Deputy Mayor Korpinen wants more residential development on Helsinki islands

print this

By Riku Jokinen
     
      Pekka Korpinen, the Helsinki Deputy Mayor responsible for urban planning, is taking a spring walk on the island of Mustikkamaa.
      "A tremendous change has taken place on Helsinki shores in recent times. Warehouses, harbours, shipyards, and rubbish dumps have disappeared. Full advantage should be taken of it", he says as he peers across the water to the Sörnäinen shore, which will soon be turned from a harbour into a residential area.
     
Korpinen is as agile as a squirrel as he clambers over the rocks on the shore.
      His shoes find just the right foothold time and time again on the high and occasionally slippery cliff. He is a difficult man to keep up with.
      The same goes for the visions that Korpinen puts forward in the recent report by the Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA), called "Helsinki, a City of the Future".
      In 2050 cows may not yet fly, but the Helsinki Metropolitan Area will have merged into a single city. Helsinki will be one of Europe's most attractive metropolises, with two million people living in the area around it, which today is divided among 14 municipalities.
      "That vision, which might appear to be like megalomania when viewed from the provinces, could be quite modest when examined from the metropolises of the world", Korpinen writes.
      "The Sipoo vacuum" will have been filled, with tens of thousands of people living in the area.
      The most astounding vision is Korpinen's idea of an island Metro route. He draws the route in the air while standing on the shore of Mustikkamaa: the Metro would run from Jätkäsaari on the western edge of the Helsinki Peninsula to the fortress island of Suomenlinna, and from there via Vallisaari and Kuninkaansaari, which are in the possession of the Defence Forces, to the garrison island of Santahamina.
      All three islands would be inhabited. Santahamina would be the Defence Forces' 500th anniversary gift to Helsinki.
      The line would link up with the existing Metro system in Kulosaari or Herttoniemi.
     
The Deputy Mayor crosses the bridge to Korkeasaari, the island housing Helsinki's zoo. He gets past the gate simply by showing his face.
      An old pine inspires him to walk on the shoreline cliff again.
      "These are damn magnificent places", he says, looking out over the sea.
      "For now, at least", someone from Kulosaari might say.
      Korpinen's vision is to build a tram bridge across the water at Kruunuvuorenselkä as a symbol of the maritime character of Helsinki.
      It would not be the first dizzying prophetic dreams on the future of Helsinki.
      In the 1960s the engineering firm Smith & Polvinen wanted to pull down much of the old city centre, replacing the buildings with motorways.
      "There are good sides to slow decision-making. It might lead to pathetic mediocrity, but the worst excesses and mistakes are averted."
      However, Korpinen's 16 years as head of Helsinki's urban planning have been more than pure frustration.
      He sees the planning of the Kamppi area as an implementation of his own ideas.
      After years of bickering, Kamppi did not end up being a massive field dominated by buses; the bus terminal is below ground.
      On the other hand, the windswept, deserted Narinkkatori square starkly shows that Helsinki still lacks a certain urban bustle.
      Korpinen blames this on the car-centred lifestyle, whose "main manifestation" is Espoo, which is dominated by small houses. Huge numbers of people live there, but the population is sprinkled here and there amidst the forests, shopping malls, and motorways. He sees this as a reckless waste of land.
      Reading Korpinen's book, it is impossible to avoid the impression that the work is a set of instructions to future generations from an urban planner who is on his way out. Korpinen, who was born in 1944, avoids questions of retiring. So, hasn't the day of retirement been decided?
      "I have nothing to say about this matter", he responds.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 25.4.2007


Links:
  Helsinki of the Future – English summary (PDF)

RIKU JOKINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
riku.jokinen@hs.fi