, Finland
City population: 1034274
Duration: 2015 – 2018
Implementation status: Completed
Scale: Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Project area: 15435 m2
Type of area: Residential
Last updated: October 2021

To test the newly developed Green Factor Tool for the City of Helsinki, with a focus on water management, two test sites (ätkäsaari pilot block and the three model yards in Kuninkaantammi) were created at residential blocks in Jätkäsaari and Kuninkaantammi. The tool itself is an Excel interface that calculates the quantity and quality of the city's green spaces per unit of area, It is part of the larger iWATER (integrated stormwater management) project (Ref 2). Specifically, after testing it on these two pilot sites, it is to support land use planning processes by providing a way to account for the quantity and quality of green space. The project aimed to analyze the cost-benefit of implemented sustainable stormwater solutions, compile stormwater-related planning tools as well as increase and strengthen the capacity of cities to work with stormwater issues (ref. 2). One of the key objectives of developing the green factor method was to create green urban environments that have social value. Also, functionality was the second most important and cityscape (or landscape value) was the third most important category in green factor scoring.

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Nature on buildings (external)
  • Green roofs
  • Green walls or facades
  • Grey infrastructure featuring greens
  • House gardens
  • Green parking lots
  • Community gardens and allotments
  • Community gardens
  • Blue infrastructure
  • Lakes/ponds
  • Coastal wetland, mangroves and salt marshes
  • Green areas for water management
  • Rain gardens
  • Swales and filter strips

Key challenges

  • Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Water management (SDG 6)
  • Flood protection
  • Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity conservation
  • Green space creation and/or management

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Creation of semi-natural blue areas

Project objectives

1. To test the Green Area Factor tool for the City of Helsinki and thereby to facilitate land use planning processes by providing a way to account for both the quantity and quality of green infrastructure and their ecosystem services, specifically stormwater management (Ref 3). 2. Create a site-specific green factor method for valuing the benefits of green surfaces and elements from the viewpoint of stormwater management. 3. To prepare for the increasing risk of flooding caused by climate change. With regards to lots, the green factor was aimed to be used to promote stormwater management and the prevention of floods with due consideration of national and city-level stormwater management guidelines and regulations (Ref. 1)

Implementation activities

1. Create a pilot site at Jätkäsaari residential area. This is a community courtyard is partly built on a roof, filled with groundcover, shrubs and perennials. The rescue routes and locations are partly paved with grass stones. A variety of plant species has been planted and it includes a designated section for urban farming. Lists of plants and pavement specifications were used to calculate the aggregate areas and quantities for the green factor spreadsheet, 2. Create three hypothetical pilot site plans at Kuninkaantammi: Build green roofs on car shelters, create rain gardens, create natural runoff routes, minimise paved routes, preserve the west-side of the site as a rocky, woody park, create sedimentation and filtering systems through plants, use a sandy parking lot like a water filtration system. These designs are part of the broader ecological plans for Kuninkaantammi and are thus not yet built (Ref 1).

Climate-focused activities

Climate change adaptation:

  • Increase or improve urban vegetation cover to help reduce outdoor temperature
  • Implement green walls or roofs to lower indoor temperature and provide insulation
  • Restore wetlands and/or coastal ecosystems to dissipate the effects of flooding and/or storms
  • Implement sustainable urban drainage infrastructure (e.g. to make space for water)

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity conservation:

  • Protect and enhance urban habitats
  • Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
  • Create new habitats
  • Preserve and strengthen habitat connectivity
  • Reduce negative impacts and avoid the alteration/damage of ecosystem
  • Protect species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect native species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect endangered species

Biodiversity restoration:

  • Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
  • Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
  • Restore native species
  • Restore endangered species
  • Restore ecological connectivity

Main beneficiaries

  • Local government/Municipality
  • Private sector/Corporate/Company
  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Government-led

Type of initiating organisation

  • Local government/municipality

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Unknown

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The development and testing of the Green Area Factor tool is done by the City of Helsinki Environment Centre (Ref 1). However, the iWater project that it is a part of extends beyond the Helsinki government, as it involves support from the Interreg Central Baltic Programme and the European Union (Ref 2).

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Yes (The EU Water Framework Directive and the Floods Directive (Ref 1).)
... a national policy or strategy? Yes (The Finnish Water Services Act (Ref 1) )
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (The City of Helsinki Strategy on Storm Water Runoff 2008 (Ref 11) and the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (Ref 8, 9). )

Financing

Total cost

€100,000 - €500,000

Source(s) of funding

  • EU funds
  • Public regional budget
  • Public local authority budget

Type of funding

  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate change
  • Lowered local temperature
  • Enhanced carbon sequestration
  • Water management and blue areas
  • Increased protection against flooding
  • Improved stormwater management
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Increased number of species present
  • Enhanced support of pollination

Economic impacts

  • Unknown

Socio-cultural impacts

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts, Achieved impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Yes

Presence of indicators used in reporting

Yes

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

Yes

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

1: City of Helsinki Environment Centre. (2016). Developing the City of Helsinki Green Factor Method. Retrieved from Source link (Accessed 23 July 2020)
2: Stadin Ilmasto. (n.d.). iWater - Integrated storm water management. Retrieved from Source link (Accessed 23 July 2020)
3: Ariluoma, M. (2016). What is Green Factor? Site-scale solutions for stormwater management. Retrieved from Source link (Accessed 23 July 2020)
4: iWater. (n.d.). iWater cities and pilot sites. Retrieved from Source link (Accessed 23 July 2020)
5: iWater. (n.d.). Green Area Factor Tool materials from iWater. Retrieved from Source link (Accessed 23 July 2020)
6: Inkiläinen, E. (2016). Developing the Green Factor tool for the City of Helsinki: iWater kick-off. Retrieved from Source link (Accessed 23 July 2020)
7: Rakennusvirasto Byggnadskontoret. (2008). Helsingin kaupungin hulevesistrategia. Retrieved from Source link (Accessed 23 July 2020)
8: HSY. (2012). Helsinki Metropolitan Area Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. Retrieved from Source link (Accessed 23 July 2020)
9: Stadin Ilmasto. (n.d.). Adapting to climate change. Retrieved from Source link (Accessed 23 July 2020)
10: City of Helsinki. (n.d.). Kuninkaantammi and Honkasuo. Retrieved from Source link (Accessed 23 July 2020)
11: Juhola, S. (2018). Planning for a green city: The Green Factor tool. Science Direct. Available at: Source link (Accessed 20 August 2020)