My Espoo on the Map – data from residents in city planners’ work
City planning utilises a lot of different data about things like the population, workplaces, mobility and the values of the natural and built environments. Espoo wants to use its residents’ experience-based knowledge as preliminary information when areas are being planned.
Experience-based knowledge is created when residents live their normal lives in an urban environment. This knowledge cannot be replaced by any expert data. Planning is work to reconcile all this data and different perspectives. The aim is to create a better Espoo.
Experience-based knowledge in practice
In 2020, approximately 6,600 Espoo residents responded to the first My Espoo on the Map survey. Responses were received from all over Espoo. The residents marked on the map about 70,000 places, and they also told the planners about the places verbally. Because the material is so comprehensive, it can be utilised in a wide range of city planning projects.
The response material has been used as the preliminary data for planning through the city’s own map data system. In the system, the city planners can see each map marker and the related texts. The material has been analysed in different ways. Aspects examined include in what types of areas residents move in search of things like work or services, and how well the borders of the current city districts are actually realised. Several exercises and final projects have also been made about the material at Aalto University and the University of Helsinki. All this has produced valuable information for city planning.
Response material has also been used in the planning of the resident interaction of the city plans. The results of the survey have been used to identify issues important to local residents, which have then been addressed in interaction between parties. In more extensive planning projects, discussions have been held at residents’ events on the basis of the response material. This has been a way to supplement experience-based knowledge through cooperation.
The map markings in the response material have also been shared as open data. Now other actors or, for example, individual residents can also analyse and utilise them. Individual respondents cannot be identified from the response material.
Go to open data in the Helsinki Region Infoshare service.(external link, opens in a new window)
Follow-up data to track changes in everyday environments
The My Espoo on the Map survey will now be carried out again, four years after the previous survey. The goal is to repeat the survey every four years, every council term. The surveys provide experience-based follow-up data about how different changes in the urban environment have affected residents’ experiences of their living environment. On the other hand, residents may also wish for a change, and the experience of the urban environment may deteriorate if the desired development does not take place. This kind of understanding helps city planners to better anticipate the effects of planning projects and find functional solutions.
Collection of experience-based follow-up data is rare. Espoo wants to be a pioneer in collecting and utilising city-level follow-up data that is based on geographic information. In this effort, the city is supported by research cooperation with Aalto University.
Follow-up data is obtained by asking the same questions in surveys over several years. In addition, the 2024 survey includes new questions related to matters important to Espoo residents: local nature and environmental safety.
These topics have arisen in many contexts, such as the discussions of the Our Espoo 20X0 event series and the Espoo Master Plan 2060 interaction. The new My Espoo on the Map survey aims to find out in more detail for which places people have concerns, wishes and other experiences related to these themes. Using this data, the city can better identify development needs and take them into account in planning.