Itäkeskus ( sv, Östra centrum, literal translation ''East center'') is a ''

quarter A quarter is one-fourth, , 25% or 0.25. Quarter or quarters may refer to: Places * Quarter (urban subdivision), a section or area, usually of a town Placenames * Quarter, South Lanarkshire, a settlement in Scotland * Le Quartier, a settlement ...

'' in the

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural are ...

Vartiokylä Vartiokylä ( sv, Botby) is a neighbourhood in the East Helsinki area of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Its name is derived from the ruins of an eleventh-century fortress on the Linnanvuori hill in Vartioharju, one of Vartiokylä's subdivision ...

(as of the 1980s) in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. The district's main attraction is the largest covered-in

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

Itis The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is an American partnership of federal agencies designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagenc ...

, which make Itäkeskus as the most significant commercial center of

East Helsinki East Helsinki ( fi, Itä-Helsinki, sv, Östra Helsingfors) is an area in Helsinki, Finland, usually thought to comprise the city's eastern and south-eastern major districts (, ), including the districts of Vartiokylä, Myllypuro, Mellunkylä, ...

. The district has a station on the

Helsinki Metro The Helsinki Metro ( fi, Helsingin metro, sv, Helsingfors metro) is a rapid transit system serving Greater Helsinki, Finland. It is the world's northernmost metro system. It was opened to the general public on 2 August 1982 after 27 years of p ...

(

Itäkeskus metro station Itäkeskus metro station (, - "Eastern Center") is a ground-level station on the Helsinki Metro. The station was built on the grounds of the shopping center Itis, and serves the quarter of Itäkeskus in the neighborhood of Vartiokylä in East Hel ...

), whose eastern entrance at the

Tallinnanaukio Tallinnanaukio (literally "Tallinn Square"; sv, Revalsplanen, literally "Reval Square") is a square in the Itäkeskus quarter in Helsinki, Finland. There is direct access from the Tallinnanaukio to the Itis shopping center, and there is also one ...

square leads to the shopping centre. Itäkeskus has the eastern terminus of bus lines 500 and 550; the western terminus of line 500 is

Munkkivuori Munkkivuori ( sv, Munkshöjden, literally 'Monk Mountain') is a Subdivisions of Helsinki#Neighbourhoods, quarter of the Munkkiniemi neighbourhood in Helsinki. The buildings and the plan of site are typical of the late 1950s. Most of the residential ...

and line 550 is

Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

's Westend bus station. Construction of the

Jokeri light rail Jokeri light rail ( fi, Raide-Jokeri, sv, Spårjokern) is an under-construction light rail line which began construction in June 2019, which will serve the Finnish cities of Helsinki and Espoo. The line will replace the current bus line 550, th ...

, which replaces bus line 550, began in 2019 and traffic is scheduled to begin in 2024. The most important road connection to the Helsinki central from Itäkeskus runs along

Itäväylä Itäväylä (the Eastern Highway, Swedish: Österleden) is a motorway-like road in the Greater Helsinki area of Finland, mainly in the Helsinki conurbation. It is part of the Finnish regional road 170 ( fi, Seututie 170, sv, Regionalväg 170). T ...

At the end of 2018, 38.1 per cent of Itäkeskus' residents had a foreign background.Helsingin koko väestö ja ulkomaalaistaustaiset taustamaanosan mukaan osa-alueittain 1.1.2019
(in Finland) About 12 percent of the residents had an African background, which was the largest share of all areas in Helsinki. At the end of 2020, the share of foreign language speakers is 41.2 per cent in Itäkeskus.

History

Itäkeskus has been built since the 1970s. The old

K-Citymarket sv, Kesko Abp , logo = Kesko logo.svg , logo_size = 150px , type = Julkinen osakeyhtiö , traded_as = , foundation = , location_city = Helsinki , location_country = Finland , key_people = Mikko Helander (President and CEO), Esa Kii ...

, which operated there, opened its doors on March 31, 1977, and its 67,246 m³ hall could accommodate a 6,500 m² store. The Itäkeskus swimming hall was built in 1993.

Maamerkki Maamerkki (Finnish for "landmark") is a high-rise building on Kauppakartanonkatu street near the Lyypekinaukio square in Itäkeskus in the Vartiokylä district of Helsinki, Finland. The building is 82 metres high and has 19 floors. There is a vie ...

, a

high-rise building A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdictio ...

located on the Kauppakartanonkatu street near the Lyypekinaukio square in Itäkeskus, was completed in 1987. Today, it is the seventh highest high-rise building in Finland and the fourth highest in Helsinki (after

Majakka Majakka (; ) is a high-rise building in Kalasatama, Helsinki. The tower is tall, making it the tallest building in Finland. It is divided into 35 floors, and contains 283 residences. The 5th floor has a garden open to the public. The tower is c ...

and Loisto in

Kalasatama Kalasatama ( sv, Fiskehamnen; literally translated "fish port") is a neighbourhood in the city of Helsinki, Finland. The area is officially part of the Sörnäinen district; and like Sörnäinen, Kalasatama is located a little more than one kilomet ...

and

Cirrus Cirrus may refer to: Science *Cirrus (biology), any of various thin, thread-like structures on the body of an animal *Cirrus (botany), a tendril * Infrared cirrus, in astronomy, filamentary structures seen in infrared light *Cirrus cloud, a typ ...

Vuosaari Vuosaari ( sv, Nordsjö) is a neighbourhood in the City of Helsinki, Finland. It is located by the sea in East Helsinki and with its area of is geographically the largest district in the city. It also has two Helsinki Metro stations, Rastila a ...

). On the other side of the Itäväylä, opposite Itis, is the another shopping center called Easton Helsinki, which was completed in October 2017.Itä-Helsingin uusi keskus harjakorkeudessa – nimeksi Easton Helsinki
7 November 2016. Accessed on 21 November 2016.

Politics

Results of the

2011 Finnish parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 17 April 2011 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Advance voting, which included voting by Finnish expatriates, was held between 6 and 12 April with a turnout of 31.2%. The ...

in Itäkeskus: *

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

22.2% *

True Finns The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns ( fi, Perussuomalaiset, PS, sv, Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The ...

19.9% *

National Coalition Party sv, Samlingspartiet , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Petteri Orpo , leader2_title = Deputy chairs , leader2_name = Antti Häkkänen Elina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen , merger = Finnish Party, Young Finnis ...

17.7% *

Green League The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the polit ...

14.3% * Left Alliance 10.8% * Centre Party 5.0% *

Swedish People's Party The Swedish People's Party of Finland ( sv, Svenska folkpartiet i Finland (SFP); fi, Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (RKP)) is a political party in Finland aiming to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finlan ...

4.7% *

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...

2.6%

References

External links

Itäkeskus , My Helsinki
(in English) Quarters of Helsinki {{SouthernFinland-geo-stub

History

Politics

See also

References

External links