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| Title: | A Review of Urban Planning in Tallinn, Estonia: Post-Soviet Planning Initiatives in Historic and Cultural Context |
| Authors: | Haas, Vaike |
| Issue Date: | 1-Aug-2006 |
| Abstract: | Tallinn, Estonia features one of the best-preserved old towns in Europe. The central
part of the city, which dates in part back to the 13th century, has drawn millions
of tourists each year since the 1990s. In 2004, 6.7 million passengers passed
through Tallinn’s ports. A short (80-km) ferry ride from Helsinki, Tallinn’s location
-- at the crossroads of east-west and north-south trading routes -- has made it highly
contested territory since the Crusades.
During the twentieth century, Tallinn was subject to interludes of Russian/Soviet and
German rule. Since the restoration of Estonia’s independence in 1991, economic
and political changes have been rapid. A parliamentary democracy, Estonia in 1998
earned the title of “Europe’s purest free market economy”. Estonia joined the
European Union on 1 May 2004, and, in the words of one official, now aspires to
be “just another boring Nordic country.” Estonia identifies strongly with Scandinavia
because of close cultural, linguistic, and economic ties with Finland, and historical
links with Sweden and Denmark.
The Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen proposed a city plan for 1913 Tallinn, which
exerted a hidden influence during the 50 years of Soviet occupation. Soviet-era
migrants were accommodated in housing blocks which appear austere today.
Estonians, in contrast, found it difficult to find housing, which may have contributed
to the rapid decline of their birth rate. Russian and Estonian districts still remain
largely separated, in effect making Tallinn “one city, two towns.” With a population
of 430,000, the city continues to confront the problem of integrating its Russian
population, along with challenges of intense tourism, privatization of property,
increased demands for housing, and the restructuring of open-space planning.
Rapid economic and cultural changes have shaped planning priorities and progress
in Tallinn, and have left the city with a physical imprint of its history -- and likely future. |
| Appears in Collections: | Natural Resources and Environment, School of (SNRE)
Dissertations and Theses (Ph.D. and Master's)
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