Background and objectives of additional and infill development
The population of the metropolitan area is projected to increase over the next 25 years by almost as much as the current population of Espoo. Migration will be faster and housing needs will be higher than during previous decades. This means preparing for denser and expanding land use and a growing network of services. The requirements for population growth are adequate supply of land and developing new apartments. If land use does not adapt to growth pressures, it will affect both demographics and housing prices – leading to urban sprawl.
Despite population growth, most 1960s and 1970s neighbourhoods have seen their population decline. It is therefore economically smart to direct housing to infrastructure that is already in place, thus avoiding costly additional investments. There is also an ecological justification for densifying the urban structure, as despite improvements in energy technologies, the eco-efficiency of living environments in Finland is still decreasing. Densification can help to preserve green spaces and strengthen the effectiveness of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It also has a positive impact on the functioning of work and housing markets, as well as on productivity and competitiveness.
The differences in price levels between neighbourhoods partly reflect the success in maintaining and improving the attractiveness of the area. Infill development can ensure the vitality of a residential area and the preservation of local services, as well as enabling the development of public transport. This will also offer existing residents the opportunity to acquire new housing of a suitable size and characteristics for their changing life situation – studying, starting a family, retiring – and to diversify the housing supply by building more owned or rental apartments.
The city can take advantage of infill development to improve outdoor spaces and the urban environment to meet residents' needs. Reduction in the amount of green spaces can be compensated by increasing the quality of the existing ones. Centralised structured parking – i.e. parking facilities – is often necessary to replace extensive plot specific car parks when densifying an area. Infill development adds new layers to the cityscape. New buildings that fit in with their surroundings and investments in the quality of the local environment will enhance the prestige and image of the old area and increase the value of properties and homes.
A traditional plumbing renovation, which includes replacing water and sewer pipes and renewal of bathrooms, costs almost €50,000 for someone who owns a two-room apartment in the Helsinki metropolitan area. An additional development project launched by a housing company can provide a way for companies to finance part of major renovation projects and thus reduce upward pressure on housing costs; almost 40% of the income of apartment residents is already used towards housing costs. The housing company can also use an additional development project to finance an improvement that increases the comfort of living, such as construction of lifts or renovation of windows and air conditioning.
The City of Espoo encourages residents and housing companies to comprehensively explore the possibilities of additional development in connection with major renovations; improving energy efficiency and accessibility, renewing data connections, and developing, for example, courtyards and common spaces. These also offer opportunities for co-operation with neighbouring buildings. Although there are differences of emphasis between the tenant, the housing company and the city regarding additional and infill development, everyone will ultimately benefit – but the development of a residential area requires commitment from each party involved.
At the city level, the idea of infill development is to improve the physical structure of the city in a way that improves demographic, economic and functional conditions. These can be grouped, for example, as follows; the first two can also be seen as means to the third:
- Physical objectives: improving the quality of buildings and the surrounding area, improving the urban structure (e.g. filling in the edges of spacious streets), exploiting infrastructure (number of users).
- Operational objectives: accessibility and preservation of local services, improvement of recreational facilities and outdoor and cycling routes, improvement of transportation functionality, freeing up land for parking (e.g. shifting to centralised parking), improvement of public transport conditions.
- Qualitative objectives: improving the safety, comfort, liveliness and aesthetics of the neighbourhood, diversifying the housing supply and population structure, reducing noise and strengthening the identity and image of the area.