Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2012 | Page 4

Publisher Vertically Challenged High-rise construction is very much the talk of the town in Helsinki. With as many as 50 high-rise projects in the pipeline, the City authorities have worked hard to create some sort of ground rules for the industry players – a roadmap of sorts, showing all the hurdles one has to clear for a successful project. Helsinki is no skyscraper city and therefore one should proceed only very carefully down this road. As John Worthington (cover) points out in our interview, a small metropolis such as Helsinki runs the risk of being dominated by giant buildings, if the full impact of the construction is not properly analysed. Worthington talks about “the typology of buildings” in an urban setting and about finding the most suitable alternatives. At present, Helsinki plans to ban skyscrapers from downtown Helsinki which is especially vulnerable to high-rise construction. Helsinki has strived to maintain a relatively low city silhouette, with just a few landmarks such as church spires rising above their neighbours. The city silhouette is historically and culturally too valuable to tamper with. However, tall buildings are welcomed in other parts of the city, such as Pasila, Kalasatama and Jätkäsaari. Especially the new seaside communities could get a lift from skyscrapers. Of course, in international comparison, Finnish high-rise plans do not exactly split the sky in half. Here, structures that are over 16 storeys high are already in the high-rise club. In larger context, the vertical dreams are often related to community’s quest for identity. For example, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, were raised to serve as symbols for a nation that was “going up”, too. Still, there are many other factors that come into play, when we are talking about the anatomy of a place – what makes a place, or rather: what makes a great place? Discussing this issue at length, John Worthington told NORDICUM that it is, first and foremost, the people and their energy that make a place. To paraphrase Hillary Clinton: It takes a village to build a place. Another important element is history, or, rather, the edited-down version of the word: story. In today’s world, it is the stories that people crave for and it is based on these stories that people decide where to work, live or travel. Not all stories are looking back, however. Many places are using stories to build bridges into the future – and the best stories always leave some room for dreaming. Jussi Sinkko Editor-in-Chief PubliCo Oy Pälkäneentie 19 A FI-00510 Helsinki Finland Phone [phone] Fax [phone] [email protected] www.publico.com Editor-in-Chief Jussi Sinkko Editorial Coordinator Mirkka Lindroos Project Manager Paul Charpentier Contributors Merja Kihl Ari Mononen Sami J. Anteroinen Language Editor Dialog Designs Ad Sales Finland Mr. Paul Charpentier Phone [phone] Fax [phone] Mr. Risto Valkeapää Phone [phone] Fax [phone] Sweden Mr. Johan Lindberg Phone [phone] Fax [phone] Germany Mr. Lutz Ehrhardt Phone [phone] Fax [phone] Subscriptions Phone [phone] Fax [phone] E-mail: [email protected] Cover Photo DEGW Printed by PunaMusta, February 2012 Photographic and advertising material is sent at the owner’s risk. NORDICUM accepts no liability for loss or damage. NORDICUM is a bimonthly magazine on Nordic business. NORDICUM promotes Baltic Sea area cooperation and free markets. NORDICUM is not affiliated with any political party or financial institution. ISSN 1236-3839 www.nordicum.com PubliCo Oy is a member of The Finnish Periodical Publisher’s Association 2 Nordicum