A Review of Urban Planning in Tallinn, Estonia: Post-Soviet Planning Initiatives in Historic and Cultural Context

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.