Espoo Master Plan 2060 prepares for the business sector’s growth needs

The Business Espoo breakfast club, organised in Otaniemi on 27 August 2024, gathered a large group of listeners interested in the future of business life in Espoo. Many of them already knew that Espoo is preparing a city-wide master plan for 2060.

Saija Äikäs, Director of the Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce, encouraged the public to ask questions and bring forward the views of companies on the draft plan, the role of which is to spark discussion on the city’s future.

Preparing for the city’s growth in the long term is at the heart of the master plan work. The master plan makes it possible to guide growth and development in a systematic and controlled manner.

“The objectives set by the City Board for master plan work can be summarised in three main themes: Espoo is growing and its city structure is becoming denser in a sustainable manner, Espoo is comfortable and nature-oriented and Espoo is a climate-wise network city,” said Planning Manager Sakari Jäppinen from the City Planning Department.

Espoo is a growing city, which means that there is a need for a city-wide master plan. The draft plan includes preparation for the fact that, in 2060, Espoo may have 200,000 new residents and 90,000 new jobs. A well-functioning transport system and good transport connections between city centres are necessary.

Planning Manager Sakari Jäppinen emphasised that the master plan is more than a plan for growth and construction. The plan indicated things such as the locations of recreational areas and nature reserves as well as ecological networks and connections. Surveys have shown that Espoo residents consider local recreation, nature and single-family houses as important, which is why the master plan strives to preserve them.

The draft master plan has been available for public review for three months, and during the review, people have had the opportunity to submit their opinions on it. Next, a plan proposal will be prepared, and the proposal is expected to be completed in early 2026. The council is expected to approve the master plan in 2027.

The master plan presents the major land use policies, such as significant public transport solutions of which the new railway policies, in particular, have a been a hot topic. The plan solution itself consists of a plan map with its markings and provisions. The plan description describes the plan solutions and explains the reasons behind them and their impacts. In addition, there are numerous surveys on things such as noise and green structures.

“The master plan does not directly guide construction; instead, it provides guidelines for more specific planning. The detailed plan following the master plan will solve things such as the height of the buildings, opportunities for local recreation and parking. Detailed planning is mainly initiated by the landowner,” says Jäppinen.

Public transport solutions interest the public, especially concerning the choice between buses and railways. The draft plan includes a railway reservation for distances such as Matinkylä–Espoon keskus and Kivenlahti–Kauklahti.

“Railways have a higher capacity than buses, and they are typically also more attractive than buses. Many companies also want to be located by good transport connections and often seek premises near railways, in particular,” said Jäppinen.

The city’s growth also creates vitality and opportunities for companies. That would mean 50,000–90,000 new jobs. Therefore, the plan includes provisions for jobs in areas that are already highly attractive, from Keilaniemi to Leppävaara and along the edges of the city structure. The latter area is suitable for rougher operations.

Cooperation between the education sector and business life has traditionally been good in Espoo. The new master plan strives to prepare for the fact that new significant school campuses may be built, according to the relevant needs, in very accessible places, such as in the vicinity of metro stations.

Marika Lostedt Head of Business Development Services at the City of Espoo, listed the special features of Espoo-based business activities: “Of all European cities, Espoo produces the most patent applications, about half of the turnover of the Helsinki Stock Exchange comes from Espoo and the share of the highly educated workforce in Espoo is 53% of the entire workforce, which means that there are plenty of specialists to support the business community.”

Business Espoo offers sparring for the establishment of a company or the development of an existing one. Business advice is one of the services available; it helped create about 500 new companies in Espoo last year. The share of foreign-language speakers of the working-age population in Espoo is growing rapidly.

“We strive to develop services so that there would be jobs for people who move here from elsewhere and for people who are, for example, finishing their studies here,” Lostedt said about the current challenges.

Business Espoo’s surveys on the needs and wishes of companies show that Espoo has a positive business climate (57%). According to surveys, the most important factors affecting the placement of companies are personal ties to the municipality and transport connections. The most popular locations for companies are Leppävaara and Keilaniemi. The location is influenced by transport connections, a good market area as well as the availability and location of the premises.

According to Lostedt, the city should be able to provide growing companies, in particular, with services and opportunities to stay in Espoo as the companies grow: “Many startups, for example, need increasingly larger production facilities as they grow. We should have them in Espoo and they should be available to companies so that the startups do not slip away elsewhere.”

The city’s role as a builder of vitality is reflected in the development of large ecosystem projects, such as Kvanttinova in Otaniemi and the Kiviruukki area in Espoonlahti. A Microsoft data centre will be built in northern Espoo.

Master plan work aims to ensure that the city will have diverse urban centres where services, housing and jobs come together to create good conditions for both business activities and comfortable living.

From the beginning of 2025, the city will also play an important role in organising employment services. Employment services, or TE services, will become the responsibility of municipalities and the municipalities can organise them as they wish. Espoo and Kauniainen will form a joint employment area. Some of the services will be provided in cooperation with Helsinki and Vantaa. All business and employer services will continue to be available from Business Espoo.

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