We are now looking for the favourite spots of Helsinki residents via an online survey that is part of the City’s cultural environment programme

Helsinki has a rich architectural heritage, and cultural environments from different eras are our shared treasure. One of the duties of the City Museum is to make sure that buildings of different ages and distinct districts are preserved for posterity. The cultural environment programme details how the valuable cultural environments are to be taken into consideration and preserved, and also utilised as a resource as the city grows and becomes denser.

Cultural environments can be utilised in operations such as developing the image of a city district, promoting residents’ independent activities and cultural environment education. The programme aims to create an urban planning tool that can be used to reduce antagonism and increase mutual understanding. The work is also being carried out with residents by surveying their relationship with the cultural environments of Helsinki, and by sparking interest in the use, maintenance and preservation of people’s own residential areas and Helsinki in general.

Looking for Helsinki residents’ favourite spots through an online survey

Helsinki City Museum is now inviting city residents to participate in planning the City of Helsinki’s cultural environment programme. The Museum has opened an online survey, Helsinki Treasures, and is asking the public to share what they consider valuable cultural environment in their local area. You can share your favourite spots in Helsinki on the Museum’s website at helsinginkaupunginmuseo.fi. The survey will remain open 1 June–31 August 2021.

“The importance of local environment has been highlighted in these exceptional circumstances. People have a great yearning for meaningful experiences, which they can also find in cultural environments. People now see urban environments and landscapes with a new set of eyes while also gaining more interest in their history. At the Museum, this has been evident in aspects such as a clear increase in the demand for information services related to how Helsinki has been built. Independent district tours and architecture walks, as well as bike trips to interesting nature sites, have increased people’s appreciation for cultural environments, and people are also proud of their home region alongside the versatile and temporally multi-layered cultural environments of Helsinki,” says Project Manager Sari Saresto.

“I cherish the various layers of history in my local environment. The sympathetic traditional street kiosks with protruding overhangs are one of my own favourite spots, enriching the use of urban space. I also enjoy urban landscapes that live in the moment as seasons turn and hours change. For example, I always pause at my workplace on Katariinankatu to admire the different tones of the city,” says Museum Director Reetta Heiskanen.