STRUCTURE VISION HÄMEENLINNA, FINLAND

In addition to a structure plan, Hämeenlinna decided to make a long-term structure vision that would direct the development of the municipality towards its ambition to be more attractive and sustainable.

The openness of the landscape and the tradition of land ownership have been hollowing out Finnish cities for a long time. The city of Hämeenlinna is no exception. To reverse this trend, a structure and development vision have been elaborated around the themes of urban concentration and renewal. Landscape qualities, a concentration of new living environments around the center and infrastructure are means to revitalize the center, to create urban and suburban living environments, to support the service structure, and to shape the public space in and around the city.

Hämeenlinna is a mid-size historical city at a lakeside, with many parks and forests. It has a compact center that has been built in a grid plan. These qualities will be used to make Hämeenlinna an even more attractive city to live in. The focus for the growth of the city is changed from expanding the city outwards into the surrounding forests, to reusing old industrial plots within the city and intensification around the lakeside and the central service axis. The different landscapes offer a diverse basis for different qualities for living environments.