Espoon keskus – an urban, evolving growth centre

Espoon keskus has excellent public transport connections, and they will be further improved once the Espoo Rail Line is completed. The section between Leppävaara and Espoon keskus will be completed by the end of 2028, and the entire project is scheduled for completion in 2029.

All city services are within walking distance in Espoon keskus. There are good connections from the area to Nuuksio National Park and its wide range of recreational opportunities.

Located right next to the station, Espoo’s administrative centre is being developed into a more pleasant environment.

Health care and social welfare services are also available in the area; the Samaria Health Centre provides everyday health services, and Jorvi Hospital and Espoo Hospital are located on the outskirts of Espoon keskus.

Omnia, a joint authority of education and a regional development centre, provides vocational education to some 10,000 students, over half of whom study in Espoon keskus. The Joint Authority of Education in the Espoo Region also consists of Omnia Youth Workshops, Omnia Apprenticeship Training and Inno-Omnia, where artisans, new types of service providers, students and coaches work together.

Espoon keskus is being developed into the most important urban centre of the western metropolitan area. The area will become increasingly urban, compact and versatile thanks to new residential buildings and services. Extensive infill construction will also increase the need for new services.

The Espoontori shopping centre will be extended and renovated. Kesko’s project will bring a K-Citymarket to Espoon keskus, which will be completed in late 2028.

Another hypermarket is also under construction in Espoon keskus, as HOK-Elanto is building a Prisma next to the Entresse shopping centre. It is scheduled to be completed in 2028.

The construction of the Suviniitty residential area will continue in the coming years.

The Entresse and Espoontori shopping centres house about 70 speciality shops, a library and the City Archives. Commercial services will be further improved over the next decade. New homes will be constructed in connection with these services.

On the northern side of the railway, the city’s administrative buildings will give way to new housing development. The new Espoo House will be constructed in the area. In addition to premises needed by the city, the building will provide diverse services for residents. The aim is to promote interaction between elected officials, residents and city employees. The project will not be carried out as the city’s own investment. The city will look for partners to implement the project and will lease the premises in the building.

The City of Espoo organised an architectural competition for the design of the Espoo House. Four working groups were chosen to participate in the competition, and the winning entry ‘Kohtaamisia’ (‘Encounters’ in English) was submitted by the Finnish-Danish consortium Cobe + Lundén Architecture Company. The building is scheduled to be completed in 2031.

Construction is underway and will continue with the construction of two apartment buildings and a new parking facility. There are two plots of land available for residential construction in the area, and the city is looking for new operators for them.

Microsoft is building a data centre in Espoo, providing emission-free district heating for Fortum customers in the capital region. The data centre is located between Hepokorpi and the Tollinmäki residential area, on the northern side of Ring Road III. Microsoft is also building another data centre in Kirkkonummi.

Fortum will recover waste heat from the cooling of the data centre’s servers and use it for district heating in Espoo, Kauniainen and Kirkkonummi. This is the world’s biggest project to recover waste heat from data centres.

Read more about the data centre on the Microsoft website(external link, opens in a new window).

Located on both sides of the Turunväylä motorway, the Lommila area and Nimismiehenpelto are being developed. A shopping centre, 110,000 m2 in size, has been planned for Lommila, with grocery shops taking up to 4,000 m2 of the area.