Reinventing Vallila
Vallila District is looking for change – in a major way
Re-energising existing neighbourhoods is a big challenge in urban development. The key to success lies often in“ digging deep”: one must get to the core of the identity of the community, and find the strengths therein.
T he Vallila District, located just east off
the Pasila railway station, is a prime example of a neighbourhood that has been doing some soul-searching of late. Pressed between Pasila and the new city district Kalasatama, Vallila needed to find a road map to a future that would allow for growth and prosperity.
Due to this concern, the local real estate owners set a task force to work on Vallila Vision: an agenda for the future development of the district. With the new city plan emerging, the property owners considered it vital to take stock of the local assets and come up with a strategy that would take the neighbourhood forward.
34 Nordicum
Boosting Businesses
The starting point is a good one: the new city plan has marked Vallila down as a significant zone for businesses and services, calling for consistent development to push this enterprising mentality onward. There’ s simply a lot going on: the city plan acknowledges that Vallila has what it takes to be a real hot spot for productivity, since it has a great location just off downtown Helsinki, great connectivity and also a diverse mix in place when it comes to residential / business / commercial assets.
In the local business profile, ICT and health & life sciences industries have a strong foothold. With GE Healthcare taking the lead, there’ s even a dynamic“ Health Innovation Village” for healthcare startups located in Vallila. The Health Innovation Village is a great example of the local progressive mindset: smaller companies benefit from being in the vicinity of the big industry players as networking and joint projects become easier.
Vision Quest
Vallila Vision came to exist as a joint effort by the local property owners and the city, with WSP serving as consultant. Project Manager, Architect Timo Metsälä from WSP says that the commitment level was