{"id":14319,"date":"2020-08-24T16:09:16","date_gmt":"2020-08-24T13:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/?p=14319"},"modified":"2022-12-05T18:35:37","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T16:35:37","slug":"sustainable-urban-planning-requires-centralised-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/ajankohtaista\/news\/sustainable-urban-planning-requires-centralised-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuuli Kaskinen: \u201cAn urban environment should be made so that people would not need to constantly make only good choices and give up things\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"trailblazers<\/h2>\n

Tuuli Kaskinen: \u201cAn urban environment should be made so that people would not need to constantly make only good choices and give up things\u201d<\/h1>\n

Tuuli Kaskinen from Demos Helsinki says that sustainable urban planning requires centralised solutions. This is why the entire value chain of the construction field and its network effect need to be utilised as climate change progresses.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the past century, urban development has been based on two factors that are central to climate change: cheap energy and private car ownership, says\u00a0<\/span>Tuuli Kaskinen<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0from Demos Helsinki.\u00a0<\/span>These factors that served to speed up climate change were not as central during the early days of urban development as they are now.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSuburban structure, for example, was designed in the 60s and 70s, before the oil crisis, at a time when the energy challenge was not relevant at all. The role of cars was very significant in urban development, however.\u00a0<\/span>It is interesting to see that the<\/span>\u00a0ideal of having your own car is shared by people throughout the political field.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We are now in a situation where energy use should be minimised and private car use in cities reduced significantly. Kaskinen summarises that less energy should be\u00a0<\/span>produced<\/span>\u00a0and it should be produced locally.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPrivate car use that has been promoted thus far is no longer possible to this extent. Instead, getting around will be increasingly based on various public transport solutions and modes of smart transport,\u201d Kaskinen says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is sustainable urban development?\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEnergy and transport are the basis of sustainable urban planning. In the end, however, it is all about providing people with a good, safe and functional environment for their daily life,\u201d Kaskinen describes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe environment should be one where people would not need to constantly make only good choices and give up things. Instead, housing solutions, for example, should be sustainable by themselves.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An example of this is the structure of a carbon footprint of an average Helsinki resident. Even if they cut out every possible thing out of their lives, the proportion of heating produced with coal is still too large in the city.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis inevitably makes the carbon footprint of a Helsinki resident larger than the global average,\u201d Kaskinen says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Coal will soon be a thing of the past, which will have a notable impact on the carbon footprint of residents. Kaskinen highlights that now is the time for decisions that are not dependent on\u00a0<\/span>people\u2019s own actions. People\u2019s choices can be steered towards better options through planning solutions, for example.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, people make choices about transport, for example. We need to ensure that the forms of sustainable transport are an attractive option.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kaskinen adds that the future urban environment will also need to be able to provide more experiences so that people will be able to forget their everyday troubles locally. For now, Western holidays are still strongly focused on travel.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The entire value chain must work together\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Kaskinen, the value chain of the entire construction industry must now commit to the common goals. People must look beyond individual buildings and their own goals and move towards comprehensive sustainability thinking.\u00a0<\/span>This is why<\/span>\u00a0it is important to find a common language and shared indicators for the entire industry.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe UN\u2019s sustainable development goals are a great discussion opener and will help to coordinate environmental and social perspectives. There are now even more tools for pushing comprehensive sustainability thinking forward,\u201d Kaskinen believes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Kaskinen, facing a large problem can often feel like the \u2018chicken or egg\u2019 problem: people don\u2019t know how to start solving the issue.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEach operator in the value chain feels that they cannot do anything, because the investors will not reward them, the client does not want it, the plan does not allow it or cannot be modified, because the developer does not know how to do it,\u201d she describes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kaskinen compares the situation to the food market, where the change has been rapid as consumers\u2019 preferences and wishes have started to guide the transition. However, consumers do not make the decisions in the construction business. That is why the entire value chain, from cities to developers and investors, need to develop the operations together.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn this industry, activating only a part of the operators is nearly impossible. Faced with climate change, the entire value chain has to share the same, common goal, and network effect must be utilised.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuuli Kaskinen from Demos Helsinki says that sustainable urban planning requires centralised solutions. This is why the entire value chain of the construction field and its network effect need to be utilised as climate change progresses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":14811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Sustainable urban planning requires centralised solutions","_seopress_titles_desc":""An urban environment should be made so that people would not need to constantly make only good choices and give up things\u201d says Tuuli Kaskinen, Demos Helsinki.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14319"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38563,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14319\/revisions\/38563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}