Weaving urban fabrics

Hyvinkää is part of the Greater Helsinki area with excellent traffic and logistic connections to many directions. Hyvinkää was born when the rail line was first built in the 1850’s. The location on the Salpausselkä ridge with it’s pure groundwater reserves was the foundation for growing industry. Sanatoriums and winter tourism became popular thanks to the quality of fresh air and pine forests. Since then Hyvinkää has grown into a lively city, still carrying the past tension between industry, high culture and nature.

Hyvinkää city center is located on two sides of the main rail line of Finland. On the east side there’s a new shopping quarter, housing and administrational, recreational and cultural services embedded in old industrial buildings. The western side is less defined and lacks character. Many of the buildings are outdated and need an architectural and functional upgrade. There are also traffic challenges in the area; bridges over rail lines, busy traffic arteries, oversized intersections, a bus station and large open parking areas. The objective is to create an urban concept for the project area with various functions including productive uses. The different sides of the rail line should also be better connected to one another.

Implementation process

The competition is organized by the City of Hyvinkää in collaboration with Europan Finland. The intention of the city is to give a commission to the winner/s at the level of urban planning. The commission will be to develop the ideas of the competition proposal further and to work with the municipality and the local residents to build a new identity for the area. The city will make a detailed plan for the area based on the competition results.