Out of the Shadow
Green and growing, Espoo and Vantaa are proving to be a lot more than Helsinki’ s sidekicks
The Helsinki Metropolitan Area is a lot more than just Helsinki. To the west, there is Espoo, Finland’ s second largest city, and on the northeastern side one finds Vantaa, the fourth largest city in the land. Both of the cities are vital in developing the metropolitan area.
T he strong performance of the“ Big
Three” did not go unnoticed by the
Financial Times in its European Cities and Regions of the Future 2016 / 17 rankings. Uusimaa Region, consisting of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa and some smaller municipalities, impressed as the top-placed mid-sized European Region of the Future and also came up on top in the Economic Potential category.
Uusimaa Region was ranked second in Human Capital and Lifestyle, and came forth in the Northern European Region of the Future listing. Overall, Uusimaa was deemed to be the 10th-placed European Region of the Future. In the study, data was collected from a total of 481 locations, including 294 cities, 148 regions and 39 local enterprise partnerships.
Enterprising Espoo
The profile of Espoo is getting greener by the day. The city is building a sustainable future through mobility, construction and energy solutions – and the launch of the new western metroline( from Helsinki to Espoo) is very much a part of the low-carbon plan.
There’ s already a great platform to build on: According to a EU study completed in 2016, Espoo is the most sustainable city in Europe. The study shows that, as measured by indicators for financially, socially and ecologically sustainable development, Espoo has managed to maintain sustainable urban development in the midst of powerful growth. As much as 35 % of Espoo’ s land area is covered with forest, and the city was also recognised as a genuine“ green city” in the study.
Overall, Northern European cities scored highest on sustainability in Europe, with Stockholm and Munich trailing Espoo. Scoring high in safety, education, social and economic participation, Espoo distinguished itself for its economic knowledge, too.
Green Edge Success
Espoo was also the first city to join the Finnish Society’ s Commitment to Sustainable Development, which is dedicated to building a more sustainable Finnish society. Via greener practices, Espoo wants to create also new business activities and make the population’ s everyday life easier and more comfortable.
Construction of new, sustainable residential areas is very much part of this pic-
Photo: City of Espoo / The City Planning Department
38 Nordicum