Digital tools in municipal and urban planning
- Kommunal planering
Catchment-based planning plays an increasingly important role in municipalities and cities as stormwater management and climate adaptation require a more holistic perspective.
With digital tools, large volumes of data can be combined, complex analyses can be carried out quickly, and the results can be presented in an accessible way that supports information sharing and decision-making.
In an article published in Vesitalous magazine (4/2025), one of the leading professional water magazines in Finland, Pietu Pankkonen, Market Manager at Scalgo, shares his experiences from working in municipal planning and maintenance and reflects on what he sees as the main challenges in water management.
“In many municipalities, the main problem is fragmented information. Essential data is scattered across folder structures and even old paper archives. In Scalgo Live, all spatial data related to water management can be uploaded in one place, giving users an immediate overview without having to collect data from multiple sources.”
According to Pietu, keeping data up to date is particularly important. This saves time spent searching for information and reduces errors, as municipalities often lack the resources to maintain datasets themselves.
“When the data is reliable and current, the planning is realistic. Municipalities don’t need to guess the existing conditions of an area, they can see them directly on the map.”
Another strength of Scalgo Live is its visual approach, which makes it much more than just an analysis tool. It provides a shared platform where different municipal departments and stakeholders can communicate.
“Zoning, maintenance, and environmental departments can all look at the same map and understand what is being discussed. It lowers the threshold for collaboration and makes the conversation concrete,” Pietu explains.
This is especially valuable when decision-making involves politicians or residents. Not everyone reads technical reports, but maps and visualisations are easy to grasp.
“In Scalgo Live, all spatial data related to water management can be uploaded in one place, giving users an immediate overview without having to collect data from multiple sources.”
Pietu Pankkonen, Scalgo
Pietu also stresses that software should not be tied to a single purpose. What matters is using a digital platform that works for everyone, so that water management data doesn’t depend on one person.
“Digital tools shouldn’t be used only to analyse individual planning areas but also to support the updating of older plans.”
Municipalities often have to evaluate how decades-old zoning plans meet today’s needs. With Scalgo Live, they can quickly explore where blue-green infrastructure would best fit and compare different scenarios.
Blue-green infrastructure planning and review in Scalgo Live.
Interfaces are a key technical feature today. Cities and municipalities already hold large collections of map data that can be displayed in Scalgo Live to support planning and decision-making. In addition, many municipalities now produce their own laser scanning data, which can be integrated. Interface support in the other direction is also important, and Scalgo Live layers can easily be viewed in external software such as the free QGIS program.
“When everyone works from the same data, trust grows. Decisions are not based on the interpretation of a single department, they are built on a shared view.”
Pietu Pankkonen, Scalgo
Scalgo Live layers can be conveniently displayed in, for example, GIS or CAD programs (Ramboll 2024).
Adopting digital tools is not just a technical shift—it also transforms the working culture. In the past, municipalities relied on separate software systems that couldn’t communicate with each other. Now, data can be shared through cloud-based, real-time platforms, making collaboration easier and decision-making more transparent.
“When everyone works from the same data, trust grows. Decisions are not based on the interpretation of a single department, they are built on a shared view,” Pietu summarises.
Strengthening catchment-based thinking and advancing nature-based solutions require tools that support both quantitative and qualitative aspects of surface water management. Scalgo Live gives municipalities a way to work systematically and base their actions on data.
“It won’t single-handedly solve the challenges of climate change, but it provides municipalities with a tool to make better and more sustainable decisions,” Pankkonen concludes.
