Vox-Pop: Railway Station and Stockmann gather most hits
By Janne Salomaa
Helsingin Sanomat asked 60 random passers-by for their opinion on where the centre of Helsinki is located. Roughly 75 per cent of those questioned were actually residents of the capital.
The vox-pop questioning was carried out at four different locations: the main Railway Station, Kaisaniemi, the Senate Square, and along Aleksanterinkatu.
Eighteen respondents placed their pin on the map at the Railway Station or in the immediate vicinity of the station. Half a dozen specifically referred to the compass design on the floor tiles of the underground shopping precinct immediately in front of the station, below Kaivokatu.
Stockmann's department store or the revolving clock above the store entrance on Aleksi collected seven votes.
Five put their pin on the Forum shopping mall on the corner of Mannerheimintie and Simonkatu. All of them were teenage girls.
The Sokos department store (one block further north on Mannerheimintie and on the railway station side of the street) and the area around the Kiasma Contemporary Art Museum collected seven votes between them.
At least two votes apiece were won by the so-called "City Block" which links the station area with the Stockmann/Three Blacksmiths/Aleksi hub, and by the new Kamppi Center, the Lutheran Cathedral (on the Senate Square - the "old" centre of town), and the Opera House, located alongside Mannerheimintie at the northern end of Töölönlahti Bay.
A few pins went into locations along Mannerheimintie, Esplanade, and Erottaja - the short section of street at the south end of Mannerheimintie.
Only one person picked the Market Square (Kauppatori), which is probably the part of Helsinki most familiar to cruise-ship passengers visiting the capital in the summer months.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 23.4.2006
More on this subject:
 Excuse me, could you direct me to the absolute centre of Helsinki?
FACTFILE: Space Syntax, Wayfinding, and Mental Maps
Helsingin Sanomat
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