The safety oriented detailed city plan of the Muotiala Area, City of Tampere, Finland

The area: A new residential district comprising 46 hectares will be built in the fields of Muotiala and Hurinki. When completed, the area will have around 2000 residents and basic services for them. The basic identity of the area will be based on the existing cultural landscape, its basic features and a building process with safety as a central goal.

Safety: The goal of building Muotiala is the development of a safe residential environment. Muotiala has the first detailed town plan in Finland that includes a clear set of safety oriented rules and regulations.

The Muotiala plan includes the following points of view:
    • a sense of community, interaction
    • deploying and articulating activities in space, a positive areal identity
    • a mosaic town functions, a feeling of being at home, quality of life
    • mixing of different activities
    • a pedestrian’s scale
    • clarity of spatial hierarchies

The regulations on methods of construction and safety for the area as well as the conditions for the assignment of construction plots require that the goals be met.

Implementation: The detailed plan for Muotiala was prepared in two stages, the first part was adopted in August 2002 and the second part in March 2004. The first part of the plan has been finished to a large extent, but only a small proportion of the second plan has been realized by today.

According to the research published in 2008 the project has been succesful. (See Broberg et al 2008.)  The results indicates that the residents in Muotiala area are of the opinion that the area is safe and the public spaces are well used. Feelings of social unsafety is very low among the residents of Muotiala area.

Contact:
Sakari Leinonen
City Planning Services, City of Tampere

The project started in 2002 and is still running.
Last review: October 2017.