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This article addresses the challenges and capability gaps confronted by public administrations concerning digital transformation and the use of novel tools in the context of land use, facilities and urban services planning. The present state of planning and management processes in Finland is introduced and reflected through experimental piloting conducted in two Finnish cities. Participatory action research and design research methodology was utilised to identify the main challenges as well as unravel the possibilities of digital transformation in the context of public services planning. The resulting analysis revealed the critical importance of facilitating integrative policies and coordination when working across knowledge boundaries between administrative domains. The paper contributes to a wider theoretical and conceptual understanding, as it discusses the advantages and feasibility of digital tools as boundary objects for cross-sectoral work in smart, people-centred urban governance. The authors see this direction of research as a fruitful ground for further investigations within the interdisciplinary urban planning research context.
Emilia Rönkkö; Aulikki Herneoja. Working across Boundaries in Urban Land Use and Services Planning—Building Public Sector Capabilities for Digitalisation. Smart Cities 2021, 4, 767 -782.
AMA StyleEmilia Rönkkö, Aulikki Herneoja. Working across Boundaries in Urban Land Use and Services Planning—Building Public Sector Capabilities for Digitalisation. Smart Cities. 2021; 4 (2):767-782.
Chicago/Turabian StyleEmilia Rönkkö; Aulikki Herneoja. 2021. "Working across Boundaries in Urban Land Use and Services Planning—Building Public Sector Capabilities for Digitalisation." Smart Cities 4, no. 2: 767-782.
The complexity of urban challenges obliges us to seek smarter paths for urban development and increase our awareness of urban dynamics in a more holistic manner. Stemming from the discipline of architecture and urban planning, this concept paper outlines an idea of a cybernetic urban management for anticipatory governance of smart cities. A cybernetic system absorbs information from different sources, such as buildings that are aware of their energy efficiency, a city aware of its traffic flows, and citizens who are aware of the affordances of urban life. Defined as context-aware cyber-physical social systems, smart cities of the future are planned and managed with increasing awareness of the manifoldness of physical, experiential, and virtual life. The benefits of a cybernetic urban management could, for instance, be related to dynamic service network planning with a real-time view to service network efficiency. This in turn could lead to better services for citizens, resource efficiency, and better allocation of financial resources. Cybernetic management and smart city production necessitates a shared view of urban processes that is not dedicated only for the eyes of a few experts but is widely accessible and supports information exchange and dialogue among city authorities, decision-makers, and citizens.
Emilia Rönkkö; Aulikki Herneoja; Essi Oikarinen. Cybernetics and the 4D Smart City: Smartness as Awareness. Challenges 2018, 9, 21 .
AMA StyleEmilia Rönkkö, Aulikki Herneoja, Essi Oikarinen. Cybernetics and the 4D Smart City: Smartness as Awareness. Challenges. 2018; 9 (1):21.
Chicago/Turabian StyleEmilia Rönkkö; Aulikki Herneoja; Essi Oikarinen. 2018. "Cybernetics and the 4D Smart City: Smartness as Awareness." Challenges 9, no. 1: 21.
This article discusses the opportunities and challenges for resource-wise development strategies in regional planning. Spatial planning integrates the key aspects, transportation, housing, and food production which are, on many occasions, stated as the most significant consumption factors causing environmental impacts. In light of the challenges that regions are currently facing in Finland, we are drawing attention to the role of strategic spatial planning as demand-responsive resource management, a theme which is still inadequately addressed within regional development and planning in Finland. In many other fields of society, innovative data-based products and demand- and user-driven services are considered important sources of success in the future. Such strategies combine different types of service providers, like deliveries for groceries or restaurant meals, mobile healthcare services, or public transport with on-demand services. We highlight the fact that a regionally large and sparsely populated country, such as Finland, cannot achieve success solely through centralisation. Instead, smart networking, co-creation, and innovative cyber-physical solutions are vital for the utilisation of the entire country’s resource potentiality. In conclusion, we underpin the need for a framework, which would offer a strategic support scheme for resource-wise development, resource optimization, and closure of yield gaps. In our view it is necessary to begin to envision, strategise, and develop user- and demand-responsive development strategies with a specific aim for sustainable, resource-wise ways of life in northern regions, also outside the growing urban centres, and innovate solutions that help individuals, communities, and the whole society to renew and manage resources wisely.
Emilia Rönkkö; Anna Luusua; Eeva Aarrevaara; Aulikki Herneoja; Toivo Muilu. New Resource-Wise Planning Strategies for Smart Urban-Rural Development in Finland. Systems 2017, 5, 10 .
AMA StyleEmilia Rönkkö, Anna Luusua, Eeva Aarrevaara, Aulikki Herneoja, Toivo Muilu. New Resource-Wise Planning Strategies for Smart Urban-Rural Development in Finland. Systems. 2017; 5 (1):10.
Chicago/Turabian StyleEmilia Rönkkö; Anna Luusua; Eeva Aarrevaara; Aulikki Herneoja; Toivo Muilu. 2017. "New Resource-Wise Planning Strategies for Smart Urban-Rural Development in Finland." Systems 5, no. 1: 10.