Henna – Smart garden town of Orimattila City, Finland
Henna is located next to the railway and highway nr. 4, between Helsinki metropolitan area and the city of Lahti. The city’s planning is based on the idea of a garden city with the railway station within walking distance from it’s whole area. All commuter trains operating between Helsinki and Lahti stop at Henna. It takes about 45 minutes to Helsinki and about 13 minutes to Lahti.
Henna is currently under construction and it’s functions and services under development by the city of Orimattila. It is estimated to inhabit 6 000 people in 2023 and 15 000 in 2050. The inhabitants will mainly consist of people pendeling to nearby larger cities. The affordable living costs will also attract young families and elderly people who prefer a social and modern lifestyle.
We want Henna to be known as the Garden City of the Future, as it is being developed in unison with the surrounding nature, while using several future-proof Smart City initiatives to improve the standard of living of it’s current and future citizens. Our Smart City Development Programme, the “Resource-smart Henna” combines citizens and partnering businesses with governmental stakeholders. The program focuses on four key elements:
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Smart Mobility
- Facilitated transportation chains for flexible, affordable and easy transport
- Examples for initiatives: Carpooling, City bikes, Autonomous vehicles
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Citizen activism
— related to smart participation and governance
- activating people to express their ideas and opinions freely in a productive way
- Citizen’s participation in decision making
- Digital platforms for interaction between stakeholder groups
- Enhancing Community feeling and Togetherness
- Examples of initiatives; Henna App, Facilitated citizen workshops, communal Henna-House
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Smart Services
- Initiatives that increase quality of life
- Easier improvements for the municipality
- Sharing common areas and personal items (Lowering downtime of things)
- Pro Active information sharing
- Examples of initiatives; Innovation Incubatory, shared garden, Planted fruit trees, Sharing pools
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Housing and infrastructure
- Compact housing structures
- functional areas of high activity and sustainable traffic
- Eco friendly – Green city
- Sustainability checklist and consulting for building
- Common recreational areas
- Open and friendly ”look & feel”
- Examples of initiatives; Smart city lighting, Close-knit shopping district.
The City also wants to promote a healthy lifestyle through the introduction of marked nature pathways, healthy and sustainable restaurants, functional natural surroundings, green areas and parks inside and around the city.
