As urbanisation continues to increase, with 70% of the global population expected to live in urban areas by 2050, the organisation of cities requires new insights. Digital technologies have the potential to reduce emissions and improve the resource efficiency and quality of life in cities, but to do so, they require substantial innovation and development, adjusted to the local context. In order to accelerate the smart city development in Helsinki, the City turned the district of Kalasatama into an Urban Living Lab - Smart Kalasatama.

From 2013 onward, the City of Helsinki transformed one of its previous brownfield districts, Kalasatama, into an experimental innovation platform to co-create urban infrastructure and services with local stakeholders. While the project - Smart Kalasatama - was finished in 2021, the area continues to be developed.

The district was developed flexibly through trials that were focused on service design, user orientation and joint planning that involved the residents. Other stakeholders that were involved in the co-creation and experimentation were companies, city officials and academia. One of the core ambitions of Smart Kalasatama was to provide an Urban Living Lab setting and a vibrant testbed where, through, co-operation and sharing of best practices, smart and sustainable solutions and services were created. Within this setting, several smaller programmes and projects were initiated. For example, the Agile Piloting Programme that addressed small startups and SME’s, offering them valuable opportunities to connect their services to the city infrastructure, and thus to pilot and co-create their services in a real-life context. Start-ups in Kalasatama received government funding based on a new approach. The City chose projects based on the expected well-being they could bring to residents, in order to maximise value for residents and learnings for the city to support their transformation towards a smart city. 

The district is also promoting the sharing economy. Key urban infrastructure in Kalasatama employs new, digitally based models to test smart city approaches. People share cars and parking spaces with the help of digital applications. Smart locks in new buildings enable the citizens to use many spaces in Kalasatama for different activities. First estates are already connected to smart grid, and all the rest of the area to be built will benefit of the grid. The smart grid enables real time smart metering, electric vehicles network and new storage solutions for electricity. A solar power plant already exists in the neighbourhood and the whole district is connected to the energy efficient district heating and cooling grid in the area.

Today, the district continues to function as one of Helsinki's urban labs, consisting of the area itself, the existing cooperation networks and the Kalasatama Urban Lab joint development space. Currently, 3,000 people reside in the area, and by 2035 the district will offer a home for approximately 25,000 residents and jobs for 10,000 people.

The model of Agile Piloting has been widely adopted in all departments of the City of Helsinki and in a number of other major cities in Finland reaching a total of 60 agile pilots. Besides, the city of Stravanger, in Norway, has adopted it. Overall, Kalasatama is a pioneer for Helsinki’s climate targets, and showing the pathway to a more sustainable urban everyday life.

Photo by Tapio Haaja on Usplash