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Changing Work Patterns and the Rise of Urban Innovation Districts – The Future in Finland?
The changing nature of how and where we work seems to be hollowing out Finland’s science & business parks and industrial areas. Is the geography of innovation shifting and leaving cities facing a choice between sticking with a landscape of vacant business premises and nurturing lively innovation districts? Last month an over 10,000-strong horde of…
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Pro Helsinki 2.0 – The Urbanist Vision for Making Helsinki Denser and More Diverse
Today I have the great pleasure of introducing you to the alternative city plan for Helsinki that I have worked on with my fantastic colleagues from Urban Helsinki since early 2014. It’s our second land-use plan done completely in do-it-yourself fashion, and after the small project at the edge of Helsinki’s inner city we did…
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City of Boulevards or City of Malls? Urban Transport Infrastructure Retrofits Are Changing the Urban Landscape in Helsinki and Tampere
This article has been written in collaboration with Panu Lehtovuori and was originally published in Project Baltia’s issue 22 “Infrastructure”. Project Baltia is a professional journal covering architecture, urban planning, and design in North-West Russia, Finland, and the Baltic states. The journal is published in St. Petersburg. Panu Lehtovuori is an architect and urbanist. Currently…
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PehmoGIS-menetelmillä kohti asuintoiveita priorisoivaa kaupunkikehittämistä
Yksi nykypäivän kaupunkisuunnittelun ydinongelmista on, että suunnittelua ohjaa joukko rakenteita, jotka eivät osaa lukea 2000-luvun kaupunkilaisten käsityksiä kiinnostavasta ja hyvästä kaupunkitilasta. Useimmat kaupunkien rakentamiseen liittyvät lakimme, virastomme ja käytäntömme on nimittäin luotu aikana, jolloin palvottiin modernismin alttaria ja sitä myötä tuottamaan takavuosien suunnittelijoiden ihanteiden mukaista yhtenäistä kaupunkitilaa ihmislähtöisyyden kustannuksella.
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Can SoftGIS Tools Help Us Rediscover the “Human Element” for Shaping Livable High Density Urban Neighborhoods?
The field of geography is a brilliant academic discipline that gives you a thorough understanding of the world and lets you focus on whatever interests you. And being the urbanist geographer that I am, this summer I’ve been thinking a lot about what my colleagues could do to help with creating better cities. The more…
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Finnish Mall Enthusiasts Add Little Value to Local Economies
“Jeez, not another mall”, I thought out loud to myself when I read that Helsinki’s City Board unanimously approved to reserve a 2.5-hectare piece of land in Roihupelto, in the middle of Helsinki’s eastern suburbs for the development of a new shopping destination. Two developers want to see new big box stores and to transform…
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Tampere’s Aimless Urban Strategy of Planning for Cars and People
I’ve mostly written about Helsinki in my blog but since I also follow many interesting planning projects and discussions elsewhere in Finland, I want to expand my geographical scope now and then to share thoughts and insights from different corners of this urbanizing country. May this be the first one of many more. Beyond the…
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DIY Urban Planning Revisited – Progress Report for Urban Helsinki’s Pikku Huopalahti Proposal
In February I wrote about a planning activism project I and my like-minded friends – we now call our group Urban Helsinki – initiated to promote dense urban living for a development site in Pikku Huopalahti on the northern edge of Helsinki’s inner city. In a nutshell, the story is that the land developer hired…
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Helsinki’s Lastenlehto Park a Benchmark for the Design of Contemporary Finnish Urban Open Spaces
Some of you readers have suggested that every once in a while I should focus on local projects that contribute positively to the creation of great cities. You’re absolutely right, and from now on I’ll keep on highlighting what I think are positive examples more conspicuously when I come across them. Also, do feel free…
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Monotony Exposed – Finnish Cities Plagued with Overly Standardized and Worn Building Designs
Better cities. That was the topic I recently had the pleasure to discuss with an architect duo determined to realize a building that would act as a signpost for 21st-century Finnish architecture. Such a building would be built based on simple concepts such as a permeable and street-facing front, integral connection to the street and…