives, but many people are still attached to mobility-related objective of Vantaa. Vantaa them, as they evoke strong feelings. This could actually inadvertently create more study aimed to assess if cars are, in fact, inequality if there is no public opera- a part of Vantaa’s suburban identity. This tor controlling the development. If Vantaa was a harder task than expected. According will rely only on the current public trans- to the GIS analyses, it cannot be direct- port mode opportunities to reduce the use ly said that the car is a part of suburban of cars, it will most likely fail. Those identity in Vantaa. Instead, a stronger cor- opportunities have done basically the oppo- Chapter 2
site in the past, so why would they do any Interview 17.11.2017, interviewed by Chang differently in the future? Thus, the only Liu, Norra Haavisto and Barbara Radaelli. way is the introduction of smart mobili- Faria, R., Brito, L. & Baras, K. (2017). ty, with which the support of the city is Smart mobility: A survey. Internet of crucial. The good thing is that Vantaa is Things for the Global Community (IoTGC), considering the question of transportation 2017. International Conference on 2017 in their strategy, although concrete actions International Conference on Inter- are still missing from it. It is a mistake net of Things for the Global Community. to believe that by concentrating the build- DOI:10.1109/IoTGC.2017.8008972 ing of houses beside the railway lines would automatically decrease the use of cars. Ac- Global status report on road safety 2015 tions need to be taken to change the behav- (2015). World Health Organization. ior of car users. 7.10.2017.
Mitchell J., Borroni-Birds, W. C. E. & ment-in-aviapolis-vantaa/> Burns, L. D. (2010). Reinventing the au- Viechnicki P., Khuperkar A., Fishman, T. D. tomobile: personal urban mobility for the & Eggers, W. D. (2015). Smart mobility: 21st century. The MIT Press, Cambridge. Reducing congestion and fostering fast- Modal split of passenger transport (2017). er, greener, and cheaper transportation Eurostat. 24.9.2017. 67 Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018 new… 2017). During spring 2017, the City of Smart Vantaa began the development of “Participa- Participatory Art tory Vantaa” with citizens and city services (Osallistuva Vantaa… 2017). This means that there is the opportunity for Vantaa to cre- ate a new form of art: Smart Participatory by Barbara Radaelli-Muuronen Art. Finland is already internationally well Introduction known for good design and technology. The willingness to develop new forms of partic- This study is a review of the opportunity ipatory art using artificial intelligence of maximizing cultural value in the subur- was recently demonstrated during the ARS17 ban area of Aviapolis, as it is going to Hackathon, an event organized by the Kiasma be developed into a vivid aerotropolis. The Museum of Contemporary Art, in collabora- main goal is to describe the existing ways tion with the Microsoft Corporation (ARS17… of funding and actualizing public art, but 2017). Artificial intelligence could be used also proposing new ideas of art acquisition to engage residents to make a better city through citizens’ participation, using arti- for themselves, for example by sending in- ficial intelligence and financing art with novative ideas through applications when en- the participatory budgeting model. tering geo-fences in new construction areas. The opprtunities for art to improve the These applications already exist for other value of new areas such as Aviapolis will be general purposes; it is my suggestion to ex- discussed. Aviapolis is a hub of interna- tend their use to participatory art as well. 68 tional interaction, with 1.6 million tour- In this study, I describe two internation- ists and business travelers passing through al cases as examples of enhancing suburban it each year. Public art in Aviapolis can areas with resident’s participation in art. thus work as a showcase of Finnish design The cases include: Renzo Piano & G124 “Under and help strengthen the Finnish brand. With the Viaduct” in Rome, Italy, as well as an these premises, investments in art and de- extremely colorful project realized in Bra- sign would add great value to the area of zilian favelas by Dutch artists Haas &Hahn. Aviapolis, and would provide even more in- These two cases illustrate that through art, ternational prestige to the entire country, it is possible to achieve sustainability and in the cultural and artistic spheres. raise the sense of membership in a neighbor- The suggestion of a new participatory hood. I claim that similar participatory art way of financing art is an addition to the projects in Aviapolis would most probably traditional percentage financing princi- provide an improved sense of identity and ple, which can be used to acquire art in citizenship to old and new residents alike, new construction or renovated areas, but not and it could be accomplished with the use necessarily for projects that do not strict- of existing smart applications and artifi- ly belong to the political strategies of cial intelligence. Aviapolis is located in a the City. This new potential form of public knot of national and international exchang- art procurement, the participatory budget- es; investment in art in the urban space ing model, would be used as an additional will equate to a global launch platform for form of financing art, when the acquisition artists living in Finland, and the neighbor- of public art is desired for an idea coming hood residents would be patrons of the arts from the residents of a neighborhood. through their own smart participation. Recently many Finnish cities have intro- A survey run by The Percent for Art Pro- duced participatory budgeting models. On No- ject revealed that Finnish people love art vember 13, The Helsinki City Board approved and they want to see it in their everyday the implementation of a participation plan life (Kansalaisten käsityksiä… 2014; Pulkki- for 2018–2021, based on the City principles nen & Hannus 2015a). In the fall TNS Gallup of participation and interaction (Helsinki’s was commissioned to survey Finnish peo- Chapter 2 ple’s feelings about art in their everyday environments. TNS Gallup conducted tele- phone interviews with 1,004 Finns aged between 15 and 79. Seventy percent of the respondents said they wanted to see art in their everyday environments, such as res- idential areas, workplaces, and schools. The respondents unanimously agreed on the importance of art, regard- less of their age or place of residence. 71 percent of the respondents believed that art increases the value of a residential area or property. Nearly half (44 %) would also be prepared to pay a lit- tle more for an owner-occu- pied apartment if around one percent of its building costs were spent on art. As Avia- polis is going to build not 69 only working places, but also residential areas (Aviapolis Frame… 2014), the percent- age financing principle by private developers should be emphasised. The Role of Art in Urban Space Art and Everyday Environments Art has a vital role to play in our environment and has become an integral part of many urban areas. A high-quality environment is essential for good quality Figure 9. Keilaniemi Metro sta- tion, Espoo. Grönlund & Nisunen’s of life and high quality installation creates local identi- public art is necessary to ty with its distinctiveness. (pho- create that environment, be to: Barbara Radaelli-Muuronen) it an open space, public building, hospital or ed- ucation facility. (O’Dono- ghue 2004, 5) Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018 Since ancient times, art has been used Aviapolis’ Potential in the Artistic Sphere as a commemorative process of past events, helping to overcome traumatizing pasts, and Aviapolis is a fast-growing suburban area negotiate power relations and social val- located near the Helsinki Vantaa Airport, ues. Nowadays public art tends to create and which was built in 1952 for the Olympic renew local identities with the synthesized Games. The International Airport brought design of local elements. One of the newest to the surrounding areas industries, logis- successful examples of art in urban space in tics and offices, as well as houses designed Finland can be seen at the Keilaniemi metro by Alvar Aalto in Aerola (Aviapolis Frame… station, Espoo. The installation is made of 2014). At the moment, Aviapolis is home to led-light tubes under a black ceiling, cre- more than 18,000 residents and new resi- ating an illusion of the roof disappearing. dential blocks are to be built next to the At the same time, it is a reflection of the Aerola buildings. In the future, the Avia- identity of the area, which is strongly con- polis Airport City of Vantaa intends to be nected to science and technology. The great the most coveted business area in Europe, work, made by artists Tommi Grönlund and being located at an exceptional traffic flow Petteri Nisunen, provokes in the everyday location. The annual number of passengers at traveler an impactful experience of a light- the airport exceeded 10 million in 2000. In ing monument, and with its distinctiveness, 2013, more than 15 million passengers trav- the environment creates its local identity elled through the Airport, and it is esti- (Figure 9). mated that the growth will continue steadi- ly, in particular the traffic to Asia. The Art also helps to increase well-being area hosts 1,900 companies employing 35,000 and creates meaning for everyday life. For people (Aviapolis Frame… 2014). Aviapolis 70 decades, Finland has gained international offers, among other services, business-ori- acclaim for its stylish design. Contemporary ented hotel facilities, spas for tourists, a art often originates from industrial ceram- huge shopping center, and an international ic art, textile art, glass art, and exper- school. imental design based on conceptual contents (Ornamo 2017). Culture becomes available to The newest promoter for growth in the area everyone when placed in everyday environ- is the Ring Rail, connecting Helsinki Air- ments like schools, kindergartens, hospi- port to the Helsinki city center. The stra- tals, and parks. When placed on everyday tegic position and the premises available routes like at the aforementioned metro sta- in Aviapolis (Figure 10) have the potential tion, or a bench at the bus stop, these can to transform the currently confused suburban become the landmark of an area. Furthermore, area into a vivid, successful, livable, and quoting a review conducted by The UK Art diverse urban city. This would provide even Council (The value… 2014): more international prestige to the citizens of Vantaa, as well as Finland as a whole. If Arts and culture play an important role there is to be a significant investment in promoting social and economic growth public and private art and design, the prof- through local regeneration, attracting it would be on a national scale. tourists, the development of talent and Pauline Guinnard and Antonin Margier innovation, improving health and wellbe- (2017) stated that: ing, and delivering essential service. In a context of increased urban compe- tition, art and culture are often used Therefore, the role of urban art in the by cities world-wide as tools to improve international area of Aviapolis would have their image and make urban spaces attrac- great influence on the Finnish national tive. In that process, art is becoming a brand. new urban norm, which is normalizing not only urban space and experience, but also art itself. Chapter 2 71 Figure 10. Map of Aviapolis. Hosting Finland’s largest airport, the in- ternational connections of Aviapolis are broad. The new Ring Rail makes Aviapolis even more accessible (Aviapolis Frame… 2014). Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018 In order to understand how planning is be- into a cultural hub. The project was re- ing done for Aviapolis, in terms of art as alized with shipping containers to host a tool to attract citizens and visitors, workshops for local residents. Furniture was we interviewed Elina Eskelä, City of Vantaa made from used tires, and art installations Business Development Services Project Manag- were made from recycled materials, as an er and Six City Strategy (6Aika) Coordina- economic and sustainable choice. tor. According to the interview, Aviapolis Another challenging participatory public is intended to be built as a smart city. art project took place in Brazil in 2011, The Vantaa Art Museum is willing to promote to transform the rough neighborhood of Villa more accessible art, and they seek to con- Cruzeiro. The project was led by artists Dre nect layers of history with technology. For Urhahn and Jeroen Koolhaas (ie. Haas&Hahn) example, a park, inspired by the ice age and from Holland. The artists had the vision explorable by virtual reality, will be cre- to change the perceptions of “bad neighbor- ated in Vantaa (Eskelä 2017). Also, the city hoods,” by engaging locals to paint a new is striving to make new public art acquisi- colorful neighborhood themselves. Haas&Hahn tions inclusive and accessible to everyone, have given color to poor and gray suburbs preferably outdoors rather than inside prem- in Philadelphia, to the favelas of Rio de ises, which excludes some viewers. Janeiro, and also in Haiti. They gave locals The growth of Aviapolis in terms of new in tough neighborhoods the opportunity to workplaces, hotels, companies, shops, studi- change the image of their living areas just os, and residential areas will create huge by using colors (How art… 2017). opportunities for art and design. For in- Hass&Hahn completed their mission of in- stance, the new buildings and infrastructure spiring locals to give a new identity to 72 alone create opportunities to develop modern their own neighborhood through an extraor- architecture, to design smart transporta- dinary art project on a massive scale. The tion, and to landscape the new construction project was crowdsourced with the aim of sites. Furthermore, there will be a great transforming a favela in Rio de Janeiro opportunity for artists to work with innova- into an astonishing place where residents tive ideas in multimedia, lighting, and all were happy to live, and tourists would visit forms of digitalization to produce smart art (Favela Painting… 2017). In the beginning, on any scale. only a few people participated in paint- ing the walls, but by the end, the project Participatory Art and Design had enormous success (How art… 2017). The project highly enhanced the sense of pride In this section, I present two internation- and membership to the place. Residents that al cases of participatory art which are good had dreamed of leaving the slums, now wanted examples of enhancing suburban identity. As to stay, as they saw that it was possible the Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning ar- for positive change. It is important to note chitect Renzo Piano (Architect… 2015) says, that that change was not merely economic, “The periphery of the cities are not beau- but also an improvement in the quality of tiful, of course; they are not well treated. life was guaranteed, through the improved But they are the future of the city; or they aesthetics of the surroundings. are the city of the future, if you prefer.” Similar workshops have been conducted in In 2014, with the help of six young archi- Vantaa. For example, in 2015, two school tects (the group named G124), Piano start- children named Onni & Bruno, sought permis- ed a project to renew a disused viaduct in sion from the City Mayor to renovate two a suburban area of Rome. The participatory bus stops in the Ylästö neighborhood. After plan desired to be sustainable, walkable, receiving permission, they worked on the and to connect communities. The team worked project with a team of their friends, guided on giving a new life to the viaduct, and by their teacher. Materials and a workshop thus enhancing the local economy through were provided by the City of Vantaa. The re- design, and transforming the abandoned area sult was colorful and innovative. They even Chapter 2 added interactive led-lights to the walls, over the world to brainstorm their abili- which travelers can choose the colors of, ties. As a central location of logistics and while they wait for the bus. The project travel transfers, Aviapolis offers business immediately gained (positive) media interest and technology facilities, as well as a fu- as a participatory initiative run by chil- ture new huge multifunctional entertainment dren, and one which ended in a work of art and media studio. According to their inter- that now belongs to Vantaa City’s public art net site (Aviapolis Studios 2017), “Aviapo- collection (Aikuiset eivät… 2015). lis Studios [will offer] common spaces and During a workshop about Smart Cities events that support courageous thinking and organized by the start-up company Chaos Ar- shared know-how for everyone in the indus- chitects in November 2017, I was inspired try.” These premises would have a great im- by the possibility of joining participa- pact on the growth of digital and multimedia tory methods and IoT technology, to engage art on an international scale. citizens in planning new art projects. One example is the aim of Geo-fences sending How Public Art is Financed push-notifications to remind and to enhance the experience of creating a better city. Percentage Financing The concept of Geo-fences was introduced In Finland, as in many other countries, the to workshop participants by the Proximi.io public art collection of a city can be ac- company, which already had an application quired through the so-called percentage fi- for participatory ideas on new construction nancing principle. The percentage financing areas in Helsinki. The “Happy City” applica- principle (also known as the percentage for tion was also introduced as a smart solution art principle) means that one percent of the to vote for the best urban ideas (The first… construction costs of public buildings (hos- 73 2017). Applications for participatory plan- pitals, daycare centers, libraries, schools, ning are meant to inspire citizens to create youth centers, metro stations, etc.) are a better city with different ideas, but a reserved for the acquisition of artwork, to specific application for art would be par- be placed on the site in city areas (Pulkki- ticularly useful for new construction areas nen & Hannus 2015a–b). This financing model in Aviapolis. is primarily used to commission new art A suggestion for an alternative form works (Prosenttiraha… 2017). In general, the of smart participatory art in Aviapolis acquisitions are done in cooperation with could be realized in the form of a Hacka- architects, property developers, artists, thon event. Hackathons are typically two or and usually with the aim of a city art muse- three day events, in which a large number um coordinating the different participants. of different professionals meet to engage in Percentage-financed works of art are usu- collaborative computer programming. Similar- ally acquired to for placement in outdoor ly, in November 2016 the Kiasma Museum of locations, in parks or street construction Contemporary Art and Microsoft organized the projects. It is also possible to apply the 21-hour “ARS17 Hackathon” event. During the percentage financing principle to renovation event, eight artists and eight developers projects (Pulkkinen & Hannus 2015a–b). showcased their talent through a new inter- For decades, many cities in Finland have active and digital creation event. The ARS17 applied the percentage financing principle Hackathon engaged artists and IT develop- for acquiring public art. The Vantaa Art ers to create an understanding of digital Museum is responsible for acquiring public opportunities. It also offered participants artwork in Vantaa. Outdoor sculptures and the opportunity to experiment and devel- environmental art pieces are visible ele- op different ways of working and networking ments of the city’s art collection. At the among various experts from different fields moment, Vantaa has about forty pieces of (ARS17… 2017). Aviapolis could be an optimal public art outdoors, most of which were ac- environment to organize a Hackathon event, quired through the percentage for art prin- inviting artists and developers from all Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018 ciple. To provide a few ex- amples, public art in Vantaa ranges from a bronze sculp- ture made by Laila Pullinen in the 1970s, to Anssi Asun- ta’s Cinetic Cubes outside the Heureka Finnish Science Center acquired in 1989, to mural art in Myyrmäki real- ized in 2016. During 2015, the City of Vantaa started an interest- ing art project in Leinelä, an area that was ranked as one of the most desired new residential areas in Fin- land in a survey carried out by Taloussanomat (Leinelä in… 2017). This colorful art district is made unique by the area’s environmen- tal art. Artist Vesa-Pek- ka Rannikko was responsible 74 for the general plan, but a great team of artists was Figure 11. Leinelä Art project, Tuula Närhinen: Night shadows. involved: Anni Laakso, Hilda (photo: Barbara Radaelli-Muuronen) Kozár, Demis Ziegler Markku Pääkkönen, and Heimo Suntio. The works are part of the everyday lives of the area (Figures 11, 12). For exam- ple, the multisensory benches by artist Hilda Kozari are made to be enjoyed with other senses than vision. Some of them are impregnated with tar to evoke the fragrance, and one of them has braille alphabet letters on it, to be enjoyable by persons who do not have the capacity to see them. Anni Laakso’s Puun- haltijankolo on the yard of a kindergarten it is a sculp- ture, inside which children can play. Also, the Leinelä rail- way station, opened in 2015, is enhanced with art. The station has already become famous among train travelers Public Art work at the Leinelä Railway Station, 2015, for the public art work, ti- Figure 12. Tuula Närhinen: Animation. (photo: Barbara Radaelli-Muuronen) Chapter 2 tled “Animation” by Tuula Närhinen, repre- Comfortable surroundings do not emerge au- senting an evolutionary sequence of silhou- tomatically. When constructing the area, the ettes made of aluminum. In the same year, existing environment values must be used to the Vantaa Art Museum created a residential their full potential and “Aviapolis Quality” design participation project in Aviapolis must be the requirement for new construc- with three environmental art projects real- tion, as well as for the new city environ- ized by artist Heini Matveinen and Ari Björn ment. The frame plan will define the best (Tällaisia taideteoksia… 2015). locations for living and for resident ser- The percentage financing principle can vices. In cases where environmental distur- also be applied by private developers bances set restrictions on the use of areas, (Pulkkinen & Hannus 2015 a–b), known as the housing must be implemented in all places percentage financing principle by private where it is possible (Aviapolis Frame… 2014, developers. The systematic practice of this 8–20). principle would enhance the identity and In a negative scenario of the future, it financial value of a suburban area like would be possible for noise and air pollu- Aviapolis. A motivating factor for private tion caused by the airport to affect the developers to invest in art would be the ad- quality of life in Aviapolis, and this would ditional value, both cultural and financial, limit the vividness of the area. On the oth- which cultural heritage would provide. er hand, in recent years, sound isolation In addition to the percent for art, anoth- technology has improved enormously, and the er form of financing art acquisitions could City of Vantaa should be able to decrease be developed within the residential partic- the number of decibels to make Aviapolis a ipation model and partnership. In Finland, livable airport city. Another possible issue the residential participation model is a could be that residents proposing partici- 75 new form of budgeting, which is also going patory projects would not be listened to by to be introduced in Vantaa. Active resident the decision makers, which would cause frus- participation could be an additional way to tration and end motivation to aspire for the acquire art or develop art projects when collective good. the principle of financing art could not be In a positive scenario of the future, the applied. concept of aerotropolis applied to Helsin- ki-Vantaa, would not only enhance the iden- tity of Aviapolis, but would also enhance Conclusions the aesthetic appeal and the cultural her- itage. The artistic value of the area would Airports of today are experiencing a great encourage economic growth for landowners, business evolution. In addition to their improve tourism, and offer new job oppor- primary aeronautical services, they have tunities. Finavia has already taken a step developed a significant amount of non-aer- forward in enriching Aviapolis with an in- onautical services and are gaining a large novative sculpture (Bird) by Stefan Lindfors share of revenue from non-aviation indus- (Helsinki Airport 2017). tries. These changes concern also air- As Finland has strong high-tech skills ports’ direct neighboring area. The new and citizens aspire to equality, Aviapolis model of airport urban planning puts an could make participatory smart art unique airport in the center and allows to build and known all over the world, enhancing also up variety of businesses and venues around other more traditional forms of art and de- it. (Klos 2014, 1) sign, which are already well represented. During the next 35 years, Aviapolis will be at the heart of the Helsinki metropolitan REFERENCES region and will be unique in the area, since Aviapolis will diversify and grow consid- Aikuiset eivät saaneet töhrittyä bus- erably faster than the rest of the capital sipysäkkiä kuntoon, nuoret laittoi- region. Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018 vat toimeksi (2015). MTV3 Uutiset. Kansalaisten käsityksiä taiteesta osana ar- 12.12.2017. 77 Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018 smart city in the possible identities of Conclusions Vantaa and its inhabitants. Smart cities are institutional, technological, and human; We have approached the concept of smart city participation has a great role linking IoT in Vantaa from three different perspectives: and governance. Civic collaboration would be business, mobility, and art. All of these the strategic key for Vantaa to be a real perspectives, if functioning well, have the smart city. opportunity to change the image of Vantaa. As presented in this study, Vantaa has im- plemented many smart projects. Clearly there is an attempt to change the image of Vantaa through smart projects. However, a coherent smart city strategy that would gather all the different aspects of the smart city to- gether is still missing. Scattered projects around different fields, with no connec- tions, will not create an efficient smart city but a scattered and nonfunctioning one. A coherent city strategy on what kind of smart city Vantaa wants to be, and what it would take to achieve this, should most definitely be drawn up. This would guide the operation of the whole municipality, as in 78 true smart cities, the concept of “smart” can be witnessed in every aspect of life. The present city strategy does not mention the concept of smart city while the budget- ary plan, which has been released this year, does. This is encouraging proof that actions are being made. The new city strategy should be out soon, and it will be most interesting to see what this new strategy will contain. The methods of smart city strategies serve the purpose of improving or changing city issues, but the trend of implementing the smart city itself will not make any differ- ence without cities defining their problems first. There is never a specific definition of what smart city refers to; it depends on what the problems are and how smart city strategies can deal with those problems. In the above chapters we analyzed the problems Vantaa is facing in business, mobility, and art, and then we showed the possibilities to improve some part of the situation with smart city strategies. We hope that the City of Vantaa would be aware of this effective tool to prepare themselves for future chal- lenges. Finally, in the context of this publica- tion we would like to discuss the role of Chapter 2 plan under the Aviapolis brand. Aviapolis Commentary: is a business, retail, entertainment, and housing marketing brand area in central Van- taa, covering roughly 40 square kilometers, Smart but complex cities including Finland’s main airline hub and airport, Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. The Aviap- olis Business Park has the campus of Techno- polis, with LEED-certificates. This is where by Hossam Hewidy eco-friendly buildings are spaces for IT companies and experts situated a few minutes In recent decades, human settlements and from the airport. city development are increasingly changing. Urban Planning is facing a growing ecolog- ical, social and functional challenges to Employing Big Data in many applications has maintain a safe and livable city space in a rapidly created the way to the Smart City balance between ecosystems and urban mor- concept. The concept of SC as a means to phology. Several phenomena such as rapid improve the quality of life and maintain urbanization in the developing countries, a sustainable urban development has been shrinking cities and aging nations in de- gaining accumulative significance in the veloped counties, have significantly affect- agendas of policy makers. The expression SC ed the built environment and urban spaces. has recently become a recurring theme, in This effect is furthered by climate change, discussions about the city and urban de- as well as both immigration and region- velopment models, both in academia and the al competitiveness, creating a more complex professions. At the same time, as discussed strategy in land use. Natural landscapes are by several scholars, the SC is presently an 79 increasingly dominated by human modifica- undefined concept. The SC, in principle, in- tions and continuous corrosion caused by the tended essentially as an efficient, techno- growth of cities. logically advanced, ecological and socially inclusive city. Alberto Vanolo (2014, 894) On the other hand, many technologies have describes the concept as ‘[Smart city] is invested in research to cope with the recent an urban imaginary combining the concept of challenges, among which are smart mobility, ‘green cities’ with technological futurism vehicles manufacturing and the growing de- and giving a name to techno-centric visions pendency on renewal energy. Service provi- of the city of tomorrow’. In Europe, the SC sion has obviously taken advantage of the concept is popular for many reasons (e.g. rapid inventions of digital communication, Vanolo 2014). Such popularity is based on forming new methods to fulfil users’ demands many factors, including the availability of and change the perception of both space and extensive financial resources to fund the time in the city; the Smart City (SC). eco-restructuring of cities, the tendency of The City of Vantaa announced the objec- IT large companies to invest in urban pro- tives of its new master plan in 2017. Three jects, the creation of a futuristic visions themes are at the root of the objectives: of technology, and the image of a clean, Global airport city, Regional network city livable city (city branding). and Local human city. Vantaa hosts the only However, the SC concept remains complex international airport in Finland and accord- and should be situated in the local context ingly it is where a high flow of People, of the city in concern. The smart city is a Information and Goods (PIG) takes place on ‘political assemblage’ case (McFarlane 2011) both regional and national level. associating the agility of policy ideas in An aerotropolis is a metropolitan sub-re- global circuits of knowledge (Cook & Ward gion the infrastructure, land-use, and 2011; McCann 2011; Peck 2011). economy of which are centered on an airport The ‘political assemblage’ defines the (e.g. Kasarda 2011). Vantaa has departed mechanisms of production of sustainable ur- from such a concept in developing its master Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018 ban conduct and therefore encompasses the LITERATURE different geometries of power of the var- ious stakeholders involved. This may obvi- Broto, V. C., Allen, A. & Rapoport, E. ously clarify the way in which the city is (2012). Interdisciplinary perspectives on imagined, as an agent of sustainability is urban metabolism. Journal of Industrial likely to be different, for example, in Van- Ecology 16(6), 851–861. taa, Stockholm or Cape Town. Cook, I. G. & Ward, K. (2011). Trans-urban networks of learning, mega events and policy tourism: the case of Manchester’s Understanding the urban morphology is an im- Common- wealth and Olympic Games pro- portant step toward unveiling the dynamical jects. Urban Studies 48(12), 2519–2535. processes of the urban growth and develop- ment. Cities are complex systems of accumu- Decker, E. H., Elliott, S., Smith, F. A., lated matter. The other concept that could Blake, D. R. & Rowland, F. S. (2000). En- be studied in forming a SC strategy is Urban ergy and material flow through the urban Metabolism (UM). UM can be defined as a sum ecosystem. Annual Review of Energy Envi- of the total technical (i.e., production) ronment and Resources 25, 685–740. and socioeconomic processes that occur in Kasarda, J. & Lindsay, G. (2011). Aerotrop- cities, resulting in growth, production of olis, the way we’ll live next. Farrar, energy, and elimination of waste (Kennedy et Straus and Giroux, New York. al. 2007). In metabolic terms, urban systems Kennedy, C., Cuddihy, J. & Engel-Yan, J. are defined as the complex organization of (2007). The changing metabolism of cit- appropriation, transformation, production ies. Journal of Industrial Ecology 11(2), and emission, energy and information (Decker 43–59. 80 et al. 2000; Broto et al. 2012). In seeking McCann, E. (2011). Urban policy mobilities a SC strategy for Vantaa, a good awareness and global circuits of knowledge: toward of such complex organization is essential. a research agenda. Annals of the Asso- If the SC in principle is seeking an urban ciation of American Geographers 101(1), imaginary combining the concept of ‘green 107–130. cities’ with technological futurism, then UM is the indicator of how ‘green’ cities are. McFarlane, C. (2011). Learning the City: The flows of materials and energy in a city, Knowledge and translocal assemblage. as well as sustainable consumption and life Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford. cycle, are the basics that link UM to SC. Peck, J. (2011). Geographies of policy: from Recalling the ‘political assemblage’, transfer-diffusion to mobility-muta- power regulating model should be proposed; tion. Progress in Human Geography 35(6), the Transformative Planning Practice. Such 773–797. practice refuses to accept that the current Vanolo, A. (2014). Smartmentality: The smart way of urban development is necessarily the city as disciplinary strategy. Urban ideal. The transformative practice must be Studies 51(5), 883–898. imagined as differing radically and struc- turally from the present reality. Transform- ative practices focus on new concepts and new ways of thinking that change the way resources are used, (re)distributed, allo- cated, and the way that regulatory powers are exercised. This is an essential anxiety in creating an institutional change regulat- ing the power in the ‘political assemblage’ of urban development of Vantaa. Chapter 2 ban space and the utilization of Big Data Commentary: to inform policy- and decision-making in the form of urban dashboards. Smart devices and Big Data have enabled the development of new Studying Smart City De- types of services (e.g. mobility services). With the Internet of Things (IoT) and Big velopment in Vantaa Data, data privacy has become a contentious issue (Kitchin 2015; Kitchin & Dodge 2017). Large companies such as Facebook and Goog- by Rami Ratvio & Tuomas Väisänen le collect vast amounts of personal data and don’t communicate the use of said data transparently to the public. Algorithms that Since the changing of the millennium, infor- collect data from social media platforms, mation and communication technologies have IoT devices or sensors in the city are not become an ever more prevalent part of every- necessarily transparent, which might af- day life. With the increasing presence of fect official statistics and thus promote a social media services and location services skewed view of the urban reality. Smart de- of smart technology, businesses, governments vices are also vulnerable devices in the way and private persons are connected to each that they can be hacked to conduct fraud and other constantly and interact in virtual and identity theft, underscoring the importance physical space. The concepts of smart city of city-wide security solutions to protect and innovative city have been widely re- the citizens. ferred to in the academic literature over the past 20 years (Kitchin 2015). These con- Third, these concepts are realized in cepts are used to describe how cities adapt urban space as specific areas and locations 81 technologies and data-driven policies in the within the city. For example, how and where management and planning. ICT parks, university campuses and cultural milieus are visually presented in the city The innovative city is often referred to (Inkinen 2015, 6). Attracting talented and as a smart city, traditionally understood highly-educated residents is a key component as ubiquitous computing in the urban phys- for the success of cities. Creating attrac- ical and policy environment (Townsend 2013; tive neighborhoods and maintaining a cre- Inkinen 2015). First, the innovative city or ativity-inducing atmosphere has been pro- smart city may be used as a marketing slo- posed as being a viable solution to keeping gan for the city in order to build-up their the talented and highly-educated residents reputation and image (Inkinen 2015, 4). For (Florida 2002; Kepsu et al. 2009). instance, different smart city indices have been adapted as marketing tools to attract investments and skilled workers to select a Vantaa is an interesting city when it comes city district or a city over others. Com- to smart city development. It is part of petition between cities over investments, the growing Helsinki metropolitan region, tax-payers and skilled workers has increased which is changing into a polycentric city. in Finland and on global scale. Finland’s The Aviapolis area near the Helsinki-Van- somewhat remote location reinforces the use taa airport has a profile of being a smart of smart city rhetoric in marketing, since district, which aims to attract large in- flows of investments are limited, the in- ternational investments, knowledge-inten- vestments that flow to Finland are sought sive businesses and creative inhabitants. after by the biggest cities. The Aviapolis’ website mentions business Secondly, smart city means the overall and work opportunities before residency, technological profile provided through the which paints a picture of the area as very public and private sectors (Inkinen 2015, investment- and business-oriented (Aviapo- 4). For example, the availability of free lis 2018). The central idea for the future Wi-Fi hotspots or 5G mobile networks in ur- development of Vantaa is to build an ur- Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art USP / 2018 ban passage with Aviapolis at one end and s. Tikkurila subcentre at the other. As part Kitchin, R. (2015). Making sense of smart of this plan, the city’s developers aim to cities: addressing present shortcomings. increase housing construction significantly. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and The plan relies on the options made avail- Society 8, 131–136. able by the Allegro railway connection be- tween the Helsinki-Vantaa airport and Saint Kitchin, R. & Dodge, M. (2017). The (in) Petersburg. Traffic flows can be anticipated security of smart cities: Vulnerabili- to increase significantly, which will open ties, risks, mitigation, and prevention. completely new kinds of opportunities for Journal of Urban Technology, 1–19. DOI:10 commerce and services in Vantaa. .1080/10630732.2017.1408002 The students’ text discuss different forms Townsend, A. (2013). Smart cities: Big data, of smart city development in Vantaa. The civic hackers, and the quest for a new prevalent themes of global smart city dis- utopia. W.W. Norton & Co, New York. cussion are presented in the context of Van- taa: (1) smart city strategies in business development; (2) opportunities for smarter traffic services; and (3) creating attrac- tive urban spaces and living environments using participatory urban art and ICT. Adapting smart city strategies and tech- nologies offer some solutions to contem- porary problems such as increasing envi- 82 ronmental pressures, new social and urban divisions and volatile economic development but they are not a “one-click” solution. They are one tool in the toolbox of city planning and management. Cities are not merely places for businesses and invest- ments, but areas where people live and as Shakespeare so eloquently put it: what is the city, but the people? LITERATURE Aviapolis (2018). 10.1.2018. 83