East Helsinki
Encyclopedia
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, usually thought to comprise the city's eastern and south-eastern major districts (suurpiiri in Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, stordistrikt in Swedish
Finland-Swedish
Finland Swedish is a general term for the closely related cluster of dialects of Swedish spoken in Finland by Swedish-speaking Finns as their mother tongue...
), including the districts of Vartiokylä
Vartiokylä
Vartiokylä is a neighbourhood in eastern Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Its name is derived from the ruins of an eleventh century fortress on the Linnanvuori hill in Vartioharju, one of Vartiokylä's subdivisions. The working population of Helsinki started building their houses in the area after...
, Myllypuro
Myllypuro
Myllypuro , Kvarnbäcken is an eastern neighborhood of Helsinki, Finland....
, Mellunkylä
Mellunkylä
Mellunkylä is a neighbourhood in East Helsinki, Finland.The area of Mellunkylä is 9,9 km2 and it has population of 36,360 .There are five suburbs in Mellunkylä:*Kontula *Vesala *Mellunmäki *Kivikko...
, Vuosaari
Vuosaari
Vuosaari is a neighbourhood in the City of Helsinki, Finland. It is located by the sea in East Helsinki, and with its area of 15.38 km² is geographically the largest district in the city. It also has two Helsinki Metro stations, Rastila and Vuosaari...
, Herttoniemi
Herttoniemi
Herttoniemi is a neighbourhood and a suburb of Helsinki, the Finnish capital. It is located about 7 km east of the city centre and can be easily reached by metro in 10 minutes. It has an older northern suburb and a newer coastal suburb with ferry connections to the city centre...
, Laajasalo
Laajasalo
Laajasalo is a group of islands that forms a neighbourhood in southern Helsinki, the capital of Finland. As of 2005, it had a population of 16,486....
and Kulosaari
Kulosaari
Kulosaari is an island and a suburb in Helsinki, Finland. It is also the 42nd neighbourhood of the city. Construction of villas on the island started in the beginning of the 20th century, and a bridge from Sörnäinen was opened in 1919...
. With the exception of Kulosaari, the buildings in the area are relatively new (most have been built in the 1960s or later) and constitute relatively densely inhabited suburbs (except the southern part of Laajasalo and most of Kulosaari).
East Helsinki has had problems with unemployment and poverty, and immigrants
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
and refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s are somewhat concentrated in the area's subsidised housing and city-owned apartments. This has led to a popular conception of East Helsinki as a problem-ridden area, which is not necessarily true.
Public transport in East Helsinki is organised mainly through the Helsinki Metro
Helsinki Metro
The Helsinki Metro , is the metro system in Helsinki, Finland. It is the World's most northern metro system, and currently the only one in Finland. The system was opened to the general public on 2 August 1982 after 27 years of planning...
, most of whose stops are located in the area, and feeder bus lines. Scandinavia's largest shopping centre, Itäkeskus
Itäkeskus shopping centre
Itäkeskus shopping centre is a shopping centre in the district of Itäkeskus in East Helsinki, Finland. It is the largest fully enclosed shopping centre in the Nordic countries, with a gross leasable area of 120,300 square metres containing nearly 300 different shops and 3000 parking spaces...
('eastern centre'), is located near the geographical centre of East Helsinki, and many public and commercial services for the area are concentrated there.
A major change will take place in the area's infrastructure upon the completion of the Port of Vuosaari, which is expected to finish in 2008. Most of the existing port facilities in Helsinki will be moved to the new seaport, which will create increased economic activity in East Helsinki as well as release new areas for development in other parts of the city.
Demographics
, the eastern and south-eastern major districts of Helsinki have a combined population of 145,321, the largest single district being MellunkyläMellunkylä
Mellunkylä is a neighbourhood in East Helsinki, Finland.The area of Mellunkylä is 9,9 km2 and it has population of 36,360 .There are five suburbs in Mellunkylä:*Kontula *Vesala *Mellunmäki *Kivikko...
with a population of 36,360. 10.2% of the major districts' population is of foreign origin, which is more than anywhere else in Helsinki. 84.9% of the population of East Helsinki speak Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
as their native language. 5.4% speak Swedish
Finland-Swedish
Finland Swedish is a general term for the closely related cluster of dialects of Swedish spoken in Finland by Swedish-speaking Finns as their mother tongue...
, while 9.7% have another language as their mother tongue. The most common languages after Finnish and Swedish are Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, Estonian
Estonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
, Somali
Somali language
The Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
The eastern major district has an unemployment rate of about 12%, more than any other major district in Helsinki, while the south-eastern major district's rate was closer to average at about 9%. Approximately one out of every ten people in East Helsinki receives social welfare payments from the Finnish state. In Mellunkylä, where the situation is the most problematic, the figure is 14.9%. (For comparison, the figure for Lauttasaari
Lauttasaari
Lauttasaari is an island and neighbourhood of Western Helsinki , about 3 kilometres west of the city centre....
in West Helsinki is only 3.8%.)
Districts
| District | Population | Area (km²) | Density (per km²) | Unempl. rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herttoniemi Herttoniemi Herttoniemi is a neighbourhood and a suburb of Helsinki, the Finnish capital. It is located about 7 km east of the city centre and can be easily reached by metro in 10 minutes. It has an older northern suburb and a newer coastal suburb with ferry connections to the city centre... (Hertonäs) |
26,333 | 6.79 | 3,873 | 10.8% |
| Kulosaari Kulosaari Kulosaari is an island and a suburb in Helsinki, Finland. It is also the 42nd neighbourhood of the city. Construction of villas on the island started in the beginning of the 20th century, and a bridge from Sörnäinen was opened in 1919... (Brändö) |
3,791 | 2.47 | 1,535 | 5.7% |
| Laajasalo Laajasalo Laajasalo is a group of islands that forms a neighbourhood in southern Helsinki, the capital of Finland. As of 2005, it had a population of 16,486.... (Degerö) |
16,486 | 16.55 | 995 | 7.8% |
| Mellunkylä Mellunkylä Mellunkylä is a neighbourhood in East Helsinki, Finland.The area of Mellunkylä is 9,9 km2 and it has population of 36,360 .There are five suburbs in Mellunkylä:*Kontula *Vesala *Mellunmäki *Kivikko... (Mellungsby) |
36,360 | 9.9 | 3,673 | 13.6% |
| Myllypuro Myllypuro Myllypuro , Kvarnbäcken is an eastern neighborhood of Helsinki, Finland.... (Kvarnbäcken) |
9,189 | 2.19 | 4,196 | 14.3% |
| Vartiokylä Vartiokylä Vartiokylä is a neighbourhood in eastern Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Its name is derived from the ruins of an eleventh century fortress on the Linnanvuori hill in Vartioharju, one of Vartiokylä's subdivisions. The working population of Helsinki started building their houses in the area after... (Botby) |
21,214 | 7.84 | 2,662 | 10.9% |
| Vuosaari Vuosaari Vuosaari is a neighbourhood in the City of Helsinki, Finland. It is located by the sea in East Helsinki, and with its area of 15.38 km² is geographically the largest district in the city. It also has two Helsinki Metro stations, Rastila and Vuosaari... (Nordsjö) |
31,948 | 15.38 | 2,077 | 11.7% |
East Helsinki in popular culture
Many Finnish hip hopFinnish hip hop
Finnish hip hop or rap is a variant of hip hop music from Finland. The rapping is mainly done in Finnish. Many rappers use Helsinki slang words, general slang and Finnish dialects are used too by some artists. Many early rappers used English language...
artists and groups, such as Iso H
Iso H
Iso H , born on January 1979 in Helsinki, is a Finnish rap musician. Together with his colleague Elastinen, he forms the Finnish rap band Fintelligens.-Discography:Fintelligens albums* Renesanssi...
, Steen1
Steen1
Steen1 is a Finnish rap musician. He originally chose the name Steen Christensen, after the Danish criminal who shot two Finnish policemen in 1997, as his moniker, but changed it due to controversy.In 2004 Steen1 released his debut album entitled Salaliittoteoria...
and Notkea Rotta
Notkea Rotta
Notkea Rotta is a Finnish rap group consisting of members Notkea Rotta , Rautaperse , Komisario Jyrkkä and Meno-Anu . The group mixes humour and comedy in their brand of hip hop, crafting original rap saga of the underground culture in the east side of Helsinki...
, come from East Helsinki. Some of them, especially Steen1, employ very political themes in their music, focusing on the problems of the Finnish capital's eastern suburbs.
The Roihuvuori water tower, built in the 1970s, which is visible from most parts of East Helsinki, has become somewhat of a symbol for the area. It is used as a common device in Finnish films and TV series to signify that the events are set in East Helsinki.