Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2016 | Page 25

THE ANGLE
By Anni Sinnemäki
The writer is Deputy Mayor of the City of Helsinki for City Planning and Real Estate

Helsinki drives growth

H

elsinki keeps growing. According to
estimates, there will be 860,000 people
living here by 2050. The City is presently figuring out how it can add 250,000
inhabitants in the coming 35 years. According to zoning plans, the private real estate
investments could reach EUR 45 billion by
2050. The required investment for infrastructure and traffic is EUR 10–12 billion.
At the core of our growth concept, one
finds a compact city structure: in addition
to the vibrant downtown area, Helsinki features plenty of smaller-scale urban communities which are linked together via Europe’s
best public transportation system.

The year 2050 is far away, but already
today we are making the decisions that will
get us there, using ways that are both smart
and sustainable. Urban living in Helsinki
involves – more and more – energy-efficient
housing, smart grids and low-carbon traffic
systems. Yet no community is defined by
its technological prowess, but by its people.
It’s the people who will transform the city
through their actions – both individual and
collective – to make it more human-scale.
There’s a lot to build on, too. The new
housing and working areas currently under
construction make Helsinki one of the fastest growing metropolises in Europe. Hel-

sinki is a city that encourages open democracy; the City has, for instance, an open data
interface which provides free access to the
information concerning the City’s decisionmaking, procurements and expenditure. So
far, 1,200 City data sets have been opened
up for the public – to be used by citizens and
companies as they please.
This reflects a strategic choice for the
City: openness and transparency are key elements of Finnish society, but public administration has not always lived up to this. City
officials are now pushing themselves to
establish a new type of partnership with the
citizens, with information – in all its myriad
forms – serving as a driver for this change.
In addition to data, Helsinki turns to
design in its quest for innovation. As 85 %
of Finnish design companies are located in
Helsinki, the capital is quite uniquely positioned: by seeking collaboration with design
industry players, the City can achieve so
much. ‘Design thinking’ can help remove
red tape and streamline old, ou