Confused Suburban Identities: A Case Study of Helsinki Region
Edited by: Anssi Joutsiniemi, Hannu Linkola, Mia Puttonen, Kristin Swan, Mari Vaattovaara
Studio Publication 1 Confused Suburban Identities : A Case Study of Helsinki Region
Editors: Anssi Joutsiniemi, Hannu Linkola, Mia Puttonen, Kristin Swan, Mari Vaattovaara
Publisher: Urban Studies and Planning / Master's Pro gramme of Urban Academy in Helsinki Layout design: Natalia Vladykina
USP Studio Publication 1 ISSN 2489-8007 (print) ISBN 978-951-51-4193-4 (print) ISBN 978-951-51-4194-1 (PDF) https://www.helsinki.fi/en/programmes/master/urban-studies-planning
Painotalo Plus Digital Oy Lahti 2018 Studio Publication 1
Confused Suburban Identities: A Case Study of Helsinki Region
Edited by: Anssi Joutsiniemi, Hannu Linkola, Mia Puttonen, Kristin Swan, Mari Vaattovaara Table of contents USP / 2018
Contents
Foreword 7 Anssi Joutsiniemi, Matti Kortteinen, Hannu Linkola, Kristin Swan, Mari Vaattovaara Excursions into suburban density 15 Anssi Joutsiniemi, Franz Oswald, Mari Vaattovaara
Chapter 1 A Study of Multicentricity 21 Vantaa as a Part of the Capital Region of Finland 21 Oya M. Duman Commentary: The next step 36 Kimmo Lapintie
Chapter 2 Vantaa Smart City Development in Business, Mobility, and Art 41 4 Introduction 42 Smart City Strategy for Future Vantaa - Create an Innovative and Vibrant Business City 44 Chang Liu Car Use in Vantaa: Opportunities That Smart Mobility Could Offer 56 Noora Haavisto Smart Participatory Art 68 Barbara Radaelli-Muuronen Commentary: Smart but complex cities 79 Hossam Hewidy Commentary: Studying Smart City Development in Vantaa 81 Rami Ratvio & Tuomas Väisänen
Chapter 3 Four-Perspective Analysis of the Hakunila Shopping Center 85 Introduction 86 First Perspective: Market Analysis 90 Eero Kujanen The Hakunila Shopping Center as a Liminal Public Space 104 Jalmari Sarla Design for Identity 112 Katja Toivola Power Relations in Public Space from a Feminist Perspective: Public Presence 122 Aleksandra Borzęcka Table ofChapter contets 1
Conclusions 136 Commentary: Developing suburban shopping centers in tune with local needs and city branding efforts 138 Salla Jokela & Johanna Lilius
Chapter 4 Hanging out in Koivukylä - A study of social control and the youth 143 Yu-Yi Huynh, David Kerr, Ella Stark, Aino Suomalainen, Juuda Tamminen & Daria Tarkhova Commentary: Scaling segregation: Young people in the city and the neighbourhood 178 Venla Bernelius Commentary: Swapping the baton 180 Matti Kortteinen
Chapter 5 Sustainable Futures for Hakunila and Sotunki 185 Christina ‘Linza’ Itkonen, Andrea Gilly Marquez, Heta Seppälä & Apichaya Sindhuprama Commentary: Thinking of desirables futures, imagining better cities 231 Juanjo Galan & Johan Kotze 5
A new turn in the development of the region? Future perspectives on the settlement and planning in the Helsinki region 237 Matti Kortteinen & Mari Vaattovaara TableA Study of of contents Multicentricity USP / 2018
6 at present, on the basis of empirical analy- Foreword sis) to that of planning (trying to develop a better future with an objective in view). We aim at practical approach that responses by Anssi Joutsiniemi, Matti Kortteinen, to concrete challenges. Our aim is to edu- Hannu Linkola, Kristin Swan, Mari Vaat- cate people who can do profound research and tovaara people who can plan, but who are – at the same time – able to understand each other. It would be great to transmit the challenges This book is the first product of the Mas- of planning into research, and to integrate ter’s Program Urban Studies and Planning the results of the research into planning (USP) that started in autumn 2017 as a joint practices. If the problem of integration is programme of the University of Helsinki and approached from this perspective, instead of Aalto University. The theme of the first using the Occam’s razor principle, the en- studio course was “Confusing Suburban Iden- deavor is refined with a sense of purpose. tities.” It followed the main goal of the Program – an attempt to combine the perspec- tives of both research and planning. *** So far, Finland has been one of the few Our first class began roughly a year ago. developed nations in which the education of The fundamentals of our pedagogy are based experts in urban studies and urban plan- on the idea of working together on com- ning has been arranged separately. This has mon problems from different perspectives. caused difficulties in mutual communication The courses are called studios in order to and understanding the concrete challenges in emphasize the idea of solving the problems urban renewal. The USP Program was created together. This publication is the first pub- 7 to overcome this problem, i.e. to bring to- lication of the Program’s studio courses. gether the expertise of research and plan- The motivation of the teachers, representing ning. different academic disciplines and profes- sions, and the feedback from the students The lack of common ground has been ac- confirm the mutual experience: the enthusi- knowledged both on the fields of research asm of the teachers has been conveyed to the and city administration, and as a result, a students. The cooperation during the cours- well-functioning network of cooperation has es has been exceptional, and the pre-giv- been created within the programme. The base en roles have been mixed in a fruitful way of this cooperation has been set up by the – every now and then the students actually University of Helsinki and Aalto Universi- have become teachers. ty, and the major cities of the Helsinki Region – Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa – have During the studio course, the students enriched the Program with a strong presence worked in multidisciplinary groups, under of their representatives. From an academ- the guidance of teachers. The assignments ic perspective, the base of the Program is approached each theme from a multitude of exceptionally wide. It reaches from social, perspectives, with an aim to co-create a humanistic and environmental studies to ar- boundary-breaking big picture. The common chitecture, real estate, planning and land- meetings were used for discussing about the scape expertise. The different challenges research problems in general and the chal- that inevitably emerge from this multitude lenges that emerged when the perspectives of perspectives have been overcome without were combined. These were the first steps complications due to the common enthusiasm. that were taken when trying to transcend the conventional borders and develop the exper- We are all accustomed to discussions on tise that is needed in understanding and multi-, inter- or transdisciplinary initia- effecting the complex processes of urban tives, but this Program is a more ambitious renewal. project: we are trying to link the expertise of science (trying to find out what pertains USP / 2018
While we are aware of the difficulties against the current popular trend in Helsin- and acknowledge that no quick fixes are ki Region to define urbanity by the amount available, we simultaneously argue that the of densely built area. social need for education like this is ur- The authors take steps beyond the sim- gent and acute. At the moment, an initiative ple density analysis and scrutinize the of building an Urban Research Institute as ways of utilizing the urban space. Based a base for our Master’s Program is well on on a historical review on the development its way. With the current plans, it will be of Helsinki Region, they argue that urban the biggest single investment in the field and suburban surroundings are actually “not of socially oriented sciences in Finland differentiated by the number of people, but in decades. At the same time internation- by their core activities.” Their analysis al interest abounds. It is no coincidence shows that openness remains a key character- that this preface has partly been written in istic in the suburban fringe, and it should China, where we have been invited to present be taken into account in the city plan- our project. ning. Consequently, the authors plead for A large part of this book was written in a diverse understanding of suburban iden- November and December 2017 by the USP studio tities: ‘If [the] openness of the suburban course students. The students first suggest- landscape, however, is not considered as a ed some broad themes of interest, and later threat but rather as a key asset of individ- compressed these suggestions into rough re- ual neighborhoods, it is difficult to build search questions, around which four working viable urban strategies by borrowing them groups were formed. Those groups, consist- from elsewhere.’ ing of 3–6 students, moved on to formulate The actual study area of the course is 8 more precise study settings and develop presented in the analysis on the functional the actual research plans. The main themes structure of the Capital Region of Finland. – smart city development, local identities Oya M. Duman questions the tendency among and space, segregation, and sustainability scholars to study cities from a monocentric – were identified quickly by the groups, but perspective, and argues that the function- the deeper methodological and theoretical ality of city regions should be examined approaches were co-created both in the stu- by outlining the interconnectedness be- dio classes and in other cooperation between tween different centers and sub-centers. She the students and the teachers. Later, after frames her analysis with a historical review the students had finished their case-stud- on city planning strategies and discusses ies, the teachers wrote short commentaries the advantages and disadvantages of a mul- inspired by the students’ texts in order ti-central city structure. Currently, for to tie the outcomes into broader scholar- example, there is a heated and politically ly discussions and theoretical contexts. charged debate on whether the multi-central The dynamics between the research texts and structure supports sustainable development commentaries highlight, for their part, the or if the city structure should be com- discursive, dialogue-oriented, and nonhier- pressed. As Duman points out, it has also archical atmosphere of the studio course. been noted that multi-central structure is problematic from the point of view of city *** branding and identity politics – how can the various regional identities associated with The book begins with a critical review on different sub-centers be fitted under the the discussions about density as the cri- umbrella of one city or regional brand? terion of urbanity. Professors Anssi Jout- siniemi, Franz Oswald and Mari Vaattovaara In her analysis, Duman shows that the argue that the essence of urban and subur- functional and physical structure of Van- ban life cannot be defined by the amount taa is highly subordinate to Helsinki. This and appearance of buildings, but rather by role turns Vantaa rather into a network of the spaces in between. Their claim stands sub-centers than a functionally (and identi- ty-wise) coherent whole. The sub-centers of Vantaa are located by the railway routes and and open participation services. This strat- main roads that lead to Helsinki, and the egy has affected Vantaa’s recent budgetary connections between sub-centers within Van- plan, and is seen as one of the main devel- taa are somewhat abrupt. However, as Duman’s opment themes in the future. However, as the heat maps show, there are signs of cluster- articles show, the smart city development ing within different fields of economy, and is, for the time being, only casually seen it supports the development of Vantaa into in the current city space. a more coherent multi-central city. Even so, Several traces of development can never- this development is not straightforward. On theless be observed. As Liu notices, the ICT the other hand, as Duman argues, “the pop- industry job rate in Vantaa has slowly grown ulation distribution and the social service following the development of the Aviapolis distribution are still quite monocentric,” area close to the Helsinki–Vantaa airport, and the development of sub-centers does not and the industry has even affected the brand follow the development and distribution of and image of the Aviapolis area. Overall, economic clusters. the growth of the ICT field has, howev- In his commentary on Duman’s analysis, er, been significantly slower than in the Professor Kimmo Lapintie, remarks that re- neighboring cities, Helsinki and Espoo. Liu searchers easily leave the city planners thus remarks that Vantaa should concentrate alone after pointing out the various prob- on improving its attractiveness in the eyes lems and challenges considering the func- of the ICT companies by providing a more tionalities and spatialities of cities. He compelling business environment, creating requests both researchers and city planners better communication tools between the mu- to adopt a more creative approach and, in- nicipality and startups, and simplifying the stead of building planning on one dominant bureaucratic processes. 9 future scenario, see the urban future(s) Haavisto, on her behalf, aims to recog- as an ever-changing interplay of possi- nize several car use identities in order to ble spatial relations. Lapintie admits that illuminate the smart mobility possibilities everything that is possible is not easi- in Vantaa. Her study shows that car usage ly seen, but he nevertheless requires more is tied to peoples’ income and geographical ambitious attempts to visualize and design location, and therefore only 31 percent of different possible futures. This wouldhelp Vantaa residents are using public transpor- to tighten the fruitful interaction between tation. Moreover, despite the clear possi- researchers and planning, and thus result in bilities to develop public transportation a more justifiable and resilient city devel- and increase its popularity through smart opment. solutions, Vantaa has not included smart mo- bility possibilities in its transport report *** for the 2020 Master Plan. From the perspec- tive of sustainable development and func- One way of stepping beyond the tradition- tional coherence, there seems to be a lot al and spatially fixed way of understand- to be done in public transportation plan- ing how cities function is the smart city ning and development. Haavisto thus asks for development. This theme is observed by Noora encompassing mobility strategies and points Haavisto, Chang Liu, and Barbara Radael- out that “it is a mistake to believe that by li-Muuronen, who study the adoption of smart concentrating the building of houses beside city strategies in Vantaa from the per- the railways would automatically decrease spectives of economic attractiveness, smart the use of cars.” mobility, and participatory art. They build their study on the notion that the city of The smart city approach is completed by Vantaa has, together with five other Finnish Radaelli-Muuronen’s review on the possibil- cities, launched “The Six City Strategy” in ity of maximizing Vantaa’s cultural val- order to improve urban services by creating ue, developing new suburban identities, and innovation platforms, open data services, finding participatory tools for local plan- ning through smart art. She compares some USP / 2018
recent art projects in Vantaa with interna- nomena manifest themselves locally. Con- tional examples, and proceeds to discuss new sequently many social issues become com- forms of financing public art. The analysis prehensible when they are studied on site. shows that smart art can be used in both In their text Aleksandra Borzęcka, Eero negotiating the values of urban environments Kujanen, Jalmari Sarla, and Katja Toivola and in integrating the local residents into concentrate on local manifestations of so- the planning processes. The dialogue that cio-spatial control, publicity of space, and smart art supports, increases the commitment the effect of economic assessments on subur- of local people in maintaining the qual- ban identities. They cast four views on the ities of their surroundings, and improves Hakunila Shopping Center, a characteristic the comfort of suburban centers. Therefore, representative of Finnish suburban planning, Radaelli-Muuronen argues, the possibilities and a significant local node of social and of art should be taken into account in the economic interaction. The authors suggest planning of new areas, such as the Aviapolis that such multidisciplinary cross-exposure area, where art can also be used to promote is needed in order to understand compre- Finland’s brand as an innovative design hub. hensively the complex nature of place-bound Professor Hossam Hewidy provides commen- social processes. tary for the smart city chapter, and raises The chapter begins with Kujanen’s analy- the issue of the problematic and complex na- sis on the real estate market development at ture of smart development. While smart tech- the Hakunila Shopping Center. He shows that nologies can be used to overcome some prob- the expectations of property owners do not lems caused by rapid urban growth, several always match the city’s plans of restructur- global processes, such as climate change, ing the suburbs. The Capital Region has seen 10 immigration, and regional competitiveness, a trend of demolishing old shopping centers distort the traditional planning contexts and replacing them with apartment buildings, and set more requirements towards the urban and it is also proposed that the Hakunila land use. As Hewidy argues, the ever-chang- Shopping Center should be torn down. But ing urban morphology needs to be understood while the “city wants to provide plans that profoundly while the urban imageries that would enhance the area’s image, attract new frame the smart city strategies are being residents, and make the life of people more created. He asks for assemblage approach- enjoyable,” an ambitious plan may actually es that refuse “to accept that the current hinder the development by leaning on unre- way of urban development is necessarily the alistic economic and demographic prospects ideal,” and claims that the “transformative and not paying enough attention to the local practice must be imagined as differing radi- needs and preferences. On the other hand, cally and structurally from the present re- the current buildings need to be renovated, ality.” Indeed, smart strategies can help to the detailed plan must be updated, and the develop new standards and perspectives for service supply needs to match the current urban planning, but only if the technologies customs and trends of consumption. Unfolding are utilized in innovative ways instead of this cross-purpose, Kujanen suggests that just augmenting them into current procedures a profound market analysis is required for – a perspective that is embraced also by understanding the realistic potential and university lecturer Rami Ratvio and Tuomas preconditions of regenerating the shopping Väisänen in their commentary on the technics center. and data through which the smart city devel- Sarla uses a different approach for get- opment can be studied. ting in touch with the “grassroots reali- ties” of the Hakunila Shopping Center. His study leans on observatory methods through which he analyses the quality and liminal *** nature of the public space. Sarla also as- Urban strategies and policies usually handle sesses the qualities of the physical en- cities on a large scale, but different phe- vironment and discusses the usability and aesthetic comeliness of the shopping center. middle-aged men who sat at the local pizze- He sees the inevitable need for refresh- ria and observed the by-passers. The social ing maneuvers. Sarla suggests, for exam- codes and norms manifested themselves also ple, that closed facades should be opened, in the ways in which shops, offices, and storefront windows should be refreshed, and public services were allowed to specify the social exchange should be facilitated with rules for permitting or prohibiting entranc- additional seating in the central square. es. As a future vision, Borzęcka points out However, despite the apparent necessity of the importance of mapping different agen- a complete renovation, the confusion con- cies in order to formulate feminist claims cerning the ways of developing the center for planning and development of the shopping has made the conditions stagnant and pushed center. A feminist urban redesign strategy the center toward the state of liminality. would provide a platform to observe hid- This “in-betweenness” can, as Sarla argues, den political agendas in planning, and turn be also seen as a positive state, since it the planning processes into multi-vocal and can invite different groups to negotiate the equally participatory conversations. content and identity of the center. The visit to the Hakunila Shopping Center Toivola goes deeper in the dialogue be- ends with commentary by post-doctoral re- tween place and identity in her analysis on searchers Salla Jokela and Johanna Lilius. the behavior patterns of the users of the They broaden the scope by pointing out that Hakunila Shopping Center. She approaches the the case of Hakunila superbly describes the socio-cultural aspects of the physical space conditions of old shopping centers through- by exploring the ways in which space affects out the Helsinki Region. As consumers are human behavior as it turns into nodes and directed to new shopping malls, usually codes that are read intuitively and inter- located further away from the old suburban 11 preted intentionally. Moreover, Toivola ob- cores, the old shopping centers “are left to serves the meanings of space by mapping and develop more organically.” While the spaces analyzing peoples’ ways of spending time at have become more liminal, they have opened the shopping center. She sees the center as themselves for local “place-making” and re- a place that is designed for allowing people producing peoples’ local identities. This to reach their daily services and create actually matches many planning and branding spaces of social interaction. During her strategies of the cities by introducing the field work Toivola noticed that the pub- spaces as platforms for community engage- licity of the space allowed people to take ment, new business ideas, and bottom-up it into their own use “without having to ways of participating in the development of feel looked down upon by people of a high- the centers and suburbs. The question is, er class.” She also realized that the way however, whether these possibilities will of socializing in the space actually proved be maintained or lost when the development that “there is […] a demand for non-consumer later adopts the terms of economic profit, related spaces for […] existing communities effectivity, and productivity. to use and meet in.” Borzęcka closes the chapter by studying *** the mechanisms through which space is used for expressing power relations and social From Hakunila we move on to Koivukylä, an- identities. Following feminist theories on other suburb in Eastern Vantaa, character- control, sense of safety, and gender-based ized by a large number of apartment build- inclusions and exclusions, she analyzed how ings from the 1960s–1980s. Koivukylä is different groups use the space, and found actually one of the best documented suburbs certain patterns. For example, the pro- in the Helsinki Region, as it was the key portion of men and women changed from the area in Matti Kortteinen’s pioneering study morning to evening. The square was also on the social relations in Finnish suburbs, subordinate to the male “gaze” that was em- Lähiö, in the early 1980s. In this book, bodied in the spatial behavior of young and the area is revisited by Yu-Yi Huynh, David USP / 2018
Kerr, Ella Stark, Aino Suomalainen, Juu- regardless of the procedures they maintain da Tamminen, and Daria Tarkhova, who have the power relations in which the final bor- focused on the young people of Koivukylä ders and norms are defined by adults and from the perspectives of theories on social representatives of the public sector. Since control and segregation. The authors ask if the social control is tied to space and man- any traces of segregation can be observed in ifested in it, the authors suggest that the young peoples’ customs of using the space, roles of young people and actors who work in the ways of using social control towards with them should be taken into account when the young people, and in the relations be- the spaces where young people hang out and tween young people and local authorities. spend their time are being designed. As the The chapter leans on the social control study shows, spaces of self-determined codes theory which explains how moral codes and and spontaneous emergence of social control social norms come into being both through are needed. the institutionalized forms of power use and University lecturer Venla Bernelius an- governance, as well as peoples’ own be- swers to these challenges by agreeing that havior and self-regulation. For example, a the Helsinki Region consists of areas with neighborhood that is considered a safe place different socio-economic profiles. She sees is usually characterized by largely shared segregation as a multi-scalar phenomenon views of what is accepted and what is not. that is tied to societal structures as well On the other hand, spaces where social norms as to peoples’ personal identities and ac- are contested are usually stigmatized by a tion. Moreover, traces of segregation can visible presence of social control insti- be observed on different scales, for example tutions such as police or guards. In such on the regional level or on the level of a 12 places people and social groups also get single block. This complex character where easily labeled from the perspectives of au- different spatial scales and social process- thoritative power institutions that renew es are intertwined makes the consequences their role through processes of inclusion, of segregation hard to tackle. However, by exclusion, and marginalization. identifying the strengths of each area or Being a group with no access to the power suburb, and supporting the positive out- institutions and groups that define the so- comes and diversity of urban life, the urban cial codes, young people are easily seen as planners and decision-makers can prevent the a potential threat towards “mature harmony” most fragile areas from turning into “black in space. Their action and presence in space holes,” where social control mismatches the is usually limited by other groups, and societal expectations and spatial power is their use of space is regularly intervened. operated through authoritative and non-dia- These processes reflect also socio-economic logical procedures. conditions. As the authors point out, seg- ´At the end of the chapter professor Ko- regation, for example, “has causal effects rtteinen takes a walk downthe memory lane to in poorer neighborhoods, in the way local the “old” Koivukylä where he once started policing target [young people], compared to his suburban studies. He recalls the frus- their peers living in wealthier and better tration he faced in 1978 when he intuitive- educated neighborhoods.” This entails a po- ly noticed that there was something worth tential for conflicts in socio-economically studying in the social atmosphere, but could delicate and ethnically diverse areas such not find the proper methods or research as Koivukylä. questions. Later, as the research developed, In their multi-method study, the authors Kortteinen’s arguments turned into heavy suggest that the social control in Koivukylä critique towards the communal planning and is performed by various local institutions, housing politics, but also paved the way for such as police, youth workers, and employ- later research on both the social problems ees of the local library. The strategies of and potential of Finnish suburbs. Even today controlling young people vary from authori- these studies give a valuable ground against tative customs to soft-edge strategies, but which the trends of socio-economic develop- ment, urban differentiation, and urban pol- 2050. These diary-like, belletristic sce- icies can be evaluated. Kortteinen finishes narios are written from different narrator his personal story with testamentary words positions, but their coterminous structure that pass the ball on to the next generation make them easily understandable and com- of urban researchers – “it remains to be mensurate. Despite many features that may seen what happens.” seem utopic (or dystopic) from the current perspective, the texts interestingly illu- minate the future challenges that should be *** taken into account in current planning poli- One attempt to accept Kortteinen’s challenge cies. The subjective grasp in the scenarios – to try to see what happens – is presented reminds us that the future is not just an in chapter 5. In their methodologically am- imaginative structural or macro-scalar con- bitious text Christina Itkonen, Andrea Gilly struction, but rather a result of a number Marquez, Heta Seppälä, and Apichaya Sind- of complex ecological, political, and social huprama compile four future scenarios (“tech chains of interactions that are lived and driven community,” “transitional urban vil- experienced by real people. Seen from this lages,” “an unequal future,” and “from mate- perspective, the future scenarios also show rialism to mental development”). They focus that urban identities are never fixed, but their study on Hakunila and Sotunki, two rather are in constant change. Hence current neighboring areas that are very distant by suburban identities or ideas of such iden- their socio-economical and physical struc- tities – despite their importance on both ture. The scenarios carry us to the year personal and intersubjective levels – should 2050 by illustrating the possible results of not be treated as predominating entities in different – yet intertwined – paths of tech- urban planning. 13 nology, demography, planning, and ecological The four scenarios are reviewed by asso- conditions. ciate professor Juanjo Galan and universi- In order to contextualize the scenari- ty lecturer Johan Kotze who ask, with the os, the authors have familiarized themselves trajectory of urban green space in mind, with the current conditions in Hakunila and “which permanent and cojunctural factors Sotunki. As noted in chapter 3, Hakunila is are affecting the cities nowadays; and how characterized by a high-rise suburban land- can we integrate all those factors, limita- scape, dense population, a large proportion tions and expectations in speculative models of foreign country citizens, and the aver- that could help us to visualize desirable age income in Hakunila is remarkably less futures for our cities and […] react ac- than the average in Vantaa. Sotunki, on the cordingly.” They divide their answers on other hand, is the opposite in almost every two levels. First they ponder the factors sense: its landscape is characterized by ru- behind the contemporary evolution of cities, ral elements and forests, its approximately and proceed then to the ways of reasoning 650 residents are mostly Finnish citizens, the possible futures. Both temporal levels and the average income is over 10,000 euros – past and future – are presented as complex higher than the average of Vantaa. Based on and unwieldy entireties that should be stud- this juxtaposition, the authors compose an ied with a multidisciplinary approach that analysis on landscape structure, socioeco- encompasses an understanding of ecological nomic factors, accessibility, and planning, processes, political tides, and different and bring it together with some key concepts dimensions of humankind. Moreover, Galan and in sustainability studies (resilience, eco- Kotze, emphasize the role of ecosystems by nomic degrowth, ecomodernism, green economy, scrutinizing the anthropocentric character agrarian urbanism, and urban permaculture). of the concept “sustainability.” The authors Finally, this dialogue is turned into a claim that nature is often being “othered” SWOT-analysis of Hakunila and Sotunki. in planning processes and policies – espe- The chapter culminates with four reviews cially in urban areas where the land use is on life in Hakunila and Sotunki in the year intensive and every green space is affected USP / 2018
by human presence – and argue that sustain- fused or not, in the Helsinki region. This ability often is evaluated from the per- book culminates an incredible amount of work spective of ecosystem services. While this from both students and professors and other may result in some good planning practic- teachers across a multitude of disciplines. es, there is a constant danger of producing All comments and initiatives – both on the one-sided urban greenspaces that may provide substance and on the program – are more than most of the requested services but do not welcome. We are just about to get started. contain elements of pristine nature. In Helsinki and Shanghai *** 5.3.2018 The book ends with a contentious article written by professors Kortteinen and Mari Vaattovaara. They bring the questions about the future back to the level of actual plan- ning, and discuss the ways in which dif- ferent politically charged assumptions of demographic trends affect the urban strat- egies and identities. With the net “migra- tion win” of Helsinki in the last ten years as their example, the authors claim that the growth expectations behind the current urban strategies and policies actually lack a broader understanding of peoples’ prefer- 14 ences. Whereas the politicians and decision makers in Helsinki tend to see the migration surplus as evidence of urban renaissance and peoples’ willingness to live in dense urban areas instead of the surrounding municipali- ties, the professors suggest that the tran- sition actually can be a consequence of the economic depression of the early 2000s. Hence they forewarn that since the new Master Plan of Helsinki, for example, heav- ily believes in a strong population growth in the future, it could actually be built on sand. A failure to interpret the changes in peoples’ values could prove to be pricey in the future, and lead to a development that contradicts the preferences and even needs of the residents. Consequently, Kortteinen and Vaattovaara request for a critical dia- logue between planning policies and academic urban studies in order to ensure that pol- icies are negotiated with sufficient knowl- edge, and that the plans produce socially and ecologically sustainable cities with strong but yet flexible identities. *** The editing team wishes that this book proves to be a provocative and interest- ing commentary on urban identities, con- to the volume it occupies. In more gener- Excursions into ic terms, it is used to measure the number suburban density of any units in a given container. Thus it is natural that instead of a single densi- ty concept we are doomed to operate with a plethora of competing definitions, which by Anssi Joutsiniemi, Franz makes the density discussion highly value Oswald, Mari Vaattovaara driven. It is easy to understand that densi- ty of coffee shops may be desirable, while density of pickpockets in the same spatial If one had to name a single feature that enclosure is not. The vague use of a tech- characterizes the urban, a strong candidate nical term has caused some serious confusion would be density. Unfortunately this is al- as the idealized forms of historical phases most as far as we can get along the road to of urbanization are used in the assessment agreeing on this magical term. In our excur- of metropolitan structure. sion into understanding the Finnish suburbs have almost come a full circle from one Never since the introduction of motor- extreme to another. In fact, not more than ized transport has the density ideology been 70 years ago the grand old man of Finnish so vulnerable to exploitation. For exam- town planning, Otto-Iivari Meurman, stated ple the slogan “A compact city is a contact that¹: “At the end all detriment in ur- city” introduced by Pentti Murole, one of ban settlements is caused by packing people the prominent young urbanists in the 1960s, too tight. The principal remedy for healthy paved the way for Finnish suburban devel- reorganization is to space out the existing opment from the early Tapiola experiment densities.” (Meurman 1947, 311) The ideolo- towards the suburban high-rise developments 15 gy that built the Finnish suburbs couldn’t utterly different from the original ur- be further from the current slogan, adopted ban ideal. Despite the initial utopia of a by a public Facebook group (with almost 18 city reborn, the density ideal only became 000 members) for urban visions in Helsinki: perverted in the housing boom of the 1970’s “more city to Helsinki” (Lisää kaupunkia... and resulted in a suburban development that 2018). had none of the qualities that could retain the economic or social activity. With the The relative easiness of measuring densi- wisdom of hindsight we may conclude that the ty also makes it a prime source of confusion container for measuring density and contain- and misunderstanding. The loose talk about er for daily activities no longer went hand density seems to hide several other facts in hand – changes in accessibility took over and depart from its intrinsic assumptions the assumed favor of proximity and left den- that any line of discussion should pay far sity as a mere half-baked ideal. more attention to individual mobility pat- terns. Density in not a single quality, but If nowadays the bean counters of density an obsolete concept that our current mobile have increasing difficulty in defining what lifestyle has assigned to oblivion. type of densities to favor, they need to be even more careful when defining the con- According to the standard definition, tainer of analysis. The essence of spatial density is a measurement that compares the objects as two-dimensional entities sets all amount of matter contained within an object
¹”Kaikki kaupunkimaisen asutuksen epäkohdat pohjautuvat lopulta asutuksen liialliseen kasaamiseen ahtaalle alueelle. Tämän vuoksi on terveyttämisen tärkeimpänä tarkoitusperänä asutustiiviyden harventaminen.” (Meurman 1947, 311) USP / 2018
Figure 1: In both figures the black parts cover exactly half of the surface area.
16 spatial phenomena in an exponential context. fore, which eventually led to the mushroom- For example, increasing the size of the edge ing of suburban development. of a plot by 30 percent causes the plot area From the perspective of density analy- to increase 70 percent. Thus a minor overes- ses, however, it is important to recognize timation in a measured buffer size (or other how the space was actually utilized – what reference area) will cause major decrease did we gain from garden city ideology? The in density values. This is easy to see in most obvious guess would be of course the Figure 1. gardens, but in fact the abundance of land The same feature can also have a more el- was so huge that it couldn’t be covered by ementary meaning if connected to the actual gardens alone. In the structural analyses of areal growth. In his seminal text Nothing Helsinki it is easy to see from a few key gained by overcrowding Raymond Unwin (1912) figures that the permanent change in the observed the same thing. The increased trav- urban structure took place long before the el speed enabled by the railways in the late great influx of suburbanization. The great 19th century provided a vast amount of land divider in urban planning was the modern- for urban development and rendered feasible istic planning and construction princi- the entire garden city movement. The possi- ple, which favored the open typology and bility to move ten times faster opened up a the location of the house in the center of land supply a hundred times greater than be- the plot instead of the perimeter location. Exactly as the principle shown in Figure 1
² If the area shown in black in above figure represents a building, in standard planning terms both of these figures are described with efficiency coefficient (e) 0.5. (For a single-storey house the floor area ratio (FAR) would also be 0.5). 17
Figure 2: Four concentric 5 km circles around the Helsinki metropolitan area. The innermost, slightly offset 2.5 km circle represents the Hel- sinki urban core dating back to before the era of modernistic planning and the rapid decrease of transportation costs. USP / 2018
suggests². or densification. The essence of urban and The analyses of the region in four con- suburban life is not defined in buildings centric circles shows this surprisingly well and their contents, but in the spaces in (Joutsiniemi 2008). It is easy to see from between. Figure 2 that the share of settlement areas (areas divided into plots and streets) de- REFERENCES creases as the distance from the city center increases. Urban metropolitan structure as Joutsiniemi, Anssi (2008): “Kaavoituksen such becomes sparser. Not so trivial, how- tilasta”. Yhdyskuntasuunnittelu 2/2008, ever, is the fact that the share of build- 41–52. ings within the settlements remains nearly Lisää kaupunkia Helsinkiin (2018). constant in all four concentric circles. The 31.5.2018. https://www.facebook.com/ percentage shares of buildings in the set- groups/184085073617/about/ tlement areas in circles 1 to 4 are respec- Oswald, F. & Baccini, P. (2003). Netzstadt – tively: 18.7 % – 14.2 % – 14.0 % – 11.3 %. Designing the Urban. Birkhauser, Basel. It is noteworthy that even the most central Unwin, R. (1912). Nothing gained by over- 5 km zone makes no difference. Only the in- crowding! How the Garden City type devel- nermost 2.5 km size core – shown in dots in opment may benfit both owner and occupi- Figure 2 - has a notable 30.1 percent share er. P. S. King & Son, Westminster. of the settlement area covered by buildings. The city core is different, not because of its density, but because of its reduced openness. 18 The city core is a different container for different activities – characteristics that are not easily captured by density measures. Urban and suburban surroundings are not dif- ferentiated by the number of people, but by their core activities. The profound struc- tural feature of the suburban fringe is this constant 85 percent openness, which remains a key characteristic of the surroundings regardless of how many storeys we add to the buildings. It cannot be changed by increas- ing the population or any other type den- sity, and remains decisive for present and future activities. If this openness of the suburban land- scape, however, is not considered as a threat but rather as a key asset of individ- ual neighborhoods, it is difficult to build viable urban strategies by borrowing them from elsewhere. In the suburban fringe the decisive characteristic seems to be the at- tempt to provide simultaneous access to both the core of urban activity and its green edge. This affords perfect reason to seek: identity, diversity, flexibility, self-suf- ficiency or resource efficiency (Oswald & Baccini 2003) – more important aspects of suburban confusion than what can be cap- tured with simplified measures of packing 19 A Study of Multicentricity USP / 2018
Chapter 1
20 Chapter 1
21 A Study ofVantaa Multicentricity as a Part
of the Capital Region of Finland
Oya M. Duman A Study of Multicentricity USP / 2018
creating regional synergies (Kloosterman & Introduction Musterd 2001), even though the cities of re- gional importance, following the historical The patterns of urban growth have been primacy of central railway stations, are nu- a heavily theorized and discussed issue, merous. Therefore approaching European cit- especially among scholars of urban plan- ies, including Finnish cities, from a mono- ning, sociology and economics (e.g. Bur- centric perspective is tricky in a world in gess 1925/2008; Hoyt 1964; Parr 1973; Evans which urbanization is one of the fundamental 1985). From the concentric zones model to challenges that humankind has to face. the multiple-nuclei model, many attempts Controversies over the definition of the have been made to comprehend the dynamics of multicentricity phenomenon start when more how cities grow, as well as what happens on layers of attributes (e.g. sectoral special- different scales when they grow. Lately, the izations in the sub-centers, daily com- concept of multicentricity has found it- muting relationships between centers and self in the spotlight of debates concerning sub-centers or the number of well-defined, varying scales in varying contexts all over dominating centers) are attached to the the globe (e.g. Albrechts 1998; Klooster- abovementioned basic definition. Similar- man & Musterd 2001; Parr 2004; Hall & Pain ly, methodological differences in defining 2006). Even though the exact definition of centers and sub-centers also lead to the multicentricity, in terms of urban growth, emergence of varying perspectives on what remains open to discussion (e.g. Riguelle makes a region multicentric (Taubenböck et 2007; Meijers 2008a; Adolphson 2010), the al. 2017). Additionally, scale of analy- consensus among scholars is that monocentric sis has impacts on the definition (Riguelle 22 cities have been evolving into more com- 2007; Vasanen 2012). According to Antti plex multicentric regions. As expressed by Vasanen (2012), an area can be interpreted Hannes Taubenböck et alia (2017), “standard as monocentric on one scale and as multicen- monocentric models of constantly decreasing tric on another scale. densities with increasing distances to the In the specifics of this study, multi- center are not reflecting metro regions’ to- centricity refers to regions with multiple day’s urban spatial structure.” centers and sub-centers. Centers refer to In general, monocentric cities are dom- historically-acknowledged city centers with inated by a highly concentrated central the highest densities of population, as well business district (hereinafter referred to as workplaces and services which are distin- as CBD) (Gottdiener & Budd 2005). In the guishable by their predominance in terms of European context, the primacy of the urban administrative or similar roles within the centers essentially comes from the predom- region. Whereas sub-centers refer to young- inance of the central railway stations in er centers, which are the concentrations the city-level distribution, and concentra- of population and employment in different tion of workplaces in the late 19th centu- sectors, that are able to compete with the ry industrial cities (Kloosterman & Musterd centers in terms of employment opportuni- 2001). In a monocentric city model, it is ties. In this study, sub-centers are also assumed that the benefits of agglomeration expected to develop within suburbs and show economies draw employment opportunities into increasingly higher densities of population, the CBD and push the workforce out to homo- workplaces, and services than their imme- geneous suburbs. Unlike this rather conven- diate surroundings, in order to be distin- tional way of looking at cities and conurba- guishable as a regionally influential node tions, in their simplest sense, multicentric (adapted from the definitions of Riguelle regions are those which comprise numerous 2007 and Taubenböck et al. 2017). sub-centers alongside multiple centers (Mei- There are several reasons why multicen- jers et al. 2003; Taubenböck et al. 2017). tricity is such a hot topic in urban plan- Contemporary European cities are usually ning and urban governance, especially after small cities distributed over the landscape, the 1990s when strategic spatial planning Chapter 1
became a focus in European-level discussions the essential elements in the development (Burger et al. 2014). One reason is that of regions as social and political spaces. multicentric development is considered to be From a public policy-laden point of view, an ecologically sustainable way of harness- the collective success and economic competi- ing the benefits of economies of agglomera- tiveness of multiple centers within a single tion (Bailey & Turok 2001; Meijers 2008a). region partly depend on a region-level, com- As explained by Evert Jan Meijers (2005): prehensive brand, which acts as an umbrel- la bringing together different centers and Polycentric urban regions, or urban net- sub-centers. Understanding the dynamics of works, are often associated with the no- multicentricity is an important step towards tion of synergy, the assumption being that building a regional brand. the individual cities in these collections The general formation rule of (sub-) of distinct but proximally located cities centers within a multicentric city-region in relate to each other in a synergetic way, the European context includes a successive making the whole network of cities more and iterative centralization and decentral- than the sum of its parts. ization in the spatial structure of cit- ies over a long period of time (Hall & Pain 2006). The process started with the decen- Multicentricity is also considered to tralization of spatial structures in the have the potential to make the best out of form of suburbs on the outskirts of the un- two worlds -suburbs and high-density urban contested, dominant city centers roughly af- cores-, which is interestingly similar to ter World War II in Europe and in the 1950s what Ebenezer Howard claimed to achieve with and 1960s in Finland (Kolbe 2006). In time, Garden Cities. A multicentric development social, environmental, and economic costs can create compact (sub-)centers in which 23 of such decentralization, together with the sustainable modes of living and transpor- congested city centers, pushed towards two tation can be promoted, unlike the decen- similar processes. First, knowledge-inten- tralized suburbs dominated by individual car sive sectors requiring high social interac- ownership. Similarly, it can provide the tion but small amounts of land, started to spatial setting in which different business concentrate in the city center. Simultane- sectors can thrive in a spatial organiza- ously, the residential functions started to tion influenced by sectoral specializations come back to the city center, as the living and network effects. Correspondingly, the conditions of the cities started to improve. European Spatial Development Perspective Second, certain businesses (e.g. industri- (hereinafter referred to as the ESDP) aims al, large retail and manufacturing) began to toward such an urban development pattern on decentralize, moving from the city centers different scales. This includes encouraging to suburban locations with easier access to the establishment of new centers outside the highways, rapid rail networks, and airports European Pentagon on the largest scale, and (Riguelle 2007). Subsequently, a new cen- the creation of functional urban regions on tralization of jobs, people, and services in the smallest scale (Hall & Pain 2006). a decentralized spatial structure, with high Multicentricity is a spatial planning tool levels of interconnectedness and interde- rather than a land use planning paradigm on pendency started to occur. Whether these new its own (Kloosterman & Muster 2001). There- centralizations are influential enough on fore, the ESDP’s encouragement of multi- the surrounding urban fabric to compete with centricity and territorial cohesion seems the CBDs is one of the fundamental questions timely for an increasingly urbanized Europe of multicentricity studies (e.g. Hall & Pain under the current economic, social, and 2006; Vasanen 2012). environmental pressures. Regional branding When the formation steps of multicen- is another reason why multicentricity is tric urban regions have been examined, the discussed widely. As pointed out by Anssi Helsinki Metropolitan Region (also known Paasi (2003), regional identity is one of the Helsinki Region or Helsingin seutu, A Study of Multicentricity USP / 2018
and hereinafter referred to as the Helsin- (hereinafter referred to as the CR; pop. ki MR) represents itself as a fitting case 1,200,000 [Helsinki Region Website 2016]). for a study on a city-region slowly becom- The CR consists of four municipalities that ing a multicentric, functional urban re- make up the core of the Helsinki MR: Hel- gion. The Helsinki MR has a population of sinki (pop. 628,000), Espoo (pop. 269,000), 1,452,972 (Helsinki Region… 2016) and is Kauniainen (pop. 9,400) and Vantaa (pop. made up of 14 municipalities and a multi- 214,000) (Helsinki Region Website 2016). The tude of centers and sub-centers therein. In motive for such a focus is twofold. First, his study including a chronological compar- traditionally Vantaa is seen merely as an ison of multicentricity in the Helsinki MR annexation to Helsinki, which prevents the from 1980 to 2007, Vasanen (2012) pointed city of Vantaa from establishing an identity out that the Helsinki MR is evolving into an as a city of its own within a larger whole. increasingly complex multicentric region day This point is especially significant as by day. According to his study, the number the identity formation, through the under- of employees in sub-centers has risen from standing of the spatial structure, affects 40,255 to 153,711 within the aforementioned goals, priorities, and actions that the city years, whereas in the core area from 219,052 planning department wants to take with the to 276,830. This proportionally dramat- master plan. Second, having a bottom-up and ic increase in the employment numbers in intra-urban approach to study the CR instead sub-centers necessitates a higher level of of a top-down and inter-urban approach might attention, given the way in which the city help with conceptualizing multicentricity structure is changing. This change also has from a different point of view. an impact on how the city planning depart- In the next section, I describe the meth- 24 ments, as well as the Uusimaa Regional Coun- ods and data. Thereafter, a morphological cil, should respond to those changes. approach to multicentricity will be tak- From a European-level planning point of en through a population-based grid system, view, even though the ESDP promotes polycen- based on European Commission recommenda- tricity in the urban regions (i.e. regions tions. I will then present the analyses on with spatially disconnected but functional- the spatial structure of Vantaa and discuss ly connected centers), rather than multi- those analyses from the point of view of centricity (i.e. existence of spatially and multicentricity. Finally, I will conclude functionally connected centers thanks to the with some remarks on the study. advancements in the transportation and tel- ecommunication sectors) (Gottdiener & Budd 2005), both terms share fundamentally the Methods and Data same approach to the declining primacy of an In this study, multicentricity in Vantaa is urban core, to the emergence of competitive approached from a morphological point of sub-centers, and to the interdependencies in view. Simply put, in this study, a morpho- between. Therefore, when the spatial char- logical point of view is similar to that acteristics of the Helsinki MR are taken of Taubenböck et al. (2017) and refers to into account (which will be presented in the their description, “distribution of objects upcoming chapters), the Helsinki MR makes an in a given area and centers are considered important case for a study of multicentric- as substantial spatial densifications of ity in the national planning debates when these objects.” Functional interrelation- it comes to conforming to the European-level ships, which according to Vasanen (2012) are planning policies, rather than a study of fundamental to multicentricity, and theories polycentricity. on spaces of flow are not included in this As there has been a considerable amount study. of research on the Helsinki MR as a whole The study consists of two main steps. (Vasanen 2012, 2013), the purpose of this First, a population-based grid system is study is to downscale and to focus on Van- used as an attempt to identify the centers taa within the Capital Region of Finland and sub-centers within Vantaa. Second, spa- Chapter 1
tial clustering of various phenomena is in- locations of libraries, hospitals, cultur- troduced as a new layer onto the centers and al centers, theaters and citizen information sub-centers that are identified, in order to centers) (Pääkaupunkiseudun palvelukartta study the spatial characteristics of those 2017). As a result, I produced different centers and sub-centers. heat maps presenting local concentrations of In the first step, I used the 250 meters certain values, e.g. a heat map showing the by 250 meters statistics grid prepared by density of all work places, knowledge-in- Statistics Finland (hereinafter referred to tensive businesses, manufacturing business- as the YKR grid). This grid contains aggre- es, cafes / bars, municipal services such gated data about the population structure, as libraries, citizen information centers, number of employees, income and education cultural centers and so on. The general levels of residents, occupational sectors of idea behind these heat maps was to add more workplaces and other similar data. I con- layers to the population-based HDCs and UCs verted this grid into a 1 kilometer by 1 so that the spatial clustering of general- kilometer grid, in order to comply with the ly acknowledged elements of urbanization, in European Commission’s proposal for popu- morphological terms (e.g. existence of ca- lation-based definitions of urbanization, fes), could be used to identify centers and as explained in a regional working paper sub-centers within Vantaa. (Djikstra & Poelman 2014). This provides a At the end, I placed the heat maps on top simple theoretical framework for identifying of the map from the first step showing HDCs centers and sub-centers in accordance with and UCs, to check if there were clusters of European Union-level methods, versus local specialized economic activities, or specific methods. centers or sub-centers. According to this regional working pa- It should be noted that limitations of the 25 per (Djikstra & Poelman 2014), I made some dataset and the utilization of the dataset, adjustments in the definitions and devel- heavily impact the interpretation of the oped three types of grid cells so that they spatial structure of Vantaa. Given a differ- could be used to identify urban centers and ent dataset and methodology, the multicen- sub-centers. Those three types of cells were tricity of Vantaa and the Helsinki MR could as follows: high-density clusters grid cells be different from what is presented below. (min. 1,500 inhabitants / 1 sq. km., here- Similarly, the chosen scale, as well as the inafter referred to as HDC), urban clusters geographical scope of the study are also of grid cells (min. 300 inhabitants / 1 sq. great importance. As mentioned earlier, ac- km., hereinafter referred to as UC), and cording to Vasanen (2012), a change of scale rural grid cells (grid cells which are nei- can also change the interpretation of an ther HDC nor UC). Normally, the next step of area as being monocentric or multicentric. working with these cells would be to clas- sify the urbanization level (city center, suburban / town or rural) of local admin- Results and Discussion istrative units. However, in the specifics The results suggest that within the CR, Hel- of this study, there was no need for fur- sinki still seems to be the dominant lead- ther analysis using the grids, as it was not ing center, creating a circumference around crucial to define the characteristic of each its center, and reaching up to Ring Road III local administrative unit. Instead, centers (Kehä III) (which surrounds Helsinki from and sub-centers beyond such boundaries are Kartanonranta (in Kirkkonummi) in the west, more significant. Therefore, HDCs and UCs to Vuosaari Harbour (in Helsinki) in the were employed only to check the existence of east) and creates an artificial border for centers and sub-centers, and if there are the “urban” Helsinki (Figure 1). Whereas Es- any, how they are distributed within Vantaa. poo and Kauniainen follow a circumferential In the second step, I combined the occu- growth direction reaching up to Ring Road pational sectors in the YKR grid with the III; beyond this “boundary” Eastern Van- data from the Service Map of Helsinki (e.g. taa also grows alongside the railway lines. A Study of Multicentricity USP / 2018
26
Figure 1. Map showing urban clusters and high-density urban clusters in the capital region. HDCs: Cells with minimum 1,500 (1,500 included) inhabitants per 1 sq. km. UCs: Cells with minimum 300, maximum 1,500 (1,500 excluded) inhabitants per 1 sq. km. As seen in this image, the CR is quite dense radially starting from Helsinki, up to the Ring Road III and sub-centers are quite difficult to distinguish. Beyond the Ring Road III, train tracks are the decisive factor for the sub-centers in Vantaa and it is rather easier to distinguish 6 spatially connect- ed sub-centers: Kivistö, Myyrmäki, Vantaanportti-Aviapolis, Korso, Koivukylä and Tikkurila. Chapter 1
The first part of the railway network going Myyrmäki (pop. 53,902 [Statistical yearbook… through Vantaa was built in the second half 2017]) in the southwest. Myyrmäki seems to of the 19th century, connecting Helsinki lead the way for a similar kind of develop- with Hämeenlinna. As seen in Figure 1, this ment around the newer section of the railway more-than-a-century-old connection creat- as occurred in the aforementioned locations ed a linear and continuous growth along the of Koivukylä, Korso and Tikkurila. Myyrmäki railway, from Tikkurila to Korso within the is one of the districts of Vantaa right on boundaries of Vantaa. Such a result is not the Helsinki border, and the ring rail con- entirely a surprise, as increasing the ac- nection on this side was built quite recent- cessibility level of a place within the re- ly. The latest part of the railway network gion will increase its likelihood of becom- enhancing the connectivity within Vantaa was ing a preferred, and thus denser environment completed in 2015 and it connects Myyrmäki (Vasanen 2012). Similarly, as explained by to the earlier section of the ring rail from Taubenböck et al. (2017), path dependencies Tikkurila to Korso within the borders of created by transportation investments are Vantaa. Even though it is premature to jump dominant factors in the spatial configura- to conclusions, the latest part of the ring tions of urban regions. rail is likely to generate new sub-centers The most important conclusion to be drawn along the rail tracks and densifications in from Figure 1 is that the leading center between, similar to the one taking place Helsinki is so dominant within the CR that along the Tikkurila-Korso section of the emerging new sub-centers are still locating rail tracks. around it. Consequently, even though there However, as seen in Figure 1, Kivistö are developing sub-centers such as Koivuky- (pop. 10,074 [Statistical yearbook… 2017]), lä (pop. 27,272), Korso (pop. 29,573), and seems to be slightly different than the 27 Tikkurila (pop. 41,530) (Statistical year- rest, even though it is also located along- book… 2017) along the earlier section of the side the newer part of the ring rail. Cur- railway, Vantaa is still in the very early rently it is spatially disconnected from stages of multicentricity. These sub-centers the other centers but is connected to both are connected to each other through their Tikkurila and Myyrmäki through the ring connection to Helsinki, instead of their rail. Even though this seems to be a promis- functional relationships with each other. ing step towards a strong sub-center within This result can also be explained through a multicentric city, Kivistö seems predomi- the planning decisions made by the city nantly to be a residential suburb, lacking of Helsinki, as well as the rather flex- a strong concentration of jobs and servic- ible characteristics of the regional land es. Also, similar comments made for Myyrmäki use plan. Even though the regional land can also be made for Kivistö: densification use plan, drawn up by the Uusimaa Region- along the ring rail will probably result in al Council (Regional Land… 2014) (which is new sub-centers along the rail tracks. legally binding over the city-level mas- As seen in Figure 1, the only potential ter plans), presents certain regional nodes sub-center of a specialized occupational within Vantaa, the regional land use plan sector, that could support the larger mul- mostly functions as policy-level guidelines, ticentric region, is Vantaanportti (next to and gives freedom to the city-level planning Ring Road III and reaching up to Aviapolis, departments to decide their own concrete next to the airport). Even though the main steps. Therefore, as seen in the master plan source of development in the area is the of Helsinki (Helsinki City… 2015), transpor- Jumbo shopping mall (the biggest shopping tation investments are planned according to mall in Finland when it was opened in 1999), the “network city” plans of Helsinki, which the current plans of the Vantaa City Plan- will lead to establishing even stronger con- ning Department include developing the area nections to Helsinki. as an employment center specializing in air- As can be seen in Figure 1, the most port-related services and jobs, as well as populated district (suuralue) of Vantaa is introducing new residential blocks favoring A Study of Multicentricity USP / 2018
28
Figure 2. Heatmap showing the density of workplaces in the whole cap- ital region. As seen in the image, central Helsinki is the dominant workplace location within the CR. Tikkurila and Vantaanportti-Aviapolis are the leading sub-centers in Vantaa. Chapter 1
29
Figure 3. Heatmap showing the density of knowledge-intensive businesses in the whole capital region. Even though knowledge-intensive businesses spread around the CR, mainly within Ring Road III, central Helsinki is the uncontested center. Tikkurila, Vantaanportti-Aviapolis, Martinlaak- so and Myyrmäki are the leading sub-centers in Vantaa. A Study of Multicentricity USP / 2018
30
Figure 4. Heatmap showing the density of manufacturing businesses in the whole capital region. Manufacturing businesses display a rather dispersed location choice. Even though the largest spatial cluster is still in central Helsinki, competitive centers are to be found in other locations, a well. Petikko, Kolohonka and Vantaanportti-Aviapolis are the leading centers in Vantaa. Chapter 1
31
Figure 5. Heatmap showing the density of social services clusters such as cafes, bar, cultural centers, libraries, citizen information centers, etc. in the whole capital region. Central Helsinki is the un- contested center when it comes to social services provision. In Vantaa, Tikkurila, Korso, Koivukylä, Vantaanportti-Aviapolis and Myyrmäki are the leading sub-centers which are not competitive with central Helsinki at all. A Study of Multicentricity USP / 2018
a walkable, green neighborhood (Aviapolis transport-oriented sub-centers). What hap- Urban Blocks 2017). pens to Vantaa in connection to Helsinki is When Figure 2 is analyzed, the general exactly as such: Vantaa is neither multi- distribution of all sectors shows a compat- centric nor monocentric, which corroborates ible pattern to the population distribution the findings of Vasanen (2012) on the whole shown in Figure 1. Especially when Figure 3 Helsinki MR. Employment distribution implies and Figure 4 are analyzed together, a clear a trend towards multicentricity, as various pattern of decentralization is visible. As business sectors started to form their own expected, knowledge-intensive sectors are spatial clusters within Vantaa. On the other located mainly in central Helsinki and have hand, both the population distribution and a spillover around the CR, but still within the social services distribution are still Ring Road III (Figure 3). On the other hand, quite monocentric, as the sub-centers emerge also as expected, manufacturing business- around the transit-corridors connecting es show a more homogenous distribution than Vantaa to Helsinki, rather than developing knowledge-intensive businesses (Figure 4). in connection to the clustering of varying businesses. Therefore, despite being mor- As shown in Figure 5, social services phologically neither monocentric nor multi- clusters also follow a similar finger-shaped centric, one thing that is certain is that distribution following the population dis- Vantaa is changing along with the CR, under tribution shown in Figure 1. Even though the heavy influence of Helsinki. various services can be found outside Hel- sinki, the concentration still remains in As Vantaa’s role in the CR remains rath- Helsinki. This finding correlates with Evert er unclear, it affects the way the whole Jan Meijers’ (2008b) study which asserts city and its districts define themselves. 32 that monocentric regions provide more cul- The multicentric metropolitan region does tural, leisure and sports amenities. not entirely replace the local identities with an overarching regional one, but in- In regard to Vantaa, as clearly seen in stead it expands them (Kloosterman & Musterd Figure 6, Myyrmäki, Vantaanportti-Aviapolis, 2001). Therefore, showing both monocentric Tikkurila, Koivukylä, and Korso stand out and multicentric characteristics, Vantaa with the highest concentrations of popula- does not have one but has several urban and tion, jobs, and services. These sub-centers suburban identities, which are also confused can encourage ecologically sustainable ways within themselves. Such confused identi- of living as they are relatively denser and ties might also confuse the City Planning compact. On the other hand, they lack the Department of Vantaa, attempting to devel- necessary concentration of economic special- op the city according to a set of strategic ization that would increase the economic goals. As pointed out by Monica Brezzi and competitiveness within the CR, as well as Paolo Veneri (2015), urban policy-making in high enough levels of population, job, and a metropolitan region has many levels to be service density to be able to compete with coordinated. One of those levels is the de- central Helsinki. cision-making process within Vantaa. Another is the regional land use plan of the Uusimaa Conclusion Regional Council, and in relation to this, the master plan of Helsinki. These vari- As much as being an exciting and promis- ous city-, intercity-, and regional-level ing concept for European-level discussions forces put the city of Vantaa under constant of territorial cohesion, multicentricity pressure when it comes to preparing its own is a very complex phenomenon. As mentioned master plan and local detailed plans, as the earlier, one aspect of a city might imply absolute authority to prepare those plans a direction towards a multicentric develop- still belongs to the city of Vantaa within ment, whereas another aspect might suggest the planning framework of the Finnish State. an expansion of the monocentric city (e.g. Without having an established city-level through infill developments in the emerging identity, it is a challenge for both plan- Chapter 1
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Figure 6. Map showing the HDCs and UCs together with the workplaces and social services clustering in Vantaa. Korso, Koivukyla, Vantaan- portti-Aviapolis, Tikkurila and Myyrmäki are the leading sub-centers in Vantaa. Kivistö seems to be quite homogenously residential. A Study of Multicentricity USP / 2018
ners and researchers to approach the city of http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/ Vantaa as a strong entity on its own and to sources/docgener/work/2014_01_new_urban. devise a set of strategies that respond to pdf those intercity- and regional-level forces Evans, A. W. (1985). Urban economics: an in- accordingly. troduction. Basil Blackwell, Oxford. Hall, P. G. & Pain, K. (2006). The polycen- REFERENCES tric metropolis: learning from mega-city regions in Europe. Earthscan, London. Adolphson, M. (2010). Kernel densities and mixed functionality in a multicentred Helsinki City Plan Draft (2015). Planning urban region. Environment and Planning Department of City of Helsinki. www. B: Planning and Design 37(3), 550–566. hel.fi/hel2/ksv/julkaisut/esitteet/es- DOI:10.1068/b35061 ite_2015-1_en.pdf Albrechts, L. (1998). The Flemish diamond: Helsinki Region Trends (2016). City of Hel- Precious gem and virgin area. Euro- sinki. https://www.hel.fi/hel2/tietoke- pean Planning Studies 6(4), 411–424. skus/julkaisut/pdf/16_12_28_Trends_2016_ DOI:10.1080/09654319808720471 Hiekkavuo_Hietaniemi.pdf Aviapolis Urban Blocks. (2017.). City of Helsinki Region Website. (2016). City of Vantaa 12.12.2017.
DOI:10.1177/0042098008095870 Paasi, A. (2003). Region and place: re- gional identity in question. Progress in Human Geography 27(4), 475–485. DOI:10.1191/0309132503ph439pr Parr, J. B. (1973). Growth poles, region- al development, and central place the- ory. Papers in Regional Science 31(1), 173–212. DOI:10.1111/j.1435-5597.1973. tb00893.x Parr, J. (2004). The polycentric ur- ban region: A closer inspection. Re- gional Studies 38(3), 231–240. DOI:10.1080/003434042000211114 Pääkaupunkiseudun palvelukartta (2017). 1.12.2017.
ti-centric – and what they have in front of Commentary: them is a “challenge”. What to do with it, then, they would ask. What is the next step? Urban development is indeed complex, and The next step its planning is a challenge. However, this is often where urban studies leave planners, in the middle of the baggage from history by Kimmo Lapintie and state-of-the-art – the being and noth- ingness, paraphrasing Jean-Paul Sartre – and the mist of the future. Researchers can close their books and files and come back in Having read Oya Duman’s excellent analysis ten or fifteen years to see how the situ- of the overall structure of Vantaa, I feel ation has evolved. Planners can’t do that: the temptation to start at the end. This is within the same period of time they have how it is written: “Without having an estab- made their master plan, followed its imple- lished city-level identity, it is a chal- mentation, and are busy preparing a new one. lenge for planners as well as researchers to approach the city of Vantaa as a strong In fact, maps are time-slices, particularly entity on its own and devise a set of strat- when they are based on reliable data and not egies to respond to those intercity- and just Utopian or subjective projections. But regional-level forces accordingly.” the city, as we know, is a dynamic system This is a very logical conclusion from evolving in time, and its evolution is – the theories of mono- and multicentrici- indeed – complex. We can always compare our 36 ty referred to, as well as the analysis contemporary maps with historical maps and of the geographical data. Vantaa, although thereby get a glimpse of what is happening. an administrative entity called a city (or This is speculative, however, since history kaupunki in Finnish, referring to kaup- is the result of several inputs, one of them pa, commerce) is not a city in the sense we being the planning itself and the political understand cities, emotionally or histori- ideas within it. There is path-dependency, cally. Its concentrations of people, busi- for sure, but history is no guarantee for nesses and services vary, but they do not the future, as the stock market would teach follow the administrative borders. Rather us. they follow the old rail-line and Ring Road Of course, history can be better under- III, the backbones of accessibility. On the stood if we read it as a story, a narrative. other hand, the City of Vantaa consists of The story could tell us, for instance, that sub-centers that have somewhat different Vantaa is not a city because it was not identities. This is consistent with the per- originally a city but part of the country- ception of the planners of Vantaa: people do side around Helsinki. It was even called not so much consider themselves as residents Helsingin maalaiskunta (the rural municipal- of Vantaa but different parts of town, such ity of Helsinki) until 1972, and it was only as Myyrmäki, Tikkurila, and Korso. Outside officially nominated as a city in 1974, when these suburban centers, there is a lot of the great migration from the countryside was ‘nothingness’. Thus, Vantaa cannot be under- already on its way. The former rural munic- stood by looking at its map, analysis at the ipalities around Helsinki understandably had level of (at least) the metropolitan area difficulties in coping with the migration, is necessary. And at that scale, the CBD of both economically and politically. Sipoo was Helsinki still rules. the only municipality that wanted to stay However, I can imagine that these re- rural and almost ‘closed’ its borders, which sults – illuminating as they may be – would later led to annexing the Western part of it be frustrating to the planners and policy (Östersundom) to Helsinki. Espoo and Van- makers. They hate to hear that the situation taa, on the contrary, formed alliances with is “complex” – neither monocentric nor mul- Chapter 1
the major developers, allowing them not only not determined, that we can do something to to build but also to plan the new suburban make it happen (or to prevent something from neighborhoods, where the growing population happening). But since the future is not yet would be housed. In return, the developers here, it is essentially behind a veil of were to provide the basic infrastructure to ignorance (paraphrasing John Rawls in his the neighborhoods. Quality was not a priori- Theory of Justice, 1971). The picture of ty in those days. the future is necessarily blurred, but it Thus, it is no wonder that both Espoo and can also contain surprises that will change Vantaa did not develop into cities in the everything. The future is made up of possi- traditional sense, but rather were networks bilities. of smaller neighborhoods without a clear The word possibility, on the face of it, center. They became cities only adminis- is easy to understand. However, as philoso- tratively, following the growth of their phers have been trying to make sense of it, population and their economy. They are not it has turned out to be extremely complicat- politically weak anymore, resisting effec- ed. What are the possibilities that are not tively any suggestion to merge the four actually here? Let me again try to explain municipalities of the Helsinki Metropolitan with a story, originally published in my Area (HMA) into one city. This can also be blog Possible Cities (
I suppose, that they already knew, before I realm of the possible? This is something moved it, that it could have taken this new that you cannot observe. You could see the position, although they had no idea that it can in its original position, and then again would be moved, or where I was going to move in its new position. But you cannot see the it. So, in perceiving the can of beer, they many possible positions on the table that had not only perceived a physical object in it has. Does it mean that you can only see the place where it happened to be, but also the fixed can and its movement, and you have the many possible places that it could oc- to imagine the other possible positions? cupy. Hardly, since you can always imagine the can I don’t know whether any of the students floating in the air, but this is not one understood what I was talking about. My as- of its physical possibilities. No help from sistant lecturer certainly did not, since psychology here. he suggested that I should make a video But what if we think of cities as re- clip of where the can was moving back and alities that include not only things (the forth, like commuting cars between housing buildings, the trees, the pavement, the and workplaces. This was, of course, a total cars) and their recorded movement, but also misunderstanding of the idea. It was not their possibilities? Instead of the cars the actual movement that mattered, but the commuting back and forth, we would have the possibility of movement, the access-ability. drivers considering whether to take the car And if you have a power to move, you also or the bus, or where they should be head- have a power not to move. Even cans can have ing and which road to take. The driver would that sort of power. have a set of different options to choose from. If we make it very unpleasant or ex- 38 pensive to take the car, he or she will not This may sound self-evident, but it is not. take it. The driver is not stupid. Unless Philosophers know that I am talking about of course if you forget the driver and see the difference between actuality and pos- the flow of traffic as a natural force, like sibility that goes back to Aristotle and rivers. Then you will end up building more through the scholastics to the modern phi- roads and lanes, in order to avoid conges- losophy of possible worlds. I am not going tion. But as we know, they will again be to discuss that, however. What I am trying filled with cars. Why? Because more drivers to do is to show the way from the can of will consider it a good idea to take the beer to urban studies and planning. car. The city could be thought of as a big Again, this may sound like a simple thing, material object. Architects could think of but it is not. Urban researchers want to it like a big building, with streets resem- study the empirical reality (because at bling corridors, central parks the atrium, least that is real, not speculation), by and squares the rooms. No big difference, observing the mobility of people and cars, just the scale. But in both cases, we need and asking about their preferences through to take into account the movement of people. surveys. But there is no way of observ- The things are not fixed, they are changing ing what they could have done, or what they all the time in space, so that we are speak- should have done. In time, the scholars will ing of a spatio-temporal reality. Like the develop theories of how cities develop, what flowing water, people move through corri- kind of patterns they exemplify, and how the dors or streets and take places in rooms and housing market leads some districts to pros- squares. This is still easy, since we may per and others to decline, for instance. observe what they are doing, at a certain moment, or during a certain period of time. Being and moving is real, because it can be For planners and designers, the reality con- observed. Esse est percipi, as George Berke- sisting of possibilities instead of actu- ley would say. alities seems much more natural. The basic But what if we include in our world the assumption behind every act of planning and Chapter 1
design is that the future is not deter- mined; why else should we plan for it, and not just expect it to happen? So, there must be a belief in possibilities other than the ones that we see before our eyes, and where things seem to be going. The thing is that not everything that is possible is easily seen. My students could easily figure out where on the table the beer could be. But those developing our cities cannot see so easily what the cit- ies could be. The realm of possibilities is infinite, even if we respect the physical (or economic, or ecological, or political, or social) context. The future of cities, the possible cities, cannot be seen. They have to be made visible. They have to be designed.
REFERENCES Rawls, J. (1971). Theory of Justice. Belknap Press, Capridge. 39