Cycling in Turku and in Antwerp

In February, a young Finnish woman walked around Den Bell, home to the Antwerp city administration office. Katariina Salokannel normally works for the city of Turku in southern Finland, where she is a project coordinator for smart mobility. As part of the European project SCALE-UP, she came to Antwerp on a work visit for a few weeks. We asked Katariina what her impressions were so far, and what smart mobility looks like in Finland.

This article was first published on the “Smart Ways to Antwerp” website on 27/02/2023

“We want to make people think”

'Turku is a relatively small city with 200,000 inhabitants, 106 km from the capital Helsinki, in southwestern Finland. Along with Antwerp and Madrid, we are part of the European research project SCALE-UP. Together, we are looking for sustainable mobility solutions. As such, we try to collect the right data and experiment with different measures.’

‘In Turku, I coordinate projects focussing on scooter and bike sharing, for example. Turku is a very compact city, with great potential for cycling. But Finns are used to doing everything by car. For example, I come from a very small town, where everyone has to have two cars to get around.’

‘That isn't necessary in the city, but the people still have that mentality. With the SCALE-UP project, we are trying to change people's behaviour. We rolled out Turku's first bike sharing system and now I'm working on parking spaces for scooter sharing.’

Cycling in the winter

‘Another component of the SCALE-UP project in Turku is mobility in the winter. Our winters are very different from the ones here - if you can even call this winter (she laughs). We have snow, wind and ice; sometimes, it's 2°C or 3°C, and sometimes temperatures drop to -20°C. In other parts of Finland, we know for sure that there will be snow, which makes it a little easier to prepare and organise things. But when the temperature fluctuates just above and below freezing all the time, you get very slippery roads.’

‘Moreover, in the winter it is very dark in Finland, especially when there is no snow. As a result, people tend to want to hibernate a bit. They stay inside and - at most - hop in the car once to drive to the shops.’

‘That's not very eco-friendly, and it's also not good for your health. We want to wake people up, and make them think. We are looking for ways to make walking and cycling more enjoyable. For example, through better lighting, better equipment or benches that make it more fun for people to sit outside.'

What have you learned from the other cities in the SCALE-UP project?

'If we've learned one thing, it's that you have to find solutions that fit the size of your city. E-scooters are a great solution for getting from one side of town to the other in Turku. But in Madrid, with its 6 million inhabitants, you can't really use a scooter to get around outside your own neighbourhood.’

That's why we also need solutions to travel from one neighbourhood to another, such as trams or the metro. So above all, you have to encourage people to combine different modes of transport. In our city, it's more about taking the bicycle instead of the car.'

What do you take with you from the Antwerp approach?

'In terms of size, Antwerp is more like Turku than Madrid. I had also heard a lot of good things about Smart ways to Antwerp. The Antwerp approach is quite impressive. My team consists of about 11 people. Here, there are twice or three times that many people working on mobility.’

'I'm focusing a lot on 'nudging' right now. That means giving people as many incentives as possible to change how they travel rather than convincing them with words. Antwerp has a lot of experience with nudging, so that's something I am very interested in.'

'The work that has been done on mobility is also really strategic in Antwerp, with clear goals and multi-year plans. We haven't been around that long and we work more ad hoc.'

What I will definitely take away from this is the employer approach. I think we also need to work a lot more with our employers in Turku. But perhaps the most important thing is that I'm going to be able to see everything with a fresh perspective when I get home.'

And how do you like the city of Antwerp?

'I like it here. Cycling is so easy here, and everyone actually does it.’

'The first week I did get lost. In Turku, the streets are arranged in a straight grid system, making it easy to find your way around. Here, all the streets looked the same to me at first. And they're not even set up in triangles - they're more like parallelograms!'

'But after a few weeks, I found my way and now I have discovered tons of great places and restaurants here. The weather is nice. And it was refreshing for me to see so many people out and about in the winter. People go out to eat and drink on terraces, spending time outside: the city feels safe when people are walking around. I enjoyed that very much.'

'I have also been to Brussels and Bruges. In Antwerp, I like the Stadspark (City Park). But I think my favourite spot is Dageraadplaats in Zurenborg.'

Great to meet you

'I'm here on a work visit, so I just continued working for the city of Turku 80% of the time. The other 20% was me looking around and stealing glances here and there about nudging and smart mobility. The exchange of knowledge is what has made this visit so valuable to me.'

'And of course, it's nice to see all of the people who I had only spoken to on video calls in real life. I have let them know that the Antwerp team is welcome in Turku any time. Maybe in summer?'

Original publication: Smart Ways to Antwerp Website