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An Eastern or a Western Capital City? The Spirit of Helsinki

2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 16; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/03906700600708964

1469-9273

Laura Kolbe,

Urbanization and City Planning

Helsinki's development during the last two centuries has been similar to that of many other medium-size capitals in continental, eastern and northern Europe. Centrally governed Helsinki, raised to a provincial capital in year 1812 in the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland, was urbanized late. The railway turned Helsinki at the end of nineteenth century into a main port for export and a real capital with connection to all over the country. The new industrial districts, ports, Paris-style boulevards and large stone house areas witnessed bourgeois wealth. The change in policy and governance transferred planning gradually from central to local level. The city's new Urban Planning Committee (1908) got the assignment of making new urban plans in the spirit of European metropolitan plans. This change coincided with the introduction of the one-chamber parliament (1906) and with the golden era of national arts and culture. After the First World War Finland separated from Russia and Helsinki became capital for the independent republic (1917). The master plan proposal Pro Helsingfors, ordered by private commercial counselor for a Greater Helsinki, was made by architects Eliel Saarinen and Bertel Jung in 1918. It was marked with a continental planning ideas, modernistic monumentalism and traffic optimism. This plan influenced the development of the capital throughout the twentieth century. Among the large problems to be solved was the planning of a new city centre, the Töölönlahti bay area. The symbolic value of this area grew with Parliament House (1930). However, the final planning of this ‘republican core’ is still an open issue, with mixed interest by the state and the city. After 1945 migration has been steadily growing. With the 1952 Olympics Helsinki joined the exclusive club of Olympic cities. Land area grew five-fold when the suburban zones were annexed in 1946 by decree of the National Government. Local urban planning could see capital, regional, metropolitan, traffic and suburban planning as a whole. The first master plan was approved in 1972. Since that, the city planning has been controlled strictly by the municipality.