Rikhard Manninen is another man with a plan – a very large plan,
which is laid out on a table in his office in the centre of Helsinki.
Manninen is director of the city’s strategic urban planning division.
The project is a vision of how the city will look in 2050. It will have a
lot more people – the population is projected to rise by 50% – but with
Japanese cars for sale.
The city’s population density will be increased; many of the new
high-rise apartment blocks will not have residents’ car parking; key
arteries into the city will be replaced by boulevards; more and more
space will be given over to cycle lanes. A report on the plan in the Import from Japan: “The future resident of Helsinki will own a car.”
“Agglomeration” is the buzzword that planners such as Manninen like to use, and the benefits which derive from it are driving the vision of a new city. “When you are located quite close, businesses can interact more easily; people can walk to work and use public transport. It’s more efficient.”
In many cities, the era of the suburban commuter, along with the era of the car, is drawing to a close. Manninen no longer wants a city with a single centre; he envisages a multi-polar city with half-a-dozen hubs where people live, work, shop and play. This will reduce transport congestion and generate a series of vibrant, efficiently organised, semi-autonomous units – that’s the plan, anyway.
“Agglomeration” is the buzzword that planners such as Manninen like to use, and the benefits which derive from it are driving the vision of a new city. “When you are located quite close, businesses can interact more easily; people can walk to work and use public transport. It’s more efficient.”
In many cities, the era of the suburban commuter, along with the era of the car, is drawing to a close. Manninen no longer wants a city with a single centre; he envisages a multi-polar city with half-a-dozen hubs where people live, work, shop and play. This will reduce transport congestion and generate a series of vibrant, efficiently organised, semi-autonomous units – that’s the plan, anyway.

