Suburbs offer people shelter but what do we actually need?
At the moment the eastern parts of Helsinki suffer from bad reputation. Lower housing cost in this part of the city has been one reason why it is becoming more popular place for living – nowadays suburbs tends to be places for sleeping. Excellent commuting (metro), schools, daycare and basic services such as supermarkets, pharmacy, library and health services are provided. For other services people have to go to shopping centers and/or look for services close to their office or work places. So what is missing?
Excellent outdoor facilities are often what people mention from their suburbs. Other positive action and development are the self organized groups and other local organizations who are creating more liveness to their neighborhoods. People in these groups are committed because they play an important role in this activity. How can we support this positive action more?
One resource in the suburbs are immigrants. But how do we engage this resource in everyday life?
I would like to see more cafeterias open to the suburbs to vitalize the area. Cafes or other services creates possibilities for people to meet and people could use these spaces in many ways, such as remote work. If more people could stay in their neighborhood and create liveness, this would provide services and jobs to the locals and diminish commuting and CO2.
The big challenge of Myllypuro is when the new Metropolia campus and 6000 students are occupying the area 2018-19. Our pilot case is aiming to find the right kind of services to both local people and users of this new Metropolia campus, students and staff.
By Petra Lassenius, Coordinator of Helsinki pilot of Live Baltic Campus
