Photo courtesy of Hertta Kiiski.

The project started in May 2010 with a Saturday brunch discussion at Sitra. We invited around ten Helsinki-based people from different fields to imagine a more interesting and enjoyable city and ended up with a bunch of ideas.

Dreaming up life-improving initiatives for Helsinki. Photo courtesy of Kaarle Hurtig.

After the workshop, we started taking the ideas forward, consulting experts and compiling our strategic design proposals into a set of concrete examples; some easily applicable and some crazier Clues to Open Helsinki. The team was also joined by illustrator Nene Tsuboi and graphic designer Anna Mikkola. In the end, we presented the ideas in the form of 17 + 1 postcards from the future.

Photos courtesy of Hertta Kiiski.

Here’s a couple of examples picked up from the set of postcards from Helsinki 2012:

A City of All Shapes and Sizes

In 2012, the city is built from the bottom up. There is more variation in the urban pattern: townhouses, bigger complexes, new and old buildings next to each other. Communal housing is becoming popular and people combine living and working under the same roof. A lotting system is introduced to distribute the urban spaces for different organisations.

Katu Mayors

In 2012, Katu (‘street’ in Finnish) Mayors live in the neighbourhood and are elected by their peers. They participate in city-level planning relevant to the area and ensure that the residents and local businesses are heard, breathing diversity into the city. These local trustees are supported by grants and permits which allow them to manage the environment, services and facilities.

Winter Holidays

In 2012, the unique seasonal circumstances of Helsinki are cherished through moving part of the holiday from summer to winter. Today, people stay in the city for most of the summer, making it more active, enjoyable as well as attractive for tourists. The value in cold and short Helsinki days will be discovered through encouraging interaction between people in the winter, too.

Urbane Industry

Few places have a craft legacy as strong as Finland. In 2012 the local talents have been saved from the brink of extinction through programmes to encourage and foster small scale industry in the heart of the city. Multicultural skills merge in the new collaborations between designers and manufacturers working closely together.

Finally, we organised a party on the occasion of the postcards from the future. Held at the Palm House of Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden, referenced in the set of clues as a living room in the city that could be used more actively, the event also featured super raw chocolate smoothies and music by the Katu Mayor of our choice Timo Kaukolampi.

Photos courtesy of Hertta Kiiski.

Please find more information as well as the rest of the clues at www.cluestoopenhelsinki.fi.

Gordon Kanki Knight calls for more cyclists on the road. Photo by Hans Park.

Fixed

The archaic meaning of a hobby is a velocipede, an early form of a bicycle. A hobby on the other hand is traditionally an activity done for pleasure, restricted to one’s spare time. However, today, it is not impossible to perceive one’s profession as a hobby either.

When I moved to Tokyo I challenged myself to commit to two things; to stay away (as much as possible) from the formal energy grid and to shop with care. One particular purchase has been in line with my commitments: the bicycle. Not only was it a sensible buy but it makes me happy and keeps me fit. Into the bargain, I got myself a new hobby in a widening community of enthusiasts, specialists and shop owners.

I met Gordon Kanki Knight early on after my move to Tokyo. He encouraged me to start cycling in the city with a proper bicycle, a fixed gear one. Kanki Knight is a Tokyo-based journalist as well as a former track racing cyclist. In Tokyo, he still pedals on a frame he got when he was 16.

Urban mobility in Tokyo.

Responsibility

I went pedalling with Kanki Knight around Tokyo looking for cycling paths with little success. In addition to here, Kanki Knight has lived and cycled in his native Australia and in London and claims that cycling is a cultural thing. The attitudes of cyclists and the attitudes towards cyclists vary. Bicycles in Japan are traditionally not seen as a vehicle but as a form of fast walking. This is partly why so many people opt out for cheap bikes and ride on footpaths. “Motorists in Tokyo are however fairly careful and pedestrians patient compared to other big cities making it a convenient place for cycling despite the lack of cycling paths,” he says.

While thinking that cyclists should be provided with better access to pathways and convenient parking, Kanki Knight also believes that part of the responsibility to create a smooth traffic flow lies in cyclists reading the traffic. On the other hand, there also needs to be a greater understanding from drivers who often see no place for cyclists on the road. What they don’t tend to realise is that bicycles actually equate to less cars in their way. Kanki Knight calls for more cyclists to ride among the cars (as they in many cases are legally obliged to do) in order to improve drivers’ awareness. “Cyclists are marginalised in this country because they marginalise themselves on the footpath,” he says.

Cities that implement strategic cycling paths will help citizens choose a practical vehicle and an ecological and healthy alternative to urban mobility in a warming globe. More than that, what I ultimately like about cycling in Tokyo is that I can choose my route, my pace and do it in a way that matches or even exceeds the convenience and speed of trains and buses. Everyday cycling is a hobby which improves the quality of life in a busy city like Tokyo.

Lessons learned is a series of writings by Hans Park depicting the life of a Tokyo architect. The part five of the series discusses systems of transport, suggesting an egalitarian approach to traffic design.

A Tokyo transport system.

Safe

Shinjuku station in Tokyo is the busiest train station in the world. Around 500 people per second step out on to the station’s 30-or-so platforms. Little less than 4 million commuters visit the station on a regular day, millions more during busier ones. It is one of the most impressive buildings in the city stretching so far that it barely ends before the next station begins. The station is a major crossing point for people coming in and thus a natural place to meet a friend visiting the city.

My friend works for Handicap International in Vientiane, Laos with issues such as road safety and awareness on disabilities. The link between road safety and disabilities is clear but extending it to human rights issues only occured to me when I realised that the disabled are by far the largest minority group in the world.

A few weeks after meeting my friend in Shinjuku I landed in rainy Hanoi for business and on my way from the airport to the hotel there was an accident causing congestion. As my taxi slowed down I took a glimpse of the accident scene and saw a man lying motionless on the tarmac, next to his scooter. Tokyoites might be terrified by the chaotic traffic in Hanoi and its evident risks. On the other hand, it hit me that road safety is a relative yet an universal issue – Tokyoites hardly ever wear seat belts at the back. The perception of risk is cultural and personal which makes it complicated to build and advocate for safe cities.

Better road safety can also increase positive opportunities in cities. In most places the immediate challenge to act for better roads or alternative ways of transport lies, however, in getting the official authority on board. The Ministry of Transportation decides on where and how people move and the police controls the roads. Unfortunately, both institutions are often corrupt for various reasons. The first tends to team up with big businesses while the other one struggles with low wages which motorists usually top up to avoid penalties. They are normally not accustomed to looking at systems of transport from an egalitarian point of view.

Moving people.

Equality

Lack of access to affordable and safe transportation creates inequality in cities that rob people of time and opportunities. In terms of planning, mobility and the volume of traffic are the key issue discussed at any kick-off design meeting for a new city. Main traffic arteries are planned long before buildings, crossings or public parks. Sometimes, traffic planning still turns out a bad urban design element disconnecting people from the city.

So, how do we design versatile traffic systems that meet the challenges of a changing landscape of mobility, creating opportunities rather than threats for all citizens. I suggest we view transportation from an egalitarian point of view, rather than from a practical one. After all, it is mobility, from cycle lanes to international airspace, that is at the centre of defining cities and the quality of life in them. Not only will transportation be increasingly synonymous with ecological development but with human rights and well-being.

Learning from Shinjuku, we could view the challenge of moving people as an opportunity to make places that bring people, trade and lifestyles together. Shinjuku demonstrates that one complex can in a day host and transfer the entire population of Finland to their desired destinations, safely, profitably and effectively. It shows how density, diversity and congestion can work as incentives for building better and more equal cities.