Espoo Master Plan 2060 aims at sustainable growth

The population of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area is growing. Espoo Master Plan 2060 is a citywide general plan that is used to agree on the direction of the City’s growth and the key questions in land use.  

The master plan directs transport, mobility and the placement of housing, services, workplaces and recreational areas.

“With the plan, we can ensure that all districts in the City develop in a balanced manner, while the City also remains functional as a whole,” says Olli Isotalo, Deputy Mayor for Urban Environment.  

 A municipality is legally bound to direct land use and keep its master planning updated. At the moment, Espoo has several master plans that form an inconsistent whole. Most of Espoo’s area is covered by recent partial master plans, such as the partial master plans for the metro corridors and the master plan for the northern and central areas of Espoo, which is still pending.  

The partial master plans will now be compiled into a consistent and up-to-date full master plan. The master plan does not directly affect construction in the City in itself; instead it steers the detailed planning.   

The master plan is prepared through wide cooperation  

The preparation of Espoo’s master plan will start when the initiation of the planning is announced on 15 June 2022. The preparation process is expected to last until 2027. The City Board will set objectives for the master plan at the turn of 2022 and 2023. The party responsible for the preparation of the master plan is the City Planning Department. 

The master planning requires diverse knowledge and views. The planners will acquire information from experts in different fields, residents and other stakeholders. The planners will also attempt to reconcile differing views as far as possible and prepare a proposal for the decision-makers.

Dialogue on Espoo’s future  

Residents, NGOs, companies and other Espoo-based parties will be provided with opportunities to participate in the preparation of the master plan. In spring 2022, the city’s future was discussed in the Our Espoo 20X0 events, which were organised in different parts of the city. These discussions were documented and will be used by master planners as background information in the preparation of the objectives of the master plan for decision-makers. The objectives will also be publicly discussed during autumn 2022 before any decisions are made. 

If the City Board decides on Monday to initiate the master plan, the planning process will be initiated on 15 June 2022.