Urban Planning Tour with Leo Kosonen

I had the honor and pleasure of spending Wednesday morning with Leo Kosonen, former Director of Planning for the city of Kuopio, Finland.  For a sample of his work and thinking you can check out a presentation he gave in 2011:  NVF Meeting in Kuopio 26.5.2011.  I learned a great deal from my few hours with Mr. Kosonen, and it will take me a while to synthesize it all.  We visited and discussed many of his projects.  We also compared and contrasted land policy in Finland, Kuopio specifically, and the U.S.  There were many striking similarities and differences.  I intend to spend many of the dark hours ahead of me (our days are already getting pretty short) to sort all of this out into meaningful case studies and synthesized ideas.  For now, I share a draft mind-map in progress (inspired by my fourth grader's recent presentation on Sugar Gliders), and images of projects with nuggets of ideas in captions.

Projects:

Leo Kosonen and his "Bus Bridge."  It is not just a bridge for buses.  It is a bus-bridge.  The distinction is important and allows transportation planners and engineers to embrace the difference.  They must ignore the standards for a bridge that carries buses and help to create new standards for a new thing - a Bus Bridge. The Bus Bridge really is just for buses and individuals walking or biking.  The "bike" lane is as wide as the bus lane, though, and quite welcoming as a result.  

The bridge is closed to all traffic expect for public buses, pedestrians, skiers, and bicycles.  Light posts serve as gateways and, along with signage and paving changes, indicate to automobiles and all passersby that this bridge is different.  The bridge serves as a short-cut for people to travel to Keskusta (city center). Approximately 30% of households on the far-side of the bridge are carless.

Saaristokatu - "The Street of Islands," began in 1989 as a sketch of traditional road with straight-line bridges across the center of extant islands.  By the time the connection was completed in 2007, the Bus Bridge project had been deemed a success and the traditional road had become a "Landscape Street."  This new typology demanded new standards.  The speed limit was reduced, strict environmental considerations were in play, and pedestrians and bicycles were favored.

Light posts created a gateway to this new "landscape street," as they did for the "bus bridge."

Rocks from the islands and timbers used to recall the logging history of Kuopio, were used in place of gabion structures to create the sound barriers between the auto lanes and the the pedestrian/bike lane.

Saaristokatu managed to touch land only along the north side of most of the islands in the chain, thus preserving the southern sides for recreation and habitat/biodiversity.  In sub-arctic areas such as Kuopio, it is important to consider the preservation of south-facing landscapes for people, plants, and animals.

Lehtoniemi, Kuopio, is connected to Keskusta (City Center) via Saaristokatu (The Street of Islands).  What once was a distant neighborhood that required a car (or boat) was now connected to the city.  Buses, cars, pedestrians, bicyclists, and skiers could now make the trip easily.  Lehtoniemi is the site of much housing development - a primary area for the approximately 500-1000 new residents of Kuopio that arrive every year.

The intentionally low, unobtrusive bridges of Saaristokatu required that a canal be built to maintain shipping lanes. Despite current lack of use, Kuopio remains connected to the Baltic Sea via an extensive series of canals.  Geology and topography dictated that a new canal and high bridge be built in Lehtoniemi.  The results are beautiful and awe-inspiring.

The planners and design team made every effort to create a comfortable place for people under the bridge along the canal.  A call for public art proposals and polling in the local newspaper led to the creation of the artwork below.

My tour with Mr. Kosonen included another Civil Defense Shelter, and more details on the reconfiguration of Keskusta streets to encourage a pedestrian environment.  I will save those topics for another blog.

"Kiitos," Leo for all of your help!

Reference: The Routledge Handbook of Planning for Health and Well-Being pp. 521 - 539