Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko
University of Tampere, Finland
kuaran@uta.fi

Abstract

Formation of Virtual Cities
Contextualizing the 'Digital' Revolution in Finnish Local Government

We are witnessing a global transformation, a radicalization of modernity. In short, our world is moving towards the information age. Two dynamic catalysts of this development are technocapitalism and postmodern culture. The local authorities as the local instances of public administration are becoming key actors in this scene. As to technocapitalism and the increased interdependencies on a global scale, local governments are trying to manage with the demands of both local voters and global investors. Postmodern tendencies, in turn, relate to limited involvement in public affairs, loss of relevance of local communities, and legitimation problems in political institutions. They threaten most of the traditional patterns of local government.

Challenges to local government

This all forms a real challenge to local government. There have been many vague descriptions of the "municipal roadmap for the information superhighway". Miles R. Fidelman describes the potential of this change saying that the information superhighway will help streamline the internal operations of municipal government, improve delivery of town services to citizens and businesses, reduce traffic congestion and air pollution, bring new educational opportunities to local schools, and help local businesses prosper in a global marketplace. Another important aspect to be taken into account relates to dysfunctional effects of this development. For example, Brenda J. Trainor has said that local government involvement in telecommunications should be funded to ensure implementation of social corrections to the inherent economic inequalities evident in a technologically-based information economy. Both of these aspects are important, and show need to scrutinise the potential of telematics in local government.

My preliminary point is that the restructuring process should be based on a more systematic analysis of the present situation and prevailing tendencies. Slogans and vague policy formulations are not enough. For instance, the role of information as a 'fourth factor of production' and as the key element of success is emphasized without any specification of how it in real life affects our actions, organisations, and interactions. Second, we cannot rely on direct and participatory democracy if people are not willing to participate in political processes. Rather, virtual corporatism or the like may be the core mechanism of the emerging new model of democracy. A third example is the rhetorically attractive idea of revitalization of civil society, which can hardly be seen as the solution to the problems of contemporary societies. In short, postmodern tendencies or cultural megatrends form the rock on which to build the new strategies of local government. Here I present some hypotheses on how local government can adapt to the contextual changes:

1. Jurisdictions and other institutional 'boundaries' or frames of local government are becoming increasingly irrelevant. This heralds the emerging of multipurpose virtual front offices as well as local and wide area networks providing most of the services people need.
2. What we need are more dynamic and flexible systems which still carry the basic ideas and values of collective responsibility and solidarity rooted in European cultural tradition. There is a need for learning local authority characterized by informational capacities, flexibility, responsiveness, empowerment and learning.
3. Public domain should become virtual to the same extent as everyday life is becoming virtual. The cultural forms of everyday life should be taken into account in the strategies and working methods of local government.

My contention is that there is a need for a service and government system which accommodates the new 'postmodern' structures of Lebenswelt, on the one hand, and organizes in a meaningful way a world which is becoming increasingly disintegrated, fragmented, and even chaotic. As a final point I would say that physical and virtual cities overlap, and that to a large extent the latter serves the former at least in the present phase of development.

The case of Finnish local government

Finland and the other Nordic countries can show a fairly good record in their efforts to build an information society. Due to the supportive national frame, the restructuration of Finnish local government is, to a large extent, in line with informational mode of development. There are several instances which indicate this: extensive use of telematics in administration, increased numbers of local and wide area networks, several systems based on the use of smart cards (e.g. in public transport), and the use of new technology in public libraries and schools (CD-ROM, Internet etc.).

Most of the Finnish local authorities are creating their sites in the cyberspace. One interesting case, unique in the Finnish context is the Broadband Village in Ylöjärvi. It is one of the projects of the Finnish Multimedia Programme. Broadband Village (BBV) is a trial area for broadband services and a network with fibre-to-home concept. Most of the new projects, however, are more conventionally organized by local and regional authorities. Local and wide area networks cover all parts of Finland, though the most developed areas are located around the cities of Helsinki, Tampere, Turku and Oulu.

What new forms of organisation appear, and what the real benefits of telematics are remain to be seen. Suffice it to say that experiences are not always very encouraging. The Internet, for example, is used mainly for conventional marketing, not for teledemocratic experiments or service delivery. But we are living in a transitional phase, and it will take some time to learn the best ways to respond to new challenges.

Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko
Tampere, 17th December, 1997