2022

The best place in Helsinki

Country/area: Finland

Organisation: Helsingin Sanomat

Organisation size: Big

Publication date: 31/08/2021

Credit: Milka Rissanen, Emil Ehnström, Antti Hämäläinen, Sami Simola

Biography:

Milka Rissanen, text

Emil Ehnström, map analysis

Antti J. Hämäläinen, design

Sami Simola, production

Project description:

What’s the best location in the Finnish capital? We found out by doing a large geodata analysis based on services and transport.

Impact reached:

The story opened a new angle to the discussion on urban planning in Helsinki. The piece gave residents new possibilities to evaluate the city in choosing possible locations to live in.

Techniques/technologies used:

Helsinki was divided into 250 x 250 meter squares. For each square we calculated travel times to the city center and distances to nearest shops, libraries, schools, kindergartens and public transport stops. Based on this analysis we calculated a ranking for each square in the capital. The analysis was mostly done by collecting geodata and using QGIS.

What was the hardest part of this project?

Collecting the data on a large number of services took time and effort. The analysis required very good knowledge in geographical data.

What can others learn from this project?

Geodata analysis and tools can open new horizons for journalists.

Project links:

dynamic.hs.fi/2021/helsingin-paras-paikka/