Poll: Majority of Helsinki residents favour dense residential construction

People in Espoo and Vantaa prefer detached family homes

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New residential construction divides opinions in the capital area. According to a recent poll commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat and carried out by Suomen Gallup, a majority of the locals in Helsinki would like to see their residential areas built even more densely.
      In the neighbouring cities of Espoo and Vantaa, in turn, people would rather live in decentralised small-house areas.
      The city-dwellers nearly agree, though, that from the climate change and traffic points of view, dense building construction that utilises rail connections would be the best solution.
     
At the beginning of September a hot housing policy debate was whipped up, when Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen presented his idea of a decentralised network of garden villages. His view was broadly and vigorously pummelled into the ground.
      Osmo Soininvaara of the Green League, for one, presented a counter-suggestion of a city model that focuses on maximising the use of rail traffic.
      Nearly 60 per cent of the Helsinki residents responding to the survey favour densely-built residential areas next to train and metro tracks. The respondents feel that this type of urban design and construction would be in line with the hopes and preferences of people.
     
The sentiments of people in the neighbouring cities are the exact opposite of those of the Helsinki residents. Fewer than 40% of the locals in Espoo and Vantaa support the idea of residential clusters being erected by the side of railways.
      Instead, decentralised garden villages are favoured. Clearly more than half of the Espoo and Vantaa residents are of the opinion that more decentralised small-house areas should be built.
      And the old ones should be developed further.
     
The answers change dramatically, though, when residential construction in the capital area is viewed from the point of view of climate change, traffic, and jobs.
      The Helsinki residents’ favourable attitude towards rail traffic becomes even more evident. In three out of four respondents’ view, residential construction in the vicinity of rail connections is important.
      Among the locals in Espoo and Vantaa the situation now turns upside-down. Two out of three residents there consider residential areas next to rail lines a better option than the decentralised model.
     
New shopping malls, in turn, divide opinions surprisingly little. Exactly half of the Helsinki residents feel that the erecting of shoppers' paradises on the outskirts of the city should be limited.
      In Espoo and Vantaa the number of the objectors to large shopping centres was a couple of percentage-points lower than in Helsinki.
      The margin of error for the telephone survey of 1,000 residents in the three cities is plus or minus 3%.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  PM Vanhanen´s idea of garden village metropolis in Helsinki region gets a battering (11.9.2008)
  Vanhanen calls for “garden metropolis” in Helsinki region (8.9.2008)

Helsingin Sanomat