Central Baltic Project Database - Urban Development

Baltic Green Urban Infrastructure Planning improved early phase urban planning

marika.bogel-leino — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 13:50:34 +0000

The project B.Green implemented several successful green infrastructure concepts, plans and executions to improve early phase urban planning. All the actions were implemented in six selected pilot areas located both in Helsinki and Tallinn:

Kalasatamankeskus (tramway line) - A smart & Clean tram stop concept was developed together with Kalasatama tramway stakeholders;
Northern Verkkosaari - Hermanninranta urban plan for zoning process was created as 3D model in collaboration with B.Green project;
Vallilanlaakso area changed during the pilot to Sompasaari, another part of Kalasatama where most of the Helsinki's resident engaging pilots took place;
Urban gardening and garage Pelgulinn - Allotment garden concept was created for the City of Tallinn and re-use plan of the garages were made;
Residential area Mustjoe-Hiiu development concept is completed; and
Väike-Oismäe-Veskimetsa bikelane spatial plans were completed and e.g. flower meadow was implemented.

All plans were created in collaboration with several stakeholders – urban planners, local citizens, companies.

Tags:

Urban Development

External link:

B.Green Handbook

Category:

Urban area covered with integrated urban management

At a glance text:

early phase urban planning
six pilot areas in Helsinki and Tallinn
urban planners, local citizens, companies were involved

Project link:

B.Green - Baltic Green Urban Infrastructure Planning

Augmented Urbans improved urban planning

Ari Brozinski — Wed, 11 May 2022 08:20:27 +0000

The Augmented Urbans project focused cooperation efforts on three important aspects of the urban planning: local participation and involvement of stakeholders, urban resilience and applying new technologies (XR).

1. CO-DEVELOPING OF PARTICIPATORY PLANNING PROCESSES AND INTEGRATED PLANS FOR URBAN RESILIENCE

Five integrated urban plans were co-created in the following local actions sites.

TALLINN. The diversity of bees and insects, of which over ten are protected species, inspired the urban planners to focus on pollinators as a central concept in the development of the urban area. Landscape architecture solution largely consisted of meadows and sustainable mobility options.

Important part of the urban planning was activating local community by gardening activities, organizing events.

AvaLinn AR application updated and tested. People can walk on site and point their phones on a mural and receive extra information about city plans for the future of the area.

Read more on Tallin local action area: https://augmentedurbans.metropolia.fi/local-action-in-tallinn-estonia/
Read more about the current developments on Tallinn local action area (maintained by B.Green project) https://www.putukavail.ee/?lang=en

VIIMSI. Project addressed challenges related to sustainable mobility, environmental resilience and access to public services of Viimsi as one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Estonia (namely Haabmeeme main street). Haabneeme Main Street vision and contributions for the Haabneeme Master Plan, stakeholder interactions were accomplished during the project. Also the survey made and 3D model, 360 visualisations and videos developed together with an interactive portal of the site for communicating the plan to local stakeholders.

Visualisation platform of the Haabneeme General Plan: https://haabneeme.viimsi.ee/
Newsletter to the local inhabitants about the project activities in Viimsi: http://database.centralbaltic.eu/sites/default/files/Augmented%20Urbans_Viimsi_newspaper_2020_EST.pdf
Read more about the Viimsi local action area: https://augmentedurbans.metropolia.fi/local-action-in-viimsi-estonia/

CESIS. A thematic plan for Gauja river surroundings was developed. Project contribution: a holistic approach of collecting environmental data of the biotopes, stakeholder inputs from a variety of stakeholder groups (both via events & online platform), innovation actions to find new business opportunities on-site and combining these into spatial concept designs by architect students.

Read more about the Cesis local action area: https://augmentedurbans.metropolia.fi/local-action-in-cesis-latvia/
Thematic plan of Gauja surroundings: http://database.centralbaltic.eu/sites/default/files/CESIS%20Thematic%20planning%20Gauja.pdf

HELSINKI. Teollisuuskatu outline plan and participatory methods for outline planning process previously undefined. Utilising three pop-up events, surveys and VR visualisations to facilitate stakeholder participation.

Read more about the Helsinki local action area: https://augmentedurbans.metropolia.fi/local-action-in-helsinki-finland/

GÄVLE. Management plan for outdoors areas in Gavlegårdarna housing areas, and biodiversity supporting management practices that can be applied to the other properties as well. workshops and events with both tenants and outdoor maintenance personnel were organised, practical actions to engage tenants with their surroundings such as mini gardens, planting meadows, setting up bee hotels and habitats.

Read more about the Gävle local action area: https://augmentedurbans.metropolia.fi/local-action-in-gavle-sweden/

While working with the planning, the project had active cooperation with students and universities. It was designed in a way that project-inspired challenges embedded within university courses, have facilitated collaboration between urban planners and students. The students have also participated in the project activities as interns with various project-related tasks.

The student involvement has provided Augmented Urbans with fresh ideas and perspectives. Student concepts are often not burdened by the conventions of designing certain things or the day-to-day procedures of the city administration.

You can read more about this cooperation and the concrete out of box outcome in Cēsis, Gävle, Tallinn and Helsinki here: https://augmentedurbans.metropolia.fi/collaborating-with-universities/

2. URBAN RESILIENCE WITHIN PARTNER REGIONS AND THE CB AREA

Project partners had special focus on resilience aspects in 7 local sites. The aim was to develop the Matrix of Indicators which would make the concept of resilience more comprehensible and applicable to planners. The matrix was developed to be used more as a pedagogic tool to identify resilience-thinking and sustainability values in each Local Action site and bring those forward for joint discussion to crystallise the policy recommendations.

The final version of the Matrix of Indicators consists of the seven resilience principles where the users are asked “Do the plan and process address the seven principles and how?”. Secondly, users are asked to fill out the four sustainability dimensions by describing the following aspects:

factors & planning actions that support sustainability,
unsustainable factors and
remaining questions.

By pointing out unsustainable factors, it is possible to map out aspects that still need to be addressed in the future.

More information on project experience working on this you can read here https://augmentedurbans.metropolia.fi/the-matrix-of-indicators-process-and-results/
The fillable PDF version of the Matrix-of-Indicators can access here: http://database.centralbaltic.eu/sites/default/files/Matrix-of-Indicators-empty-fillable.pdf

3. INCREASING PLANNERS EXPERTISE OF XR AS A TOOL IN DEVELOPMENT FOR RESILIENT CITIES

The Augmented Urbans project has explored ways for extended reality (XR) technologies to support integrated urban planning. The current project has developed and tested twelve XR tools in seven Central Baltic cities and municipalities within this project.

Practice-based insights collected throughout the project; from its reports, workshop discussions and presentations by the partner urban planners and other experts are presented in the articles available here: https://augmentedurbans.metropolia.fi/augmenting-urban-planning-and-management/

Tags:

Urban Development

Regional planning and development

Attachment:

Augmented Urbans Viimsi newsletter

CESIS Thematic planning Gauja

Helsinki integrated urban plan

Matrix of indicators

Augmented Urbans - Data analysis report summary

External link:

Tallin local action area

Category:

Urban area covered with integrated urban management

At a glance text:

Project link:

Visionary, Participatory Planning and Integrated Management for Resilient Cities

HEAT resulted in four integrated urban plans

marika.bogel-leino — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 11:40:05 +0000

The HEAT project contributed to the planning of healthier, more active and inclusive urban areas in the Central Baltic region, in which biking is a safe, popular and acceptable mode of transport.
The project developed integrated urban plans with participatory approach: city inhabitants and regional and municipal officials were brought together at the centre of urban planning by developing interactive workshops for consultations. The focus in the urban plans was light transport. In addition to positive environmental impact cycling and walking have, they also produce positive health impact. The health benefits were demonstrated with HEAT tool calculations produced in the project. Furthermore, several campaigns were held to promote the means of light transportation and their positive impact.
As the project result, four integrated urban plans were made. The Finnish one had elements contributing to updating the Regional Traffic System for Southwest Finland and the Estonian plan provided input for Tartu Light Traffic Master Plan. Furthermore, Children's Cycling Park concept was developed for Jurmala in Latvia and similarly, the Swedish Cyckelfrämjandet made a plan to increase children's cycling.

Tags:

Green technologies

Urban Development

External link:

Project website

Category:

Urban area covered with integrated urban management

At a glance text:

The project developed four integrated urban plans with focus on the light transport.
The light transport has positive environmental impact but it also produces positive health impact which was demonstrated with HEAT tool calculations produced in the project.

Project link:

Participatory urban planning for healthier urban communities

iWater developed a city-specific integrated stormwater management strategy

kersti — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 10:26:02 +0000

Integrated Stormwater Management (iWater) project improves the urban planning in the cities of the Baltic Sea region through development of comprehensive stormwater management system which is integrated into the urban development processes of the city at all levels.

In result, each of 7 partner cities (Helsinki, Turku, Tartu, Jelgava, Riga, Söderhamn and Gävle) developed its own tailor-made solution – a city-specific stormwater management strategy. Each city also established an institutional model for stormwater management.

Project was implemented applying science-practice collaboration model developed by the Aalto University. The university helped to ensure the close cooperation between academic field and the practicioners when the project outputs were being prepared, when actions/strategies were planned in the pilot sites.

Since integrated storm management is relatively new subject in some BSR cities and knowledge, experience level are quite different, capacity building activities played and important role in the project. International, national capacity building workshops other events were organised where knowledge was presented, exchanged, project outputs were discussed and shared. 3 iWater summer schools (61 students from 17 countries/16 universities) were organised. In result 19 creative, innovative and multi-functional stormwater management solutions for 7 pilot sites of 7 iWater partner cities.

The project developed the following practical tools and guidelines which can be useful for the municipalities, urban planners, architects etc. outside iWater partnership:

Integrated Storm Water Management System Guidelines
The main purpose of the guidelines is to help other cities establish a comprehensive storm-water management approach and integrate it into the urban development processes at all levels. The guidelines provide very concrete tips, tools how to plan an implement the integrated storm water management in the municipality from scratch trough cycle (planning, implementation and monitoring).

Green Area Factor excel tool
Green Factor is a practical and user-friendly excel-based tool for urban planning. It ensures sufficient green infrastructure when building new lots in a dense urban environment. The Green Factor is calculated as the ratio of the scored green area to lot area. The target level for the lot can be achieved flexibly by the garden designer by selecting some of the 39 green elements, such as planted and maintained vegetation or various run-off water solutions, when designing the lot.

This tool was developed for the first time in 1997 in Berlin - “Biotope Area Factor1”. Later on similar tools were created/adapted based on Berlin also in other cities, for example Stockholm, Malm, Seattle and Toronto. Similar tool was developed also in Helsinki as a part of the EU-funded “Climate-proof city – tools for planning” (ILKKA) project in 2014. Based on the experiences with the tool’s usage and due to the increasing importance of stormwater management, an updated version of this tool was to be developed within the iWater project.
The Tool has been adopted and piloted in partner cities during the project: Riga, Jelgava, Tartu (Jaamamõisa area), Gävle, Söderhamn and Turku, and finally incorporated in the land-use planning process

Integrated Stormwater Management Toolbox
This toolbox introduces the most commonly used approaches and concrete tools for urban stormwater management. It gathers useful information for those interested in, or working with, the design, planning or management of urban water, in particular, landscape architects, architects, as well as urban planners and designers. The information is in an easily adaptable form, including further reading for those who wish to dive deeper. Furthermore, the toolbox focuses on approaches that are applicable or developed for northern climate conditions.

Tags:

Urban Development

Water management

Institutional cooperation and cooperation networks

Attachment:

Integrated Storm Water Management dissemination material

Helsinki Green Area Factor Tool - User manual for the Excel-based tool

External link:

Project website

Category:

Urban area covered with integrated urban management

At a glance text:

The iWater project designed stormwater planning tools and approaches and developed Integrated Stormwater Management concept that supports sustainable urban planning and create higher quality and more resilient urban environments in the Baltic Sea region.

Project link:

Integrated Storm Water Management

Central Baltic Region Smart City Solutions for Global Cities

rebecka.frej — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 11:01:15 +0000

Cities play a significant role in our efforts to reduce the effects of global climate change. Smart cities and innovative urban environments will be the main target of investments in e.g. Africa, Asia and South America within the next ten years. The SME2Go project focused on improving the competitiveness of hundreds of identified smart city solution providers in Estonia, Finland and Sweden.

The project brought together SMEs and their knowhow, trained them in sales and marketing skills and provided market intelligence. 10 consortias was formed representing joint offers to target markets by 60 companies. Many companies got a chance to participate on either planning of or an actual export mission to the markets that they would not have been reached without the cross-border collaboration. By the end of the project the first sales for participating companies were achieved and work continued with business leads and contacts

The project supported 163 unique companies and one durable outcome of the project is continuous cooperation among partners to support companies in their efforts to prepare for entry and to enter to the new export markets.

Tags:

SME and entrepreneurship

Urban Development

clustering and economic cooperation

Category:

New cluster co-operation exporting to new markets

At a glance text:

10 consortias was formed
163 unique companies was supported

Project link:

Central Baltic Region Smart City Solutions for Global Cities

Baltic Urban Lab - Brownfield areas evolved

Ari Brozinski — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 06:50:29 +0000

Baltic Urban Lab created and tested new integrated planning and partnership models that help turn brownfield areas into smart and sustainable city districts. Brownfields are abandoned or underused areas that have previously been used for example by industry or military.

One of the new ways for planning is the public-private-people partnership (4P) approach. 4P improves the inclusion of various public sector actors, private actors, residents, NGOs and of civil-society actors in the planning processes through improved dialogue and common understanding of goals.

In total, the project created four integrated urban plans. The plans were piloted in the Itäharju brownfield triangle in Turku (Finland), areas around the Mukusalas street in Riga (Latvia), inner harbour area in Norrköping (Sweden) and the area around the Skoone Bastion in Tallinn (Estonia). In these areas, geological surveys, visualisation models, opinion surveys, risk-assessments and citizen involvement tools were developed, among other things.

Tags:

Urban Development

Regional planning and development

clustering and economic cooperation

Attachment:

Project Leaflet

Policy Brief: Making the most of brownfield sites in the Baltic Sea Region

Towards integrated and partnership-based planning of brownfield areas

Guide leaflet

Developing brownfields via public-private-people partnerships. Lessons learned from Baltic Urban Lab

Baltic Urban Lab definition for brownfields and recommedations for national level

Planning Systems and Legislation for Brownfield Development in the Central Baltic Countries

Nordregio Policy Brief: Redeveloping brownfields in the Central Baltic region

Public–Private–People Partnerships in Urban Planning

Category:

Urban area covered with integrated urban management

At a glance text:

Participatory spatial planning for brownfield areas
Four successful pilots
Policy brief to improve the planning process

Project link:

Baltic Urban Lab - Integrated Planning and Partnership Model for Brownfield Regeneration

Live Baltic Campus - participatory methods for urban planning

Elisa Bertieri — Fri, 09 Aug 2019 12:05:58 +0000

For quite sometime, cities have taken steps to include all actors in their urban planning process. Planning according to this principle presents many advantages; those who operate in the area, know their needs best and usually have relevant ideas on how to fulfill them. But what are the best methods to involve them in the process? Live Baltic Campus tested many different ones whilst developing their five integrated urban plans in the university campus areas of Helsinki, Riga, Tartu, Turku, and Uppsala.

The plans were realised based on the outcomes of four Livable City Forums, and several local events organised by the project. The five campuses around which the integrated plans were developed are:

- Helsinki, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Myllypuro Campus
- Riga, University of Latvia, new campus in Tornakalns neighborhood
- Tartu, University of Tartu
- Turku, University of Turku
- Uppsala, Uppsala University

The plan designs, based on the insights and ideas streaming from the participatory processes tested in each pilot area, resulted in the production of a Development Ideas Book, and in the Dream and Seeds Design process manual.

Tags:

Urban Development

Regional planning and development

clustering and economic cooperation

Attachment:

Helsinki Campus Integrated development plan

Riga Campus integrated development plan

Tartu Campus integrated development plan

Turku Campus integrated development plan

Uppsala Campus integrated development plan

Dreams and Seeds

External link: