Information from residents used as base for Espoo’s new master plan
Extensive map survey, carefully recorded discussions on the future, simple quick poll, post-it notes, children’s drawings. All this information collected from the residents will be utilised when the new Espoo master plan aimed at 2060 is designed.
The master plan is a general plan of land use and traffic arrangements where the city and its development is viewed as a whole. In autumn 2022, goals which will guide the several-year-long design process were drafted for the plan.
All kinds of information has already been collected from the residents to aid in preparation and decision-making: markings on a map of personally meaningful places and modes of transport, views on the current state of the local environment, wishes and worries on future Espoo.
- It is very important for us to listen to the residents and have their opinions from the start to help us set goals for the master plan. Interaction will continue at all stages of the several-year-long planning process, Head of Master Plan Essi Leino from Espoo City Planning promises.
In this compilation article, we introduce the materials collected from the residents that will be utilised in the preparation of the master plan. They all feature the themes of nature and sustainable growth that are important for the residents in one way or another. The people of Espoo want to preserve local nature, are concerned about climate change and wish for sustainable growth and a city on a human scale.
Our Espoo 20X0 event series recorded residents discussing the future
The Our Espoo 20X0 event series invited the residents of the city to discuss for whom, how and on what terms Espoo should be built. A series of 15 events consisting of themed evenings, discussion evenings and a workshop reached around 1600 Espoo residents in the spring and summer of 2022.
These events were organised to collect experience-based information from residents which can be utilised in city planning. Thus, the discussions and chat messages during the event series were recorded carefully. A program designed for qualitative analysis was used to go through the material. This helped identify different themes and recurring topics of discussion.
The results of Our Espoo 20X0 are presented in more detail in a recently published article. Nature, sense of community and a city on a human scale emerged as the most important shared values for residents. Regional discussions were filled with both clear shared values as well as personal local identities.
Read news article on Our Espoo 20X0 results
Explore Our Espoo 20X0 summary report (in Finnish)(external link, opens in a new window)
Simple quick poll gave insight into Espoo residents’ values
Master Plan 2060 quick poll was used to collect residents’ views on future Espoo The poll was available on the web and mobile devices in three languages for one month, 20 Oct until 20 Nov 2022. The survey received 1400 responses of which several hundred were in Swedish or English. Thanks to school cooperation, we know that some participants were upper secondary school students.
The quick poll was designed to find out what participants would like to see in future Espoo. First, participants were presented with 10 pairs of options and had to select the one that feels most important.
The final results revealed that when the city’s residents have to choose, they put nature first. As a result of these comparisons, a list was created where the options are in order based on the percentage chosen in the various comparisons. The base material included 34 options selected equally from different themes of the master plan.
After the comparison section, participants were asked to describe in their own words what they want to see in Espoo in the future. We received nearly 1700 of these free-form responses. They brought to light a spectrum of important issues and the conflicting views of Espoo residents.
Discussions, drawings and filling in timeline at master plan events in autumn
Two Let’s create Espoo Master Plan 2060 together events were held at Espoo libraries in October and November 2022. Planning professionals were present at these informal events to chat with residents and answer their questions. Alongside discussion, residents could leave messages on post-it notes on a future Espoo timeline. All messages were recorded and taken into account in preparing goals for the master plan.
Library pedagogues guided children to draw their dreams of future Espoo on a large piece of paper at both events. All drawings were recorded and the material will be utilised in further planning. Based on the drawings, important themes for children include nature and animal welfare, a wide range of hobby and play opportunities, social wellbeing in its different forms and pleasant living and public spaces.
Read about master plan event at Iso Omena library
Extensive map survey summarised residents’ most important places and modes of transport
The extensive My Espoo on the map survey conducted in 2020 was also utilised in preparing goals for the master plan. Altogether, around 6600 Espoo residents participated. They marked nearly 70 000 personally meaningful places, comments and improvement ideas on the map.
A considerable amount of the respondents, around 2500, were children and young people. The large amount of material will be utilised in Espoo city planning over several years. The survey was conducted together with Aalto University.
You can find a visual summary of the results on the survey website as well as a series of articles where the results and the way they are used are presented from different perspectives. Is Espoo a car city worthy of its name? How do young people’s living environments vary based on age and gender? Explore the results!
The goals of the new master plan will be set in early 2023. After this, the preparation of a draft plan begins. Interaction with residents will continue at all stages of the planning process.
- Zoning
- Urban development
- Master plan 2060