Helsinki just introduced major urban development projects at MIPIM 2015, at Cannes, France.
Helsinki’s growth relies on strong foundations
Helsinki is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe. It is expanding powerfully in the inner city on land vacated from former industrial and port operations. Many of Europe’s biggest urban development projects are underway in Helsinki.
Helsinki is a forerunner in energy efficiency and a strong hub for start-up activities. Helsinki offers an open and flexible operational environment, where the population is well educated.
Helsinki reached the second place after London on Financial Times’ fDI Intelligence European Cities of the Future 2014/2015 ranking, which measures the ability of areas and cities to attract foreign direct investments.
Helsinki was also ranked second best in World Economic Forum’s 2013 Human Capital Index.
Axis of innovation and growth Pasila–Vallila–Kalasatama
One of the major development areas is Pasila, soon to emerge as a magnet for Finnish and multinational corporations. A new hub for business and transport, Pasila will become a second city centre for Helsinki 3.5 kilometres north of the old centre. More than one million square metres of new office and commercial space will be built in Pasila over the next few decades to accommodate more than 50,000 jobs. These will be served by the nation’s second busiest transport hub where train, tram and bus lines converge. New construction in Pasila will meet the criteria of sustainable development.
Robust development is under way in Kalasatama, a waterfront district that will be home to 20,000 residents – ten-fold the current number – and 8,000 jobs once completed in the 2030’s. The development will centre on REDI, a high-rise core comprising six residential towers over 100 metres tall, a hotel-and-office tower and a shopping centre. Kalasatama is a national spearhead site for smart urban development. Smart Kalasatama is planned and built with broad-based solutions that will apply best practices and technologies. Forum Virium Helsinki is coordinating the Smart Kalasatama programme.
Vallila, between Pasila and Kalasatama, is a diversified area consisting of a former railway engineering workshop, office blocks, and industrial sites as well as existing and new housing areas, providing an inspiring mix of old and new, with century-old red brick buildings alongside modern architecture.
Read more on Smart Kalasatama:
https://forumvirium.fi/en/news/the-test-lab-of-a-smart-city
This entry was originally published here.