Marjatta Hietala, Academy Professor Department of History University of Tampere, Finland

1. Innovations in history. Examples on the field of urban infrastructureSpecial attention to networks of experts and municipal officials Technical University of Helsinki15.11.2006 Marjatta Hietala, Academy Professor Department of History University of Tampere, Finland marjatta.hietala@uta.fi

2. Content • Special attention to infrastructure • What is an innovative community? • Innovative communities in the past • Professionalisation • Examples on exhibitions and conferences • Study tours • Examples on municipal experts in Helsinki, Finland • Reference group

3. Starting points • What is infrastructure? • Paul N. Edwards: ”Infrastructure as an invisible background, the substrate or support, the techno-cultural/natural environment, of modernity” • Ínfrastructure: Material capital (e.g. land and buildings; Immaterial capital (e.g, level of education);Institutionnal capital

4. Innovative Community • Manuel Castells (: democracy, non hierarchical society, mobility, national identity • Richard Florida (Cities and Creative Class): Three T:s, Technology, Talent, Tolerance • In broader sense innovativeness stands for creative attitude and ability

5. According to Charles Landry an innovative community • Consists of creativity, good organisation and various supporting services, such as traffic and communication networks (hard infrastructure). • Consists primarily of social networks, unofficial organisations and civic organizations, such as clubs and societies (soft infrastructure),

6. Terms • Networks important on municipal level and on international level • Science, technology, society interact in a ”seamless web” (Latour) • Transfer of knowledge/diffusion of innovations

7. Innovative Cities: Examples • Innovative cities in the Northern Italy during the renaissance time.” The City as Cultural Crucible” • Dutch cities during 16th and 17th centuries • London became a global port city and business center during 17th and 18th centuries. London attracted entrepreneurs and merchants. • From 1780s onwards Vienna attracted musicians from German-speaking countries, especially from Germany • The First Industrial City: Manchester 1760-1830. • Berlin and other German Cities during the 19th and 20th centuries “The Pioneer Technopolis”[““Pioi] • (Peter Hall, Cities in Civilisations, Culture, Innovation , and Urban Order, Phoenix 1998, pp. 59-200).

8. Professionalisation • Increase of the amount of professional experts at the end of 19th century • Identity of various professional groups: Professional journals • The Inclusion of others • Associations and Societies • State and city becomes dependent of professionals and experts • Increase of the number of conferences ( e.g in 1886-1899 853 conferences, in 1900-1914 2271 conferences)

9. Study tours of municipal officials and experts. Examples from Helsinki • Reference group for decision makers European metropolises: London, Berlin, Paris, Vienna • Travels often grand tours (several towns and institutions) • Each sector/service had its own ”model towns” or institutions • Adaptation of innovations to local circumstances selective (not imitation) • Nationalism, strong identity

10. Follow-up system of know-how in the field of infrastructure • Official material (the printed documents of city councils) • Articles in professional journals, comparative statistics • Personal experience, observations, travel reports • Opinions of foreign experts (Marjatta Hietala, Services and Urbanization at the turn of the century. Diffusion of Innovations, Finnish Historical Society 1987; Marjatta Hietala, Helsinki eurooppalaisessa kehityksessä Tietoa, taitoa asiantuntemusta. I-III,1992)

11. Table 1. Nature of Study Tours of Helsinki Municipal Officials in 1875-1917 Sources: Printed papers of Helsinki City Council 1875-1917. Annual Reports of the Health Committee 1888-1917, Reports of the Municipal Elementary Schools in Helsinki 1902-1917. Marjatta Bell- Marjatta Hietala, Helsinki – the Innovative City, 2002, p.115.

12. Travels of engineer Hausen

13. Meetingplaces • The municipal Exhibitions (Dresden 1903) • Conferences of International Union of Local Authorities • World Exhibitions: Chrystal Palace 1851, Paris 1878, 1900 • Examples of Stockholm 1866 • Stockholm 1897 • City Renewal conferences • Berlin exhibition of construction 1910 • (Examples: Finnish architects Gustaf Nyström, Bertel Jung)

14. The municipal exhibition in Dresden, 1903 • Town development, building regulations • Communications, lighting, street making, drainage, bridges and harbours, tramways • General care of public health and well-being • Schools and education • Care of poor and sick, hospitals • Industrial undertakings of towns, ground ownership, savings banks

15. Studying abroad • Studying abroad: In 1849-1914 33 of 47 teachers of Helsinki University of Technology • From graduates from Helsinki Polytechnic College in 1875-1895 16-18% visited Germany; Two thirds of these graduates find at first their jobs abroad • In 1900-1914 215 students studied in German technical universities (Karlsruhe, Dresden, Hannover, Berlin-Charlottenburg, Munich and Darmstadt)

16. Professor of Architecture Gustaf Nyström (1856-1917) • Member of municipal council of Helsinki 1884-1910 • Member of the board for Helsinki primary education and port construction • The board of City planning 1908- • Study tours to Nordic Countries, Germany, Fr, Nl, Belgium. Austria, England, • Camillo Sitte, Otto Wagner, Joseph Stübben important for Nyström´s career

17. Architect Bertel Jung (1872-1946) • Städtebau Austellung in Berlin 1910 • General City Plan and Central Park Plan for Helsinki 1911 • Munkkiniemi-Haaga Plan 1915 • Pro Helsingfors Plan 1918 (rail transport as a new innovation) • Berlin and London as reference cities • Several study tours to the continent

18. Travel Connections 1936

19. Examples on factors which proceeded the development in Helsinki(Bell- Hietala, Helsinki – The Innovative City. Historical Perspectives, 2002) • strong investment in the latest know-how in both technology and the rationalisation of work. • promotion of mobility • a non-hierarchical mentality (not only executives but staff, too, were given the opportunity to travel abroad) • investment in various parts of the cultural sector, e.g. music and libraries • investment in education in all sectors (which became a crucial means of social ascent) • the strong position of women (not only doctors but nurses, too, were granted scholarships for study trips abroad). During 20th century day care arrangements enabling women to go to work. • co operative movements • civic pride and reference groups/frameworks • Nationalism (comp.Castells and Himanen) • Good language skills and skills to communicate

20. Factors which were slowing development in Finland • Geographical location • Weak “entrepreneurship climate” • Lack of “awarding or encouragement systems” (starting from schools)