3 Arabianranta: an urban frontier

The inner city of Helsinki is located on Vironniemi peninsula. As it is more efficient as a matter of traffic network and some other services to inhabit people in the peninsula than further away, many of the new residential areas are located on the fringes of the peninsula. These include Ruoholahti in the close proximity to the city centre, and Pikku Huopalahti, which are already built; and harbour districts of Jätkäsaari and Munkkisaari near Ruoholahti, harbour districts of Sompasaari and Kalasatama slightly further off on the eastern shoreline, and Arabianranta on the northeastern edge of the peninsula. Some new areas are built and planned also outside the peninsula, especially by the side of underground lines in the eastern part of Helsinki.

Areas with harbour activities cannot be converted into residential use until the new harbour for Helsinki will be finished. The site for the harbour is already selected in Vuosaari in the eastern edge of the city. However, it will still take for years before new residents can move to those areas. Arabianranta district, on the other hand, does not have any harbour activities, and therefore it will probably be the next one of the new residential areas on Vironniemi peninsula.

Size of area

85 ha

Block area

29 ha

Inhabitants by 2015

7,000

Jobs by 2010

7,900

Area density

0.67

Density, residential blocks

1.60

Density, commercial blocks

3.40

Residential floor area

260,000 m2

Job floor area

315,000 m2

Helsinki University of Art and Design is located in Arabianranta. In association with Hackman factory complex, it is to form the core for proposed Finnish Industrial Art and Design Centre in the area. Charles Landry (1998: 47) speaks even about an 'Art and Design City', while Michel Hensel, Tom Verebes and Tony Jones (1996: 143) call it as a "Media City". This 'city' would gain its credibility as an innovative centre of art and design by combining the presence of the Art and Design University and Hackman's factory (which by the way manufactures for instance the Arabia cutlery, hence the name of the area) with the reputation of Finland as a country of design. This should attract businesses in the fields of design, arts and media to place themselves to Arabianranta. (Landry 1998: 47-48).

In the near future, Faculty of Science of the University of Helsinki (and the geography department with it) will move to nearby Kumpula area, and city planners have drawn on their maps a 'science-art axis' reaching from the central University campus in the downtown via Kumpula and Arabianranta to Viikki, where the new centre of biosciences is located (see e.g. Arabianranta s.a.: 11). In some other maps the axis reaches from central campus to as far as the Helsinki University of Technology in Otaniemi, Espoo (see e.g. Wartiainen & Favet 1996: 166). The practical object of drawing these axes is probably to enhance the public image of the district under them. In the case of Arabianranta, this is certainly needed to rise the status to the level of future building cost.

Arabianranta will also offer to its future residents an impressive view over Vanhankaupunginlahti bay. On the other side of the bay there is a bird conservation area and further away the fields of Viikki biocentre. This provides the residents an almost rural landscape. On the other hand, the bird colony on the other side of the bay may not be so delighted of its new neighbours. The distance between the conservation area and the built area of Arabianranta will at its closest be only some 400 metres.

Besides residential and commercial blocks, also green space will be created into the area. The so-called shoreline park will fringe the built areas and provide an open seashore. This park is, however, only less than 50 metres wide at its least - and this is where the shoreline is at its closest to the bird conservation area on the other side of the bay. Further south the park is somewhat wider, and will probably enhance the recretional amenities in a large district outlying Arabianranta - althought the area is already used for these purposes.

The name of the area, Arabianranta, means 'Shoreline of Arabia'. The historical reason for the name is the porcelain factory of Arabia still working in the area. The exotic name has been an inspiration for giving the streets of nearby Toukola names after some other exotic-sounding places like India, Sumatra, or Caire.

What will it be like to live in Arabianranta? This question is still open. The construction works are to be finished by 2013, and before that we can only imagine. At present, only fancy brochures and inextricable maps drawn by architects are available. Arabianranta is going to be Helsinki's weapon in the 'war of places', as called by Harri Andersson (1997: 115). In this war cities market themselves and attempt to exceed the others. Helsinki's goal is to gain reputation as an innovative city of art, design and media (see e.g. Landry 1998).

References