WordPress Enterprise brought efficiency and manageability to the City of Oulu
When Oulu, the future European Capital of Culture, decided to modernize its web environment consisting of hundreds of websites, we implemented Finland’s largest municipal WordPress Multisite solution.
From hundreds of sites towards a more unified entity
The City of Oulu, Finland’s fifth-largest city and the future European Capital of Culture 2026, identified a strategic need to unify its web environment, which comprised hundreds of sites built with various technologies. The goals were to improve manageability, data security, and accessibility, as well as to streamline maintenance and optimize costs.
Scalable WordPress ultisite with an Enterprise Concept
WordPress Multisite was chosen as the new platform for numerous separate sites operating under their own brands. Hion implemented Finland’s most extensive municipal multisite solution for Oulu using a modern Enterprise WordPress concept.
At the core of the revamp, a component-based main theme utilizing the Gutenberg editor was built. This modular structure allows content creators to easily assemble pages from visual, lightweight, and accessible blocks without coding knowledge. Thanks to shared components, managing the sites is efficient, yet the flexible structure enables each online service to maintain its unique brand identity.
Technical implementation, security, and integrations
Overview and architecture
The solution is based on Hion’s Enterprise WordPress concept, which prioritizes performance, standardized deployment pipelines, and high data security. All sites share a common codebase but can be personalized. Functionalities like event calendars and route guidance information are implemented via REST APIs.
Security and user management (Auth0)
Login has been moved to the external Auth0 platform, which significantly reduces the attack surface and enables modern, secure authentication methods (MFA, passkeys). This solution allows for seamless Single Sign-On (SSO) to the city’s Microsoft-based systems and adheres to zero trust principles.
Automated content management
Event data is automatically retrieved from external systems (Eventz.today / Localhub) via a REST API. The data is cached to ensure availability in case of disruptions.
Inter-system data transfer
A customized RSS feed has been implemented on the site, which automatically transfers and formats training information into the city’s internal SharePoint intranet.
Green coding, performance, and security
Eco-friendly and high-performance infrastructure
The solution leverages Google Cloud infrastructure and the Hamina data center, which demonstrably utilizes renewable energy. Local hosting minimizes latency and reduces the carbon footprint. The entire implementation is based on a modern, scalable, and optimized serverless architecture (Google Cloud Run).
Multi-level performance optimization
Website speed is ensured through multi-layered caching, including CDN delivery, Redis caching for database queries, and efficient caching of static resources. Server load and resource usage are significantly reduced by scheduling integrations, such as event data synchronization, instead of executing them on every page load.
Comprehensive security
The service is protected against denial-of-service (DoS) attacks across multiple network layers using Google Cloud Armor.
Accessibility as part of efficiency
The service adheres to the WCAG 2.1 standard (A and AA levels). The clear and lightweight user interface required for accessibility not only improves the user experience but also reduces file sizes, directly supporting site speed and ecological footprint.
Unified platform, distinct brands
The project involved building websites for BusinessOulu, Mun Oulu, Oulu region transport, museums, and event venues, among others. Each site has its unique look and feel, yet they all operate on the same technical foundation.
This visual and technical consistency brings efficiency: accessibility, security, and analytics practices are automatically integrated.
