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

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 Bot ...

. 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 Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that ...

in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sw ...

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 interagen ...

, 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 ...

( Itäkeskus metro station), whose eastern entrance at the Tallinnanaukio 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 quarter of the Munkkiniemi neighbourhood in Helsinki. The buildings and the plan of site are typical of the late 1950s. Most of the residential buildings in Munkkivuori are within a ...

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 Nurmijärv ...

Westend Westend may refer to: * Westend (Trevilians, Virginia), an historic house in Virginia listed on the NRHP * Westend (Berlin), a locality of Berlin in Germany * Westend (Frankfurt am Main), a borough of Frankfurt am Main in Germany * Westend, Espoo, ...

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, t ...

, 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). Th ...

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, 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 jurisdicti ...

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 and Loisto in Kalasatama and Cirrus in

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 ...

). On the other side of the Itäväylä, opposite Itis, is the another shopping center called

Easton Helsinki Easton Helsinki is a shopping centre in Itäkeskus, Helsinki, Finland. It is connected to the Itis shopping centre through the Hansasilta bridge. Easton Helsinki is built in phases, and its first part was opened on 26 October 2017. There is an opti ...

, 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 For ...

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 HäkkänenElina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen , merger = Finnish Party, Young Finn ...

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 pol ...

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 tea ...

2.6%

References

External links

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

History

Politics

See also

References

External links