When Biden Came to Town, even the Concrete Barriers were Repainted
Interview with Helsinki Municipal Construction Services Enterprise Stara
Maintaining the urban environment is all about priorities. When the city decides to invest in a park, it comes with a commitment to invest in its upkeep for decades to come. The snow needs to be plowed in the winter, grass cut and vegetation watered during dry seasons. Behind urban parks, from intricately landscaped gardens to simple lawns of grass, exists a regime of labor and expertise.
The meticulous maintenance of Helsinki is to a great extent managed by Stara, the city’s municipal construction services enterprise.
Stara’s roots go back to 1878, when the Helsinki Construction Office was established as the city's first maintenance agency. Initially focused on construction and the maintenance of streets, parks, and forests, its operations expanded over the decades, and in 1954, it was renamed the Construction Department.
In the 1990s, a shift toward cost-efficiency and business-oriented thinking gained strength with the adoption of the purchaser–provider model. In 2009, an independent service provider organization, Helsinki City Construction Services, was founded and began operating under the name Stara. At that time, procurement and production functions were also separated. In 2017, Stara became part of Helsinki’s new organizational structure, which merged dozens of departments. Stara was designated as a municipal enterprise for construction services.
We interviewed Stara’s CEO, Timo Martiskainen and Sami-Petteri Mäkinen, Head of Urban Infrastructure Maintenance, to ask how we can ensure that the urban environment remains intact and functional.
In the winter of 2025, cherry trees were over-pruned in Roihuvuori when a private contractor cut them incorrectly—only one-third were spared from excessive trimming. Privatization in urban space maintenance can sometimes lead to outright mistakes. How can we avoid damages like those in Roihuvuori in the future?
Timo Martiskainen (TM): Three years ago, 75% of the city’s maintenance was handled by Stara. Today, that number is 47%. This shift is a result of the push for cost-efficiency, which has led the city to increasingly outsource services to private operators.
Mistakes happen when there is no deep understanding of the location. From Stara’s perspective, we could manage the care of urban trees across the entire city, as our expertise and local knowledge are of a high level.
Sami-Petteri Mäkinen (SM): Stara has accumulated tacit knowledge over more than a hundred years. Some of our employees are even third-generation, with know-how passed down within families.
Stara also holds knowledge of exceptional situations and local details that may not appear on the city’s official maps. For example, at the Pasila railway yard, there were underground cables whose locations couldn’t be found on any maps—but Stara’s employees knew exactly where they were.
How does Stara view urban nature?
TM: When attending international urban forest forums, I came to realize the significance of urban greenery. Urban forests are unique spaces. Tree felling should be carefully considered: for every tree cut down, two new ones should be planted. It’s unfortunate that biodiversity is often seen as a burden in Finland. Increasing urban greenery and trees is, at best, a powerful tool in combating climate change.
SM: These days, there’s a growing preference for natural areas over manicured lawns, which is a good thing in itself. However, managing wild meadows is labor-intensive and, therefore, costly. Urban nature also brings with it a wide range of species that come with different habitat types. Natural areas like meadows are, from a tick’s perspective, very fertile environments.
TM: Urban forests are at the core of Stara’s expertise. We have regional arborists with in-depth knowledge of specific areas. Since trees live for decades, their care cannot be based on short-term contracts lasting only three or four years. We should avoid frequent turnover of both contractors and workers.
Safety must always be part of urban forest management. For example, poplars and white willows are particularly vulnerable to storm damage. Today, damage is increasingly caused by pests. In Central Park, or Keskuspuisto, spruce bark beetles and the six-toothed bark beetle are gnawing through the trees. The spread of these insects in the tree population must be mapped. Rotten or insect-damaged trees that pose a risk of falling cannot be left in public areas within urban forests.
Maintaining urban space means constantly responding to and preparing for various weather conditions—like storms in Central Park. Climate change is also expected to increase the likelihood of heavy rainfall, making stormwater absorption more important. How has Helsinki prepared for different weather phenomena? Is climate change visible in urban environment maintenance?
SM: Weather patterns do show some consistency, so we can prepare in advance for certain times of the year. For example, Epiphany has often coincided with winter storms. However, we’re now also experiencing extreme weather events, and floods have become more common. In such cases, the city’s sewer system can become overwhelmed. For example, Brahe sports field has, in several years, been covered with water mixed with wastewater from the sewers.
TM: Parts of the city’s sewer system are nearly 100 years old. Even the stormwater drainage network was mostly built in the 1960s during a period of urban growth. Today, these systems can no longer adequately handle stormwater. The flooding in Amsterdam two years ago, where more than half a meter of rain fell in just two hours, is an example of the kind of destruction floods can cause. We need more funding for flood prevention and to improve the stormwater and sewer systems.
SM: Flood scenarios are a good example of Stara’s readiness to develop effective responses to unexpected weather conditions. In a flood situation, the fire department takes the lead, and areas near sea level—like Kauppatori or Vartioharju—are protected with sandbags.
At Stara, we created an efficient solution to support the fire department: the sandbags for flood barriers were filled using the scoop of Stara’s gravel spreading truck. The equipment was already available, since spreading gravel on streets is part of Stara’s core maintenance work.
Stara holds a wealth of tacit knowledge about Helsinki’s urban infrastructure accumulated over decades. Can you give examples of projects where this intergenerational expertise has been utilized?
TM: At the Vuosaari Harbour, the City of Helsinki created a plan to transfer biodiversity to the manmade Vuosaari Hill. As a result of a landscaping project launched in 2003, rare beetles, among other species, relocated to the hill, now known as Vuosaarenhuippu. The project was led by Stara’s long-time horticulturist Jukka Toivonen, working with summer employees.
SM: The Winter Garden has been under Stara’s care since the beginning, in 1893. Stara has maintained the rose garden since 1924, when the plants were first planted as part of Svante Olsson’s geometric garden design.
TM: Another example is schoolyards. When maintenance is neglected, costs rise. In Helsinki, some schools cut corners on green area maintenance, and within five years, all vegetation had died. Eventually, a major and expensive renovation was needed. Ongoing maintenance would have been cheaper.
SM: There’s been a shift toward a disposable culture in building repairs. Maintenance should come first, then upkeep, and only then repair. In Finland, the renovation cycle has accelerated—even parks now undergo major renovation every 30 years.
The built environment requires continuous care. How could architects better utilize Stara’s expertise in their designs and consider maintenance staff feedback?
TM: I’ve worked at Stara in this role for 14 years, and from the beginning, I’ve emphasized how important it is to include maintenance staff already in the planning phase and in material selection. We want the Urban Environment Division of Helsinki to understand the importance of maintenance and upkeep. It seems the city is now investing more in the urban environment. This is reflected in the proposed new city strategy published in June, which looks promising from the perspective of residents. Stara is ready to take on projects focused on expanding urban greenery.
SM: I’ve been at Stara since 1990 and have seen how long the path is from the design table to the people doing the work. In some projects, landscape architects aren’t paid for a single site visit. Maintenance staff—Stara—aren’t consulted during zoning. Yet those who maintain urban space should be considered in design. They know how much work maintenance requires and what it costs.
TM: We understand the need for efficiency. In spring clean-up, one person with a leaf blower can do the work of five people with rakes. But you can’t endlessly optimize labor.
SM: We’re expected to do maintenance cheaply, but each site is customized. For example, Stara handled the pilot for a pedestrian-friendly Esplanadi, which raised questions about its high cost. We had to explain—it’s all done by hand.
TM: It's important to remember that cities have both low-cost and high-priority maintenance sites. At Annala Manor, maintaining half a hectare costs the same as maintaining 15 hectares elsewhere. When Biden came to visit, even the concrete barriers were painted. But as a municipal service provider, Stara can’t ultimately decide what gets done. Decisions in the urban environment are questions of values—what are we willing to pay for?
Book recommendations:
Helpon hoitamisen perusteet by Juha Prittinen explores the cost of different solutions from a maintenance perspective.
Hiiliviisas kaupunkivihreä by Outi Tahvonen offers insight into the carbon footprint of green space maintenance practices.