The My Espoo on the Map results showed the way for the future of Viiskorpi and Kalajärvi 

A land use review on future land use and traffic options in the area from Viiskorpi to Kalajävi is underway in Northern Espoo. In addition to the current Kalajärvi service centre, a new Viiskorpi centre has also been planned for the area in the master plan for the northern and central sections of Espoo. 

City planners wanted to gauge the opinions of as many residents as possible from the very start. The results of the My Espoo on the Map survey offered a readymade set of material that could be used to extract resident views at an early stage of planning. The results of the survey have increased the planners’ insight into which locations the residents find important and which ideas they would like to see realised in the future.  

The City wanted to communicate the results of the My Espoo on the Map survey to the residents of Kalajärvi and Viiskorpi. In addition to this, the planners wanted to discuss the development of the area with the residents by using the results of the survey as a starting point. For this purpose, a future workshop (in Finnish) on land use and traffic in the Viiskorpi–Kalajärvi area was held on 6 September 2021.  

 
In addition to discussions, the purpose of the future workshop was to further develop the resident data received from the My Espoo on the Map survey. We wanted to give the residents the opportunity to have an impact on the future development of their own residential area. At the start of the workshop, planners presented the survey results from different angles. After the discussion, the residents were tasked with creating a future vision triangle based on the survey results in small groups. 

The framework for the vision triangle was based on the My Espoo survey results. The maps with resident opinions on development ideas concerning the Viiskorpi and Kalajärvi area presented to the residents earlier formed the base of the triangle. The primary purpose of these maps was to support the discussions in the workshop and to also highlight the views of those residents who did not attend the workshop.  

In the first task related to the vision triangle, the residents determined the current and future characteristics of the area. The maps could be used to support the discussions on the triangle.  

The second task included the creation of a future atmospheric map for the area. A map with locations of new residential construction marked by the respondents based on the My Espoo on the Map survey results was selected as the map base for the second task. The participants transferred various atmospheric images onto this map. The images had also been selected with the open-ended questions of the My Espoo on the Map survey in mind. Finally, the residents were asked to describe the two future centres in the area with a few key words, which were used to create word clouds by using the Mentimeter survey. 

Responses from hundreds of respondents were discussed in a smaller group and developed further in the future workshop. The results of the My Espoo survey were closely tied to the rest of the content of the resident workshop in order to make these different forms of participation complement each other. As a result, a large set of material was used to create a future vision refined by local residents, which will be used as one of the starting points for planning in the area.  

The cooperation with residents will continue in the next phases based on the data already collected. This means that the cooperation does not have to start from scratch. The purpose is also to transfer information received from the residents smoothly from one level of planning to another in order to make the most out of the data. 

Master Planning Officer Ruusu Vilokkinen and Special Planner Venla Salomaa 

Are you interested in the results of the My Espoo on the Map survey? You can find more information and articles about the survey on the website.  

Read more about the land use review of the Viiskorpi–Kalajärvi area
and resident workshop (in Finnish).