Collaborating for a More Efficient Capital City
The city of Helsinki has been working to become the most functional city in the world by digitalizing all aspects of its city planning, construction, and maintenance. Already, they have city models, where they have been working to digitalize the capital. Now, with the EUR 1 million Helsinki Digital City Synergy project, they seek to realize the practical and versatile benefits of these models while bringing more value from them by creating a citywide digital twin. They employed Helsinki 3D+, Helsinki City Environment Division, and Forum Virium Helsinki to work together to achieve its goals.
Providing an Open Digital City Platform
They knew that they wanted to integrate the existing models with the data from their internal processes and public services. They needed to use models to engage residents, utilize open data models for public-private co-innovation, and support both smart city and sustainable carbon neutral goals. However, they would first need to model the 500-square-mile city and implement all its asset data, as well as freely share the results with the public. Therefore, they needed an open digital city platform for their digital twin.
Image: Courtesy of City of Helsinki
Modeling and Incorporating Asset Information for a Digital Twin
Already having used them to create their city models, the city of Helsinki once again chose to use Bentley applications to complete their Digital City Synergy project. The Helsinki City Environment Division used MicroStation, ContextCapture, and OpenCities Map to generate and update a reality mesh and information model of the 500-square-mile city area for their digital twin, which includes their CityGML.
They also used ProjectWise to establish a connected data environment. Meanwhile, Forum Virium Helsinki developed a digital twin of Kalasatama—a 0.27-square-mile neighborhood in Helsinki—using OpenCities Planner to present smart city solutions and facilitate citizen participation, becoming the model for the entire city to follow. Helsinki 3D+ used MicroStation, ContextCapture, and OpenCities Map to create and maintain the entire city reality and information models. They also use LumenRT to produce their own video clips to share with all stakeholders and the public.
Bringing Together Residents and Stakeholders with Open Data
The city of Helsinki’s open, digital solution enables better decision-making by connecting the right information to the right stakeholder. With open access to data from the entire city, the public can access the same information as project stakeholders, providing transparency and improving public relations. The data is already being used by universities and research institutions, with its city models being the second most popular downloaded data sets. Overall, the city of Helsinki is providing a reliable digitalized data infrastructure to support sustainable smart city initiatives, creating a better quality of life for its citizens and visitors. Moving forward, they will continue to expand their digitalization efforts to create their citywide digital twin.
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Facts
- The city of Helsinki employed Helsinki 3D+, Helsinki City Environment Division, and Forum Virium Helsinki to integrate and utilize city models.
- They needed an open digital city platform to overcome any challenges and publicly share data.
- The city of Helsinki’s open, digital solution enables better decision-making by connecting the right information to the right stakeholder, making it easier for anyone to access city data.
"Building Digital City Synergy requires strategic support, creative development, agility in roles, and the best possible tools."
Enni Airaksinen
3D Specialist
Helsinki 3D+, City of Helsinki
Image: Courtesy of City of Helsinki
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