Vallila () is a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, the capital of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Vallila is a central-northern neighbourhood, bordered by

Pasila Pasila (; , ) is a part of Helsinki, Finland, that is both a central-northern Subdivisions of Helsinki, neighbourhood and district, bordering the areas of Alppila to the south, the Central Park (Keskuspuisto) to the west, and Vallila to the east ...

to the west and Alppiharju to the south. Like Kallio, Vallila is mostly residential and has a reputation of being a working-class neighbourhood. In the past two decades people from artistic professions have found the area. Vallila though still retains its roots from 1910s to 1980s by being one of the rare neighbourhoods which still has an industrial area and abundant amount of workshop businesses. Because of gentrification Vallila is nowadays considered a trendy area in Helsinki (like

Kallio Kallio (; ; literally " the rock") is a district and a neighbourhood in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, located on the eastern side of the Helsinki peninsula about one kilometre north from the city centre. It is one of the most densely pop ...

) among young adults and housing is expensive, particularly in Puu-Vallila. Several major companies, such as

S Group The S Group (, ) is a Finnish retailing cooperative organisation with its head office in Helsinki. Founded in 1904, it consists of 19 regional cooperatives operating all around Finland in addition to SOK, ''Suomen Osuuskauppojen Keskuskunta'' ...

, Telia Finland,

OP Financial Group OP Financial Group is one of the largest financial companies in Finland. It consists of 180 cooperative banks and their central organization. "OP" stands for "osuuspankki" in Finnish, literally meaning "cooperative bank". The financial group has ...

and

Nordea Nordea Bank Abp, commonly referred to as Nordea, is a Nordic financial services group operating in northern Europe with headquarters in Helsinki, Finland. The name is a blend of the words "Nordic" and "idea". The Nordic countries are considered ...

, have their headquarters in Vallila. Vallila is famous for its many old

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

en houses dating back to the 1900s–1920s, which are spread over many blocks. Many buildings by the main streets are fine examples of

Nordic Classicism Nordic Classicism was a Architectural style, style of architecture that briefly blossomed in the Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland) between 1910 and 1930. The style was also known as Swedish Grace architecture in Sweden. Until ...

from the 1920s–1930s. It is located closest to the city center of all the wooden-house residential areas in Helsinki. This area is called Puu-Vallila (Wooden Vallila). Puu-Vallila was built 1910, while the rest of Vallila was built in the 1920s and 1930s. Before this Vallila was a villa area for wealthy people living in Helsinki centre. Perhaps the most famous scene in Vallila is the small flea market square featured in

Aki Kaurismäki Aki Olavi Kaurismäki (; born 4 April 1957) is a Finnish film director and screenwriter. He is best known for the award-winning '' Drifting Clouds'' (1996), '' The Man Without a Past'' (2002), ''Le Havre'' (2011), '' The Other Side of Hope'' (201 ...

's film '' The Man Without a Past''.

Ville Valo Ville Hermanni Valo (; born 22 November 1976) is a Finnish singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the gothic rock band HIM (Finnish band), HIM. Born and raised in Helsinki to a Hungarian mother and Finnish fa ...

, lead singer for the Finnish band HIM, was born in Vallila. Vallila is also the name of a basic city administrative district. It includes both Vallila and Hermanni neighbourhoods and has 16,851 inhabitants. Vallila itself has 10,462 inhabitants (31.12.2020).

References

External links

File:Saint Paul Church over Sammatintie in Vallila, Helsinki, Finland, 2021 July.jpg, St. Paul Church File:Vallila Hermanni Kumpula and Arabia.jpg, Aerial view of Vallila (with parts of Hermanni, Kumpula and Toukola on the background) File:Wooden Vallila houses2 2005-29-08.jpg, Wooden Vallila File:Wooden Vallila houses5 2005-29-08.jpg, Wooden Vallila File:Wooden_Vallila_houses1_2005-29-08.jpg, Wooden Vallila File:Vallilantie-Suvannontie-2007.jpg, Vallilantie File:Hauhontie6.jpg, Buildings on Hauhontie, designed by Martti Välikangas and dating from 1924–25. File:Vallilan siirtolapuutarha toukokuussa 2010.jpg, Allotment gardens in the northernmost part of Vallila. Kumpula Campus in the background. File:Paavalin kirkko, Helsinki.jpg, Saint Paul Church (''Paavalinkirkko'') and roofs of Vallila seen from the north. {{SouthernFinland-geo-stub