Malmi and Malminkartano will be serving as testbeds for smart lighting and street space analytics solutions in 2022. The aim of the three pilots is to improve the pleasantness and security of the urban environment. Part of the Helsinki Innovation Districts project, the Street Smarts pilot programme is all about gaining insight into new and innovative lighting solutions.

The Malmi pilot, to be carried out in Ala-Malmi park, will allow residents to change the colours of the park’s lighting. This type of solution that allows residents to control coloured outdoor lighting has never before been tested in Finland. The pilot is being carried out by technology company C2 SmartLight Oy, which is also responsible for the solution used to manage the City of Helsinki’s outdoor lighting. 

“We are very happy to be able to participate in this kind of piloting programme that allows our technology to be used by city residents for the first time. We look forward to seeing and learning what kind of interaction it brings to the park and its surrounding areas,” says CEO Jorma Tuuna-Väiskä from C2 SmartLight Oy.

The Malminkartano pilots focus on the real-time measurement of the condition of pedestrian routes and zero energy lighting, i.e. a lighting system that is not connected to the power grid. Powered by solar energy, the movable street lights will be set up along the route running through the fields of Malminkartano, which has not had lighting before. The zero energy lighting is provided by Silux Oy.

“In the future, we expect solar cell lighting to make it possible to provide safe lighting to areas where building a street light network is, for whatever reason, not possible or economically viable,” comments Christoffer Nyman from Silux Oy. 

Another piece of new technology is the dropstick sensors that will be used to monitor the condition of the pedestrian routes of Malminkartanonaukio square. Developed by Marjetas Academy Oy, some of the sensors will be embedded into the ground. Together with aboveground sensors, they will help determine when pedestrian routes in the station area need gritting or thawing, for example. The sensors can also provide residents with information on the current condition of the street. In the future, they can be connected to street lights for the purpose of warning people if the route is slippery. In fact, one of the aims of the pilot is to determine how this should be done. 

“Our expectations regarding the pilot are twofold: firstly, we expect to find new applications for simple temperature data, and secondly, we are hoping to expand people’s understanding of sensors, IoT technology and sensor life-cycle planning. Not to mention the recyclability of sensors. When procuring sensors for a non-homogeneous environment, going for the solution with the highest possible durability is not always the best choice. Optimising service life brings down the procurement costs, often significantly reducing the life-cycle cost of the sensor compared to options designed for regular maintenance,” says Janne Jokinen from Marjetas Oy. 

The solutions selected for the pilot programme produce new information that helps companies develop services and that will also be more widely utilised in the development of the city. The Street Smarts pilots will run during 2022. Two of them began in March. The pilot in Malmi will begin in autumn after which the lessons learned from all the pilots will be thoroughly analysed. The most effective solutions can then be replicated in other areas as well. 

The Helsinki Innovation Districts project brings innovation operations and smart city development to suburban regeneration areas in Malmi, Mellunkylä, Malminkartano-Kannelmäki and Pasila. The project is being carried out in cooperation between Forum Virium Helsinki and the City of Helsinki. Previous pilots carried out under the project include the testing of movable urban green oases in collaboration with Innogreen and Parkly.

The urban green oases, or green hangout spots, were set up on Malminkartanonaukio square and Ylä-Malmi square for the summer and early autumn. Built out of movable elements, the oases featured benches, edible plants for people and flowers for pollinators. The Malminkartano oasis also included a chessboard for recreation. 

The urban green oases created pleasant meeting places in the areas, which also served as venues for small-scale events during the summer. 

“The purpose of these kinds of pilots is to find new solutions for Helsinki. In this pilot, we wanted to test how contemporary green solutions work as meeting places and how they contribute to the pleasantness of sites awaiting redevelopment,” says the Helsinki Innovation Districts project’s Project Manager Maija Bergström. 

The purpose of the Helsinki Innovation Districts project is to test new services, solutions and technologies in Helsinki’s suburban regeneration areas and Pasila. The urban green oases created by InnoGreen and Parkly were the first pilots carried out in the project. 

The pilots provided the two companies with useful insights for the further development of their concepts. Consisting of multiple parts, the green modules can be quickly assembled in different places and used for a variety of purposes. In the future, these types of urban green oases could be set up near construction sites to reduce noise and dust and to direct traffic, for example.

“The Parkly modules are easy to move and customise, so the green hangout spots built out of them are suitable for all kinds of locations and can be adapted to the environment,” says designer Päivi Raivio.

Next, Parky is testing a new, easy-to-use 3D and augmented reality tool “Parkly Create” for designing hangout spots in collaboration with residents.

The green pilots were positively received by the residents of Malmi and Malminkartano, who praised the lush appearance of Innogreen’s oasis and the participation opportunities offered by Parkly in particular. Residents also submitted development ideas regarding the location of the oases in the area and the associated recreational opportunities. One of the submitted development ideas concerned adding parkour structures for children. 

Many of the area’s residents were concerned that the green structures would end up being destroyed or vandalised. Yet despite these fears, the stops remained undisturbed for the duration of the season. Their maintenance was handled by the companies.

“The fact that the structure was placed in a public space raised some concerns that it might get vandalised. These concerns proved to be unfounded, however, and we were surprised by the amount of positive feedback. The residents of Malminkartano really made the urban green oasis their own,” says Mikko Sonninen, the CEO of Innogreen.

“The pilots showed how relatively minor but concrete measures can impact the pleasantness of urban space and vitalise the cityscape,” says Project Director Max Takala from the Helsinki City Executive Office’s Urban Development unit.

According to him, concrete pilots are always welcome in the urban development sector, where development often takes a long time.

For the Helsinki Innovation Districts project, the pilot provided concrete results in terms of both the use of the urban green oases and local residents’ experiences. The project gained insight into the needs of pilots carried out in street spaces and how communication about future pilots should be carried out in the districts. The lessons learned will serve as the basis for the next Helsinki Innovation Districts pilots. 

The feedback received from residents has been summarised so that it can be effectively utilised in urban development. The project also provided the City of Helsinki with valuable information on the use of new types of green structures.  

“Urban green oases can improve the pleasantness of areas and communicate climate goals. Testing solutions with residents in urban living labs like Malminkartano and Malmi helps companies develop their services and the City to recognise the potential of the products being tested,” says Bergström. 

The planning of the next pilots that will be visible in the street space is already well underway.