The methodology of user-sensitive service design within urban planning

The increasingly complex living environment poses challenges in everyday life that thetraditional urban planning cannot meet. We argue that the methodology, called the user-sensitiveservice design within urban planning, is viable for many stakeholders in a situation,where the infrastructure of everyday life is shattering and the uncertainty and ambiguity of theplanning process and outcomes are prevailing (Forester 1993). Our aim is to present themethodology and its application in the planning and development of digitised services in aneighbourhood of Helsinki. The methodology turns out to be a hybridiser and a bridge builderthat embeds urban planning in the local context. In addition, it is a vehicle for transfering theplanning content to the phases of implementation and use, resulting in the emergence ofglocal digital spaces.Peer reviewe

Exploring E-Planning Practices in Different Contexts

As planners and decision-makers experiment with information and communication technologies (ICTs),it’s important to explore and analyze these attempts in different planning systems and contexts. The aim of the article is to compare the use of and aspirations attached to e-planning in Helsinki, Finland and Sydney,Australia. This comparison will highlight the interrelationship between planning context and its amenability to an e-planning approach and shows there are shared themes in both cases: firstly, the complexity involved in reconciling the aims of the e-planning experiments and their connection to the planning process itself (roles,objectives, implementation of tools and processes). Secondly, the way that e-planning opens up cracks in the façade of administration, and thirdly, the ways in which e-planning provides possibilities to reshape existing planning procedures. The authors argue that the different planning and governance contexts affect the adoption of e-planning and this adoption is necessarily a selective process.Peer reviewe

When Self-Organization Intersects with Urban Planning: Two Cases from Helsinki

Participation as self-organization has emerged as a new form of citizen activism, often supported by digital technology. A comparative qualitative analysis of two case studies in Helsinki indicates that the self-organization of citizens expands the practice of urban planning. Together, they enable the mobilization of different groups around issues related to urban space. The consequences have become visible in temporary uses of places, event making and community development through bottom-up cultures. However, the lacking links to decision-making constrains new solutions and creative actions.Peer reviewe