Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2012 | Page 15

“F

or Espoo, WDC2012 is a milestone
year which brings good design and
interaction with both residents and
customers into the limelight. I believe that,
for instance, in wellbeing services and urban
planning better practices will be deployed
with increased frequency.”
Also, the special year will be packed
with various events and activities: for example, WeeGee House will serve as host to a
lot of design-related action, and the rest of
Espoo will get its share, too.

Reinventing the Core
In Espoo, it is also notable that the City is
about to undertake a massive renewal project
of its “signature neighbourhoods” – namely
Tapiola, Otaniemi and Keilaniemi – to the
tune of € 4–5 billion. The Mayor himself
hails originally from Tapiola, so the complete makeover of the old Garden City is
near and dear to his heart.
Mäkelä says that the catalyst in Tapiola – and also in the other two areas – is the
metro which will start operations in 2015.
“As the metro is introduced to the area,
the Tapiola Centre is completely retooled:
it will become the biggest pedestrian cen-

tre in Finland, and will feature – in addition
to versatile business and service space – also high-level cultural offering and plenty of
apartments,” the Mayor promises.
The new Tapiola centre will be energy-efficient – featuring the first remote district cooling system in Espoo – and very
much rooted on user experience, design and
culture.

Feeding the Innovation
Mäkelä points out that while in 2012 design
is likely to top the agenda in many places,
culture – in its many forms – is very important to the City. In the Education Services
of the City, there is special emphasis placed
on nurturing talent, encouraging value-based
development of both individuals and community and boosting independent activity.
Multicultural support is also one key element in the