Insight
The world has become urban. For the first time in history, most people now live in towns and cities. The balance tipped only relatively recently, yet its implications are profound: The greatest challenges of our time will be addressed in cities – because that is where people are, and where new solutions emerge.
Urban life was not always held in such regard. Until quite recently, many saw it as superficial or secondary – less real than farming and the work of the countryside. Today, however, urban issues, practices and phenomena are increasingly recognised as vital expressions of human potential.
Megapolis was born from these insights. It invited people to reflect on the future of expanding cities and new forms of urban life. The word itself points to the vast metropolitan regions shaping our century – Delhi with a projected 43 million inhabitants in 2035, Dhaka with 31 million, Kinshasa with 27 million. But urbanisation is not only about numbers. It is also about qualitative change. The emergence of new urban practices, in South and North, East and West. Practices we need to imagine and to cultivate now.
Megapolis became a series of events running over seven years. A tour de force of voluntary work. A demonstration of how a group of motivated people can achieve together what none could have created alone. Each event added to a sequence of memorable experiences, and from them grew a special cohort of forward-looking individuals who have since carried their energy and insight into business, politics, civil service, philanthropy, and activism.
Process
It began with a single idea: Environmental problems will be solved in cities.
At the time, I was chair of the urban environmental NGO Dodo. We applied for funding with that idea, and got it. Soon we were publishing a newsletter on cities and environmental solutions, sketching concepts for a large-scale event, inviting inspiring speakers, and even planning an after-party that would embody the energy of a globally urbanising world.
We were just a group of volunteers – encouraging one another, pushing ourselves to try harder, to do something none of us had ever seen before. We printed massive posters and stickers that spread across the city.
The first event was a success: Powerful speakers, strong visuals, a full house, and a party that captured the mood. The following year was even bigger. The President of the Republic said yes to our invitation. So did the Speaker of Parliament, later to become President. And the audience grew.
Soon we were bringing international voices – TED-level speakers with remarkable stories about cities and urban futures. The former mayor of Bogotá, Enrique Peñalosa. Carl Honoré. Others followed. But Megapolis was never just about big names. It was about stories and examples from the avant-garde of urban culture, research, and planning – told by the people who were actually creating them.
Over the years we explored themes such as happy cities, the city of consumption, the city of food, the city of rhythms. Always with one eye firmly on the future: Every edition was titled Megapolis 202x, looking fifteen years ahead.
For seven years, the planning and creation of Megapolis was part of my summers and early autumns, along with many friends and allies who poured their passion into it. Eventually, we brought the tradition to an end, perhaps running out of ideas and steam. But the spirit never faded. Most of us have continued, in different ways, to carry forward the same mission: Imagining and shaping better urban futures.
Outcomes
Between 2006 and 2012, seven Megapolis happenings brought together 1,000–2,000 people each year. These events helped shape the public agenda on cities and the environment in Helsinki – introducing new topics, urban practices, and above all, a positive and future-oriented way of talking about them.
Megapolis was also present in the streets. Its poster and sticker campaigns gave urban activism new visibility, making it part of the everyday fabric of Helsinki.
The events sparked follow-up projects in research, activism, and urban innovation—proof that the ideas and energy did not end when the lights went out. And perhaps the most lasting legacy was the people: A talented cohort of organisers who carried the spirit of Megapolis forward into business, politics, academia, city councils, and new forms of activism.
Partners
Kirmo Kivelä, Tuuli Kaskinen, DJ Rideon aka Timo Santala, Inari Penttilä, Saara Korpela, Pauliina Jalonen, Outi Kuittinen, Markus Nevalainen, Antti Möller, Markus Neuvonen, Outi Kuittinen, Katri Sarkia, Ilona Hiila, Iida Hakola, Pauli Saloranta
Reflection
Megapolis created its own urban agenda. Of course, it borrowed ideas from the most inspiring sources of its time – that is how a relevant and timely agenda is built. It was global. It was DIY. It was peer-to-peer. It was optimistic. In every way, it was the early 2000s.
It is hard to say what Megapolis would look like in the 2020s, or whether it would work in this era at all. Back then, we did not yet address some issues that feel unavoidable today: The financialisation of cities and urban spaces, the more-than-human dimension, the perspectives of vulnerable groups. The time simply was not ripe.
For me, Megapolis remains a blueprint of what a great public event can be: a mix of insight, imagination, spirit, and entertainment. It was visual (thanks to Art Director Kirmo Kivelä, who also designed this website). It was well narrated. It carried a clear message.
And perhaps most of all, Megapolis showed what voluntary work and collective effort can achieve. Together, we created something beyond the reach of any single one of us. Something money could never have bought.
