Espoo Master Plan 2060 blog post series: The Cogs of a Functioning City

Infrastructure maintenance is rarely featured at resident events or in feedback. This is not surprising, as it is what makes up the cogs that keep everything running in the background. It remains unnoticed – unless something goes wrong.

Master planning aims for a distant future. It is our job to ensure that the cogs keep turning as the city grows and conditions change.

Infrastructure maintenance includes many areas that we pay attention to during master planning. Here are some examples.

Energy

Espoo’s energy needs grow constantly. It is electricity in particular that will see a significant rise in demand. To produce low-emission energy, planning reserves space for energy production plants and transmission networks. District heat production in Espoo will increasingly use waste heat and electric heat pumps.

Main water supply network

As the city grows, so does water consumption and the need for wastewater treatment. This requires new water supply lines, tunnels and water towers. The master plan accounts for the implementation of regionally significant water mains.

Espoo also features the Blominmäki wastewater treatment plant, which also processes wastewater for other cities. In the master plan, it is important to allow for the long-term implementation of networks leading to and from Blominmäki.

Maintenance of public areas

Life in the city is smooth with well-maintained public areas. Maintenance of public areas includes the construction and maintenance of streets, abrasive grit spreading and removal, snow ploughing and transportation of snow away from roads, and park maintenance.

Maintenance requires a wide range of storage areas and depots across the city. In master planning, we ensure sufficient space for maintenance in the different future areas of Espoo.

Mass management

Construction projects generate different soil masses that must be handled and stored. The aim is to recycle the masses, but there is limited reuse potential for clay, silt and slush. For this reason, soil and aggregates are also transported to land collection areas. The master plan accounts for both mass recycling and final disposal.

In 2017–2024, the collected volume of soil and aggregates varied between 860,000 and 1,460,000 cubic metres (volume before compaction, m3itd). On average, that amount is ten times the amount of the Parliament Building per year. 2024 was a record year for mass collection in Espoo's Kulmakorpi.

Snow collection

In snowy winters, the storage of snow ploughed off the streets requires a surprisingly large amount of space. In extremely snowy winters, up to 50,000 loads of snow must be transported to snow reception points. At best, more than 10,000 loads of snow are brought to Vanttila's snow reception point. That is the maximum amount that can fit in there.

As the city grows and becomes denser, the amount of snow that needs to be removed will increase. In the master plan, it is possible to reserve places for the most important snow reception points.

Stormwater and floods

As the city becomes denser, the amount of paved surface increases. At the same time, climate change adds to the risk and intensity of heavy rainfall and raises the sea level. Combined, these lead to higher volumes of stormwater and risk of flooding without advance mitigation.

The master plan examines stormwater management from the perspective of catchment areas and defines the principles thereof. Operational planning will account for the flood risks.

The master plan is the long-term plan for the city. It defines where and how residential areas, services and other areas, such as jobs, are placed. In addition, the master plan aims to enable sustainable organisation of civil engineering services and to prepare for different situations.

It is important to ensure that water supply and energy solutions, among others, can respond to the development of the city. This means that the master plan is a significant tool that guides infrastructure maintenance in a growing city.

Failure to account for technical maintenance early on may make it difficult and expensive to implement later. This may also lead to a lower maintenance service level. Many areas of infrastructure maintenance also introduce clear restrictions on other land use. Were the master plan to not account for infrastructure maintenance, finding suitable facilities may be difficult on demand.

Placing operations around the city creates an efficient network for technical maintenance. For example, it allows a snow plough to get to snowed-in streets quickly and eliminates the need to transport snow for long distances. This ensures that you don’t spend unnecessary time driving on snowy mornings.

In other words, infrastructure maintenance is a vital part of the city’s operations, but its importance is often overlooked when everything works.

We do not work alone: each area involves a lot of interaction with stakeholders and internal city actors. These include energy companies, HSY and the Espoo Public Works Department.

Our task is to secure the future needs of actors responsible for infrastructure so that the city’s machinery continues to work and allows residents to lead their lives.

Authors: Energy Engineer Mika Huttunen handles energy supply questions in the master plan. Master Plan Engineer Suvi Lämsä handles thematic questions related to technical maintenance, stormwater and climate change adaptation.

Learn more:

• Master Planning in Espoo
• Espoo Master Plan 2060