 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "East Helsinki" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
.JPG)
East Helsinki (Finnish:Itä-Helsinki,Swedish:Östra Helsingfors) is an area inHelsinki,Finland, usually thought to comprise the city's eastern and south-eastern major districts (Finnish:suurpiiri,Swedish:stordistrikt), including the districts ofVartiokylä,Myllypuro,Mellunkylä,Vuosaari,Herttoniemi,Laajasalo andKulosaari. With the exception of Kulosaari, the buildings in the area are relatively new – most have been built in the 1960s or later – and constitute relatively densely inhabited suburbs, except for the southern part of Laajasalo and most of Kulosaari. On the other side of the bridge to the west of Kulosaari isHelsinki Downtown (Finnish:Helsingin kantakaupunki,Swedish:Helsingfors innerstad), the so-called "South Helsinki". Officially, the name "East Helsinki" is not found in the city's regional nomenclature, but it was a name created by the locals of the area.[1]
East Helsinki has had problems with unemployment and poverty, andimmigrants andrefugees are somewhat concentrated in the area'ssubsidised housing and city-owned apartments.Drug dealing is relatively common in East Helsinki.[2] This has led to a popular conception of East Helsinki as a problem-ridden area.[3]Kontula, quarter of theMellunkylä district, has generally been considered one of the most notorious ghettos in particular.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
Public transport in East Helsinki is organised mainly through theHelsinki Metro, most of whose stops are located in the area, and feeder bus lines. The most important road connection to the city central from East Helsinki with car or bus runs alongItäväylä ("Eastern Highway"). One of Finland's largestshopping centres,Itis,[10] is located nearItäkeskus, the geographical centre of East Helsinki, and many public and commercial services for the area are concentrated there.
A major change took place in the area's infrastructure upon the completion of thePort of Vuosaari. Most of the existing port facilities in Helsinki were moved to the new seaport, which created increased economic activity in East Helsinki as well as released new areas for development in other parts of the city. As a logistics area, the Port of Vuosaari employs about 2,000 people, and through it, for example,bananas coming to Finland (about 5,000 containers a year), pass through the port to the main warehouses of the grocery stores.[11]
As of 2022[update], the eastern and south-eastern major districts of Helsinki have a combined population of about 170,000, the two largest single districts beingMellunkylä with a population of 39,749 andVuosaari with a population of 38,657.[11] 10.2% of the major districts' population is of foreign origin, which is more than anywhere else in Helsinki. 84.9% of the population of East Helsinki speakFinnish as their native language. 5.4% speakSwedish, while 9.7% have another language as their mother tongue.[12] The most common languages after Finnish and Swedish areRussian,Estonian,Somali andEnglish.[13] All that makes East Helsinki the mostmulticultural area of the capital region.[11]
The eastern major district has anunemployment rate of about 12%, more than any other major district in Helsinki, while the south-eastern major district's rate was closer to average at about 9%. Approximately one out of every ten people in East Helsinki receivessocial welfare payments from the Finnish state. In Mellunkylä, where the situation is the most problematic, the figure is 14.9%. (For comparison, the figure forLauttasaari inWest Helsinki is only 3.8%.)[12]
| District | Population | Area (km2) | Density (per km2) | Unempl. rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herttoniemi(Hertonäs) | 26,333 | 6.79 | 3,873 | 10.8% |
| Kulosaari(Brändö) | 3,791 | 2.47 | 1,535 | 5.7% |
| Laajasalo(Degerö) | 16,486 | 16.55 | 995 | 7.8% |
| Mellunkylä(Mellungsby) | 36,360 | 9.9 | 3,673 | 13.6% |
| Myllypuro(Kvarnbäcken) | 9,189 | 2.19 | 4,196 | 14.3% |
| Vartiokylä(Botby) | 21,214 | 7.84 | 2,662 | 10.9% |
| Vuosaari(Nordsjö) | 31,948 | 15.38 | 2,077 | 11.7% |
ManyFinnish hip hop artists such asIso H,Steen1 andAsa, come from East Helsinki. Some of them, especially Asa, employ very political themes in their music, focusing on the problems of the Finnish capital's eastern suburbs.[14]
TheRoihuvuori water tower, built in the 1970s, which is visible from most parts of East Helsinki, has become somewhat of a symbol for the area. It is used as a common device in Finnish films and TV series to signify that the events are set in East Helsinki.[according to whom?]
East Helsinki is home to a number of sports clubs. Inassociation football, the most renowned clubs areFC Kontu from Kontula andFC Viikingit from Vuosaari. Kontu is known for its remarkable run between 1981 and 1986 when, under the management ofAntti Muurinen, the club climbed from the 5th tier of Finnish football to the qualifying playoff for theMestaruussarja in just six seasons. Viikingit became the first club from East Helsinki to play in the men's premiership when they competed in the 2007 season ofVeikkausliiga. In women's footballPuotinkylän Valtti is a two-time Finnish champion, Kontu won one championship, andHerttoniemen Toverit won the women's cup twice.[15]Laajasalon Palloseura is a neighbourhood club representingLaajasalo. They organize youth football for boys and girls and also have first teams for men and women.[16]
Other sports clubs includePesäpallo, women's league team Roihu fromRoihuvuori, and the oldest FinnishAmerican football club and six-time Finnish champion, theEast City Giants, founded in 1979.[17] Rugby Union clubs Warriors RC and Helsinki RUFC play in Myllypuro sports park.
In Myllypuro sports park are baseball and rugby grounds as well as indoor grounds for football, futsal, basketball, and floorball.
East Helsinki travel guide from Wikivoyage
| Southern Eteläinen Södra |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Western Läntinen Västra | ||
| Central Keskinen Mellersta | ||
| Northern Pohjoinen Norra | ||
| Northeastern Koillinen Nordöstra | ||
| Southeastern Kaakkoinen Sydöstra | ||
| Eastern Itäinen Östra | ||
| Östersundom Östersundomin Östersundoms | ||