Kimmo Nurmio
Finnish Environment Institute / SYKE
M.Sc. Kimmo Nurmio is a spatial data oriented researcher from Finnish Environment Institute. Kimmo is specialized in developing GIS-based analysis methods for urban and regional structure, and has participated on several studies regarding, for example, built environment data management, open data and spatial data infrastructure. He is currently working on projects that observe air quality on Nordic capital cities, develop data management processes of digital cultural heritage information and analyze the urban structure of Helsinki metropolitan region. Kimmo has experience on developing and maintaining web-based information services that utilize spatial databases through different application and spatial data interfaces.
To redefine the future of built environment, a glance to the past is needed. We give a historical overview on the digitalization of Finnish built environment spatial data infrastructure - how it has developed, and what kind of progress and transformations it has enabled regarding research and practices of urban and regional development. We see that built environment spatial data infrastructure and long-term data sets form a backbone for sustainable urban and regional development.
Finland has a long history on development of environmental spatial data sets. For example, for almost 30 years ago Finland was the second country in the world to conduct census digitally. Regarding built environment spatial data infrastructure, one of the key innovations has been the creation of nationwide building and dwelling register (in Finnish: RHR, rakennus- ja huoneistorekisteri), which includes coordinates for each building and dwelling.
Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) has used and developed nationwide registers and statistical data for over 20 years. SYKE has given its input in developing new data, methods and tools to for instance describe the development of the urban structure, and also to predict the development in the future. This work has been mainly demand-based and done in a close cooperation with urban planners, researchers and other stakeholders. Long-term nationwide spatial data sets and information services with web-based user-interfaces are nowadays widely used on different administrative levels and processes - from state level to local communities, from planning to development of legislation and research projects.
Cooperation between governmental authorities and public and private organisations has been one of the critical points enhancing this development. This is based on mutual trust – which together with sophisticated data infrastructure enables the effective usage of data within planning processes and on decision making in different administrative levels. Upgrading, refining and generalizing register-based data helps to provide and develop temporally and spatially comparable data sets.
These data sets are essential part of information-based decision making to promote urban sustainability, quality of life and transparency of planning processes. They capture past developments and help us better understand the future. Changes in land use are slow and effects cumulative, but data sets make studying of long-term developments possible. We make this visible by presenting practical examples that reflect the importance of multiscale spatial data on resolving various problems in contemporary urban and regional planning in Finland.
But this is not all. New data sources - such as 3D, sensors, social media, IoT - will bring changes on the way information is being collected, analysed and shared. The amount of data continues increasing and will further increase its meaning in the society. To be able to harness data effectively, we need cooperation to ensure data integration, uniformity and open access also to new data sources to enable effective participation, better planning and more sustainable urbanization.
