Integrative Urban Development: Practices and Tools for a Sustainable Winter City

The paper will present the interim results of a multidisciplinary research project, Integrative Urban Development Concept: Case Sustainable Winter City (2012-2014). The research project examines integrative urban development practices, tools and block-level concepts that are needed in the design and construction of a Sustainable Winter City. These practices are tested and piloted in a Living Lab experiment in the city of Oulu, northern Finland, where a new Hiukkavaara neighborhood for 20,000 inhabitants is being constructed. Planning and building of western cities and communities is based strongly on a tradition of modernistic urban planning. Modernistic planning principles consist of distinction of activities and traffic as well as creation of scattered urban pattern. All these features can be recognized in the urban structure of the city of Oulu and other large northern cities - suffering of long internal distances, dependence on private cars and heavy ecological footprint. Urban sprawl has though come to its' end since climate and energy questions have pushed design of sustainable urban structure into political agenda in global, national and local levels. This sets demand for a new kind of integrative, public-private co-operation and partnerships in order to create sustainable northern communities. The paper will focus on discussing what kind of integrative planning practices and tools are needed to realize a sustainable northern winter city. Key questions are: 1) What kind of urban development practices and tools are promoting planning and building of a Sustainable Winter City (SWC)? 2) What are the obstacles and promoters in implementation of the SWC practices? 3) How should current practices and tools be renewed and what kind of new practices and tools are needed?