Baudouin Reis Barros da Encarnação de Vilhena da Cunha 2007

Baudouin Reis Barros da Encarnação de Vilhena da Cunha I. (2007), Creative Urban Spaces: ‘Innovation Hub’ as an instrument of urban policy, Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Regeneração Urbana e Ambiental, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Lisbona

pp. 49-50

Case study conclusions
This iHub is a very creative and distinctive district that emerges from a combination of pre-existing characteristics and innovative tools that has led to the creation of a successful arts and media hub. It has been developed using  a very comprehensive approach in such a way as to create several strategic ‘sub -project’s to achieve its goals, such as the ‘art project’, the ‘social project’ and the ‘virtual community project’, fostering the participation and collaboration of different actors from different fields in the construction of this creative place, which is understood as an experimental project made by all the stakeholders involved.

The pre-existing characteristics in which Arabianranta was built on are:

 

• Historic memories associated with the foundation of the City of Helsinki and with the industrial factories that operated there;
• Picturesque landscape, as an unique and distinctive resource in the territorial framework;
• Location near the city centre (6 km distance) at the boundary between the inner city and the suburbs;
• Previous presence of an important university of arts, audiovisual cmmunications and design -the UIAH;
• The motivation and will of the City of Helsinki to create Arabianranta as a new urban area and a flagship project.

These ingredients have fostered the development of the Arabianranta district where:
 

1. The natural environment (waterfront and the green park) and the picturesque landscape act as the nucleus element of the project.
2. The talent and social environment assumes an important role in several areas of the project, such as urban policies, housing types, virtual community, art project, and public spaces, towards an inclusive and diverse community. Social integration from the beginning of the project has been a crucial objective; a ‘social project’ managing specific tools within the whole project can be identified.
3. The clustering environment was created by establishing a set of knowledge infrastructures and it gives an interesting and vibrant education and learning profile to the district, where the UIAH has a significant position in the entire development process of the project, as an active core that links the City of Helsinki, the developers and the community. Nevertheless, the entrepreneurship climate is not very strong in this atmosphere.
4. The built environment is a balanced dimension, where the architecture, the urban art, the urban density and the structure of public spaces interact in harmony, among themselves and with the other components of the district.
5. Governance is an important dimension, but its role has been split among the several actors that participate in the project without a consistent structure, making it less central to the development of the district.
6. Concerning the cultural environment, al though the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Arabianranta is very present in some elements of the project, cultural and enter tainment facilities are not a strong component towards developing a more dynamic, vital and vibrant community.
7. The connectivity dimension is seen as excellent in both of its components, physical and digital. It has an ongoing project for virtual infrast ructures and services as well as a transport system that connects Arabianranta with all the surrounding areas.