The Citizens of 2040 – The Designers Today
Some markers are fairly evident. The demographic challenge is shared with most of the country: how do we keep the city attractive for young people to want to stay or even move in? Nykarleby has the advantage of a wealth of job opportunities—more jobs on offer than prospective employees at the moment—but automation and restructuring of the business landscape may change that. While the physical location of the city is fixed, future preferences for living and working may render its relative tranquility an asset.
In the city strategy, today's young inhabitants are identified as the core of the society in 2040. Therefore, a special target is to ensure that they are included in the planning process. Throughout the development of an integrated action plan, they will be given a say in the more tangible aims of Metacity, with urban planning as one of the focal points. The development of the town square and the city center as common spaces for all inhabitants of Nykarleby provides an excellent case for highlighting a topic that interests everyone and that will benefit from the introduction of new solutions.
The emerging practices within the project touch upon another marker: the need for participatory mechanisms beyond traditional ones. The city faces the challenge and responsibility to maintain and develop new practices to further fuel the engagement of citizens and ensure their voices and opinions are heard and taken into account. This may require additional resources in the long run, but we firmly believe it’s a good investment.
The Need for a Digitalisation Strategy – Tying It All Together
Digital transformation is well underway in Nykarleby, but resourcing the changes will be a challenge. Some parts may be best realized through regional collaboration, others perhaps through engaging businesses and the third sector, but the need for extra funds is evident. That, in turn, requires credible plans built on a cohesive strategy. Thus, a digitalisation strategy and plan is a natural core of the integrated action plan.
A digitalisation strategy cannot be seen as something separate or tacked-on—just as the digital world shouldn’t be seen as a separate entity. The digitalisation strategy ties in with other ongoing processes such as a communication plan, a development plan for the city center, and a sustainability plan developed together with neighboring municipalities. Even though developing several plans in parallel may stretch resources, it is worthwhile to ensure all relevant bases are covered.
While topics such as the design of the town square may seem quite tangible and physical at first glance, they actually cover two important strands of digitalisation that also make up the backbone of the Metacity process: the identification and testing of new solutions to visualize plans, such as digital twins presented in an accessible way, and the development of new modes and channels of interaction with and between citizens and public officials.
The Role of the IAP
What is the role of the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) among this wealth of strategies? There are at least two important functions: Firstly, the IAP process acts as scaffolding for the entire portfolio of plans, supporting city employees and decision-makers and laying out the next steps. Secondly, it constitutes a visible and powerful packaging for implementation across the board, particularly in the quest for extra funding for emerging new projects. Thus, the Urbact methodology creates an envelope for local actions while also reaching out to the region and the world.
Article by Kimmo Rautanen (Åbo Akademi University)