Workshop on Viiskorpi’s future: participate through survey

14.10.2022 10.56Updated: 17.8.2023 7.35
A lecture hall, people, on the screen conceptual drawings of a detached house area and a more densely built urban area.

A new centre is being designed for Viiskorpi, Espoo, which would bring more residents and services to the area. The City is working with the area’s existing residents and landowners to create these plans. At a workshop held on Tuesday 4 October 2022, residents stated that they were happy with the way that the planning had progressed based on their previous feedback.

Planning a future through long-term collaboration

Espoo needs more homes for its growing population. The master plan for Espoo’s northern and central parts includes a centre in Viiskorpi with approximately 5,000 new residents.

Future visions for Viiskorpi were discussed with residents and landowners at workshops held in autumn 2021 and summer 2022. Additionally, a survey was conducted last summer, resulting in 114 responses.

Based on these responses, the future vision for Viiskorpi has been summarised as a self-sufficient urban village close to nature. The self-sufficiency refers to local energy production, local services and small-scale cultivation of food, to name a few features.

A district plan is being created for the area, analysing the area’s development as a whole until 2050. A district plan does not have the same legal effect as master and local detailed plans. It specifies a set of goals and guidelines for an area’s development, implemented through local detailed plans. Local detailed plans define what can be built in an area and how. The district plan will be completed in spring 2023, and the creation of a local detailed plan will commence after that.

Feedback from residents and landowners is considered in planning

A total of 16 residents, landowners and other operators in the area took part in the event. The residents stated various views on Viiskorpi’s future: concerns about changes to the currently calm environment and expectations regarding the area’s development. All of them shared the hope that the area would remain close to nature while improvements would be made to the local services, as well as to the transport connections involving walking, cycling and public transport.

Experts from the City Planning Department and Aalto University told the participants that they had utilised the feedback gained in the summer when designing the district plan, and explained how a district plan can be used to direct the creation of a local detailed plan.

Aalto University carries out a lot of cooperative work with the City of Espoo. ‘The City must combine a huge amount of data from different sources. In this project, we are studying ways to combine residents’ views with other information that must be taken onboard in planning,’ said Senior Researcher Aija Staffans, when declaring the event open.

 Constructive discussions on solutions

Based on the feedback received, the experts presented a solution in which new construction near the existing small houses would consist of houses with 1–2 floors, while the central area would receive densely built townhouses, small blocks of flats and terraced houses. The district plan includes plans for a school and a sports centre for the area. The number and location of daycare centres will depend on the future number of residents.

Two different land use options were presented as map images of the types of functions and housing development that would be located in various parts of Viiskorpi. In addition to that, the participants were shown photographs illustrating different types of enclosed yards surrounded by blocks of flats, as well as parks and street spaces. A discussion was then carried out based on the images.

The participants were satisfied with the fact that the feedback from the previous events and the survey had been taken seriously and the planning had progressed in a positive direction. They stated hopes that the area would continue to have large forests nearby and that the traditional Western Uusimaa landscapes would be maintained, although park-like spaces for adults and children are also needed. At the same time, the participants felt hopeful that a suitably densely built centre would mean new services and that transport connections involving walking, cycling and public transport would improve.

Noise caused by Kehä III was mentioned several times. Several participants would like workplace functions to remain along Kehä III, and denser development of the central areas could reduce the amount of disruptive noise in the area of small houses to the north.

Participate in the debate by taking part in the survey!

The questions and solutions presented at the workshop have been compiled into a survey. By responding to it, you can learn more about the solutions proposed by experts and state your own views. You can find the survey at bit.ly/Viiskorpi, and it will remain open until 15 November 2022.(external link, opens in a new window)

We recommend that you take the survey on a computer. Some of the questions involve a map, and answering these questions is easier on a computer than on a mobile device.

  • Zoning
  • Urban development
Kalajärvi