Martinlaakso ( sv, Mårtensdal) is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Greater Helsinki, Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa i ...

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 ...

. Located in the

Myyrmäki Myyrmäki ( sv, Myrbacka), literally meaning " Bog Hill", is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. The district has an area of and a population of about 17,000, making it the most populous district in Vantaa. It is ...

major region, it is the second most populous district in all of Vantaa, after Myyrmäki itself. In 2014, Martinlaakso had a population of 11,811, narrowly beating out

Hakunila Hakunila (; sv, Håkansböle, ), is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland, located within the eastern part of the city. The district has a population of 11,238 and a population density of . The district is bordered ...

. Martinlaakso has two railway stations,

Martinlaakso railway station Martinlaakso railway station ( fi, Martinlaakson rautatieasema; sv, Mårtensdals järnvägsstation) is a Helsinki commuter rail station located in Vantaa, Finland. It is approximately north of Helsinki Central railway station. The station is se ...

and

Vantaankoski railway station Vantaankoski railway station ( fi, Vantaankosken rautatieasema, sv, Vandaforsens järnvägsstation) is a Helsinki commuter rail station located in Vantaa, Finland. It is approximately north of the Helsinki Central railway station. The station i ...

, as well as a medical center, several shopping areas, and a comprehensive school (lower level yearsand upper level hree years and an upper secondary school. It is the birthplace of former

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

drivers

Mika Häkkinen Mika Pauli Häkkinen (; born 28 September 1968), nicknamed "The Flying Finn", is a Finnish former racing driver. He won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1998 and 1999, both times driving for McLaren. Häkkinen is one of three For ...

and

Mika Salo Mika Juhani Salo (born 30 November 1966) is a Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One between and . His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999, when he stood in for the injured Michael Schumacher ...

. Current Formula One star

Kimi Räikkönen Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...

also spent a part of his childhood in Martinlaakso. 17-07-01-Martinlaakso-Myyrmäki-Vantaa RR73846

Martinlaakso was the home for Martinkeskus, which was the largest

shopping center A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

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 ...

at the time of its completion in 1960s. Another shopping center in the area is Martinlaakson Ostari, which was completed in 2011.

History

Martinlaakso is situated on the grounds of the former town of Martinkylä, which had existed with a stable population since the 16th century. The name, which was originally only the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

''Mårtensby'', derives from the name Mårten (Martti), who was likely a notable inhabitant or founder of the town. Settlements in the nearby

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 ...

and

Sipoo Sipoo (; sv, Sibbo) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The administrative center of the munic ...

also shared the name ''Mårtensby'', so to avoid confusion, the Vantaa settlement was renamed ''Mårtensdal'' (Martinlaakso), and the Espoo settlement was renamed ''Mårtensbro'' (Martinsilta). The settlement in Sipoo retained its name. In 1975, the extension of the

Helsinki commuter rail Helsinki commuter rail ( fi, Helsingin seudun lähijunaliikenne, sv, Huvudstadsregionens närtrafik) is a commuter rail system serving Greater Helsinki and the surrounding county of Uusimaa. The system is a joint venture between the regional t ...

to western Vantaa was completed, and with it, the

opened. In 1991, the

was also opened in the district, making Martinlaakso the only district in

Greater Helsinki Greater Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin seutu, Suur-Helsinki, Swedish: ''Helsingforsregionen'', ''Storhelsingfors'') is the metropolitan area surrounding Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It includes the smaller Capital Region (''Pääkaupunkiseutu' ...

with two railway stations. Starting July 2015, the

Ring Rail Line The Ring Rail Line ( fi, Kehärata, sv, Ringbanan; formerly ''Marjarata'') is a railway route in the area of the city of Vantaa, in the Greater Helsinki Metropolitan Area of Finland. It connects Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and the adjacent Aviapolis ...

runs through Martinlaakso. It connects the district to

Helsinki Airport Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding Greater Helsinki, metropolitan area, and the ...

and

Tikkurila Tikkurila (; sv, Dickursby) is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. Located in the eastern half of the Helsinki conurbation, some north of the capital's downtown district, it is the administrative and commercial h ...

. There is also a high school in Martinlaakso, named Martinlaakson lukio. The school hosts about 450 students in total and has a focus on the natural sciences and geography, as well as drama and theater.

Economy

The area around the Vantaankoski railway station acts as

business park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typically ...

land, with several companies' headquarters situated there. These include the

Pöyry Pöyry PLC ( fi, Pöyry Oyj), which merged in 2019 with Swedish company ÅF into AFRY, was an international consulting and engineering firm that served clients globally across the energy and industrial sectors and provided local engineering ser ...

consultation firm and the Murata Electronics (formerly VTI Technologies) microelectromechanical engineering firm. Also in the area is the

offset printing Offset printing is a common printing technique in which the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket and then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on t ...

plant Sanomala, which prints the largest

subscription The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century, and ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

in the

, ''

Helsingin Sanomat ''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...

'', as well as Finland's most popular

Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, the fourth most spoken Germanic language and the first among any other of its type in the Nordic countr ...

newspaper, ''

Hufvudstadsbladet ''Hufvudstadsbladet'' (abbr. ''Hbl'') is the highest-circulation Swedish-language newspaper in Finland. Its headquarters is located in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The name of the newspaper translates approximately into "Journal of the Capi ...

''. Martinlaakso has a

, Martinlaakson Ostari.

Notable people

Two

drivers,

and

, were born in Martinlaakso. In addition, current Formula One star

spent a part of his childhood in the district. Other notable people from Martinlaakso include

Vicky Rosti Virve Hannele "Vicky" Rosti (born 10 November 1958, Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish singer of popular music. Her most famous songs include "Kun Chicago kuoli" (the debut single from 1975, a Finnish language cover version of " The Night Chicago Di ...

Jorma Hynninen Jorma Kalervo Hynninen (born 3 April 1941) is a Finnish baritone who performs regularly with the world's major opera companies. He has also worked in opera administration. Hynninen was born on 3 April 1941 in Leppävirta, Finland. He studied fro ...

, and the schlager singer Annikki Tähti.

References

{{Vantaa Districts of Vantaa