Revitalizing Finnoo — Integrating service design into urban planning

Client: City of Espoo
Role: Service Designer
Focus: Service Design / Participatory Design / Urban futures / Facilitation

Spring 2018: Team of 6 people

Overview

Revitalizing Finnoo was a service design project carried out in collaboration with the City of Espoo. The project focused on the transformation of Finnoo (formerly Suomenoja), an existing small neighbourhood, into a future district for approximately 17,000 residents.

Alongside large-scale construction plans, the city was facing a more human question: How to create an area that future residents would genuinely experience as their own? There was a concern that without early and meaningful engagement, Finnoo could become physically impressive but socially thin. The project explored how service design could be integrated into urban planning to support identity, community formation, and long-term attractiveness.

My role

I worked as part of a team throughout the project. I contributed to research, fieldwork, interviews, insight synthesis, workshop design and facilitation, and concept development. I was involved from framing the challenge to shaping the final vision and proposals.

Process & approach

We conducted field visits and interviews to understand the current area, its atmosphere, and what already makes Suomenoja meaningful to the people who are part of the area today.

A central part of the work was a co-creation workshop that brought together the city representatives, current residents, potential future residents, and members of the local boating community. Creating this shared space was intentional: the city had ambitious development plans, but it was considered essential that existing voices, practices, and the area’s unique character were respected and carried forward.

Through participatory activities, we explored values, everyday needs, and future possibilities. The workshop surfaced what should be preserved, what could evolve, and what kind of neighbourhood people hoped Finnoo could become.

Outcomes & Impact

The work resulted in a shared vision for Finnoo as a neighbourhood, core development principles endorsed across stakeholder groups, and a strategic roadmap linking community engagement to different phases of urban development. We also developed five concrete concept examples illustrating how services, spaces and participation could support everyday life in the area. Together, these formed a framework the city could use to integrate citizen perspectives into ongoing and future planning.

The City of Espoo valued the approach and recognised its relevance for community-driven urban development, signalling interest in further collaboration.

This project reflects how I work in complex, multi-stakeholder environments: creating shared spaces for dialogue, balancing long-term visions with local realities, and translating human insight into strategic structures that guide future development.