Visitor data supports business development in the city center of Jyväskylä

Smart City Smart Mobility Traffic flow measurement

Liikennettä Jyväskylän keskustan Kompassin risteyksessä.

City Business Development Services aim to improve the business environment in city centers by working closely with local companies and entrepreneurs. In Jyväskylä, one approach is providing reliable data on visitor numbers and customer potential to business and property owners in shopping centers.

To help develop the vitality of the city center, the city of Jyväskylä has implemented a measurement solution that tracks pedestrian and bike traffic at the “Compass” intersection area in the heart of the city center.

“Visitor numbers are a key indicator of the vitality of the city center. With this data, we can show business operators that the city center is a vibrant place, and worth considering for business and investment opportunities,” says Project Manager Janne Viitamies from the City of Jyväskylä.

“Visitor numbers are a key indicator of the vitality of the city center.”
Janne Viitamies, Project Manager, the City of Jyväskylä

“Shopping centers acquire tenants by providing data on how many customers walk through their doors each year. The city center must offer similar information using the same logic. This is our service interest towards the business community in Jyväskylä. We are currently developing the distribution of measurement data to market players in collaboration with Nodeon,” Viitamies explains.

According to Viitamies, it would also be significant if other Finnish cities adopted similar solutions. This would enable the production of comparative visitor data between cities.

Business and cultural events support each other

For example, Yle has reported on the changing role of city centers, where events and public spaces have surpassed shopping as the main attractions. However, culture and commercial services can be developed as a whole, where both benefit from each other.

The measurement of pedestrian and bike traffic was also utilized in the joint KUDOS project of Jyväskylä, Oulu, Kuopio, and Lahti, which focused on developing digital competence in public cultural activities. The project produced statistics on the traffic during Jyväskylä’s three-day City of Light event.

“From an urban development perspective, it’s great to have precise numerical information on the impact of events.”

“It’s thanks to Nodeon’s service concept that we were able to deploy measurement equipment for the City of Light event on a tight schedule. From an urban development perspective, it’s great to have precise numerical information on the impact of events. I proudly and happily presented the measurement results at the final seminar of the KUDOS project,” Viitamies praises.

Executive reports are an important tool for data-driven decision-making. The lower graph shows visitor spikes measured at the “Compass” intersection in Jyväskylä during the City of Light event.

AI calculates and recognizes different modes of traffic

The city center is a challenging environment for measuring customer potential, as cyclists, pedestrians, and e-scooters move in many directions across squares and intersections. Planning and implementing the measurement, along with choosing the most suitable solution for the challenge, is key to achieving a successful result.

“We are very excited to have our brand new CITIX AI camera being used by the city of Jyväskylä to monitor its downtown activity!”
Raphaël Chapalain, Communications Officer, Eco-Counter

For Jyväskylä’s needs, Eco-Counter’s camera-based Citix AI counter was selected. This solution uses artificial intelligence to count and recognize multimodal traffic. It offers in-depth analytics, revealing how seasons, holidays, and events affect traffic patterns. The data analysis platform consolidates the results, making the information easy to interpret and share with stakeholders.

“We are very excited to have our brand new CITIX AI camera being used by the city of Jyväskylä to monitor its downtown activity! It highlights the tremendous potential of this new technology for data-driven decisions and we hope it will inspire other cities around the world to boost city center attractivity”, summarizes Eco-Counter’s Communications Officer Raphaël Chapalain.

Learn more about Nodeon’s traffic flow measurement services