Kari Halinen

Contacts

• Heikki Somervuo (city planner retired) +358 50 5931332
• Pekka Pakkala (city planner)
• Jaana Hyvärinen (one of the promoters ADC, studies...) (mail to Kari) about promotion and budget of ADC
• sami.saarinen@saunalahti.fi for internet traffic data in Arabianranta

From interview

What about the project? The masterplan. What the roll of cityplanner? First, there was the masterplan and than started the ADC and e-participation process.

I would start with say that I don't know; I can imagine that for a point of view of a city planner. I would say that the city planner have done the masterplan in Arabianranta at the very beginning and than started with listen all the contributes; a democracy process started in Arabianranta. The actors come from everywhere: citizen, local company, university and so on. A very complex system.
 

I'd like to interview Mikael Sundman; I tried to contact him but he didn't answer to my mails.

Mikael Sundman is very busy man, a "old stile" planner compared to Pekka Pakkala. Sundman knew very well the process; he is more rational architect. Any way is more easy to contact Pekka Pakkala.
 

So, what about the planning process?

In any case the city planners cannot be a tool, they cannot been in all the conversations. In the first stage all the informations come from everywhere and they had to manage it. That was the idea to establish ADC.
Sundman and Pakkala were very happy because now who complain, wants to discuss and wants answers about planning can have it from ADC.
It was a very stressful process for the planner. So ADC started a mediation process giving information to the planners and to Arabian Palvelu the local service company.

Arabianranta planning chart

Are you in the middle of the process?

Yes. Is our job. Now, only I call Mikael Sundman, he knows that, if I call him for something, he will know that it is a real problem. A filtering process. He cannot manage all the informations. If I call for the kindergarten is because everybody [the citizen] have some problems with it.
City planner don't have to care and manage the informations. We care about it. We collect informations and pass to them. We manage that flow.
 

Why not a arabianranta.fi and a local agency in any neighbourhood? why don't reply this model?

Well is a cost. It's very expensive. The idea was a testing, for this area in develop. Even the name ADC is very specific, is referred to this specific place and its characteristics. We have to handle informations and communication. Make attractive the area for new companies and residents.
 

I'd like to understand the power of the virtual social network compared to the face to face relationship.

Now it's quite easy to collect the people; I can keep in contact with all the active users in the network by mail or by the forum, of course.
Second: people before coming here [move in the neighbourhood] could introduce each other before start to live in their flat. They start to speech each other before know in the real life. The same is for the company which are able to start business relation before establish, for example, a new branch.
I would say yes, virtual is more power or better, virtual is different. Participation could be done in different ways.
People, the citizen are really informed about the area, they keep the information on-line. During the face to face meeting, ADC monthly organised, people knows the topic, is prepared. It happen to have 5000 person meeting and it was a ordered meeting. All the people discuss quietly; the city planner were really happy about it. In this way cityplanners avoid any stress.
 

What about the local web community?

Every house has its network; they stay in touch in the real life and on-line. They have their community.
People with handicap! We have a community of handicap; without the portal, the communication system they could not participate on the neighbourhood.
Peole discuss in the forum.
E-moderators are proud. E-moderator ask to the habitants, introduce arguments. They discuss a lot and they decide by them self which is the best solution.
At the and we combine all the informations on the web and what come from the real life.


How select the e-moderator?

I'm a little dictator. I want free person not in relation with any organization, association, politic party. That's the only thing that I decide by me self.
 

So you non exactly in the middle if there are three strong elements.

There are three steps. 1/3 is the e-moderator and the other 2/3 are ADC and decision makers. So, is a important and careful process. A communication filtering process.
Well, but is more complicated.
Sometime we collect data from habitants, sometime a it comes from citizen as a really well discuss arguments. Sometime people can find the solution by themselves. Sometime the e-moderetor call me directly. Sometime I speak direct to the city planner. Sometime the city planners or decision maker or company or city manager ask me for something and I can decide if speak direct with the e-moderator or with citizen.
 

What about the portal and its versions.

The first portal was a "old" style version, We put information on it. Information about what will be the are. One way information.
The second portal was Helsinki Virtual Village. Now we evolve. We change the name that is more related to the local area. We change the usability of the system. The second version was a property system. Now is a ethic platform, more powerful. It was a good solution to update it, even because we maintain all the data. We pay a lot for it, to transfer and save old discussions.
 

How to preserve the site [internet] alive? A lot of social network internet based stop cause the no user will, content, usability of the site.

We have change three time the site. We have to be really sensible to detect the "temparature" of the system. And the people willing. we organise meeting face to face; put new informations, events, discussion topic.

Internet portal chart

What happen after the end; in 2012 when Arabianranta will be finish?

City is in evolution. It continue to transform. We are trying to understand what will be Arabianranata, when the neighbourhood will be completed.
We are discussing; we have started meeting about what will be in the future, what will be our mission. Is a hard mission. First we have to prevent the the system can collapse in the future. Second we have to define new aims, new target. We have started four year before to question about it. A strong task.

To Ask

• The access to the Eglish site of arabianranta.fi it doesen't work. It needs log in. Can I access or is it possible to fix the problem?
• Do you have a update version of Arabianranta Facts & Figures xls file downloaded in August?
• As you told me, may I have the access to Google data statistic of arabianranta.fi?
• May I have the proportion between number of inhabitant and number active users on the site-forum?
• Can you tell me some example of wishes-desire-problem discussed on the forum (3-4 cases about communication process citizen->forum->ADC->City and vice versa). Further examples later than the day-care wanted by a mother.
  
• Witch is numbers of forum groups / communities? One every building?
• How are founding the support of ADC? What the year budget and for what?
• Can you add me to ADC mailing list?
• How are the creators, promoters, supporters of ADC?
• Can you register me to the forum?
• Witch is % of topics discussion?
  
  • Socialization;
  • work and job find;
  • cultural - events;
  • apartment building meeting;
  • planning and neighbourghood
• What the url was of the first site version; if helsinkivirtualvillage.fi was the second and arabianranta.fi is the third?
• Witch group/buildings are more active than others? Can I discover it only by Saunalahti?