City of Tallinn

The City and its environment

The Estonian capital is economically fast developing and shaking off many remnants of the Soviet period. Being the national capital, most foreign investment goes to Tallinn and ”modern lifestyles” are obviously conquering the every day lives of the younger generation. At the same time, the city is feeling the difficulties of modernisation. Many simple qualifications in demand in Soviet times for the heavy industry and building are not requested any more and structural unemployment as well as social segregation, often with an ethnic inclination, become visible in and between the 8 self governing districts. Economic restructuring concentrates on trade, services and knowledge orientation. The historic Hansa city is an important asset to international tourism as a factor of wealth creation, mostly from the Nordic countries.

A large minority of ethnic non Estonians immigrated to Tallinn, mostly after 1960 and today preventing increasing segregation and integrating the large group of inhabitants without an Estonian nationality is becoming an important question for the future development of the city. During the last decade, the city has lost 12 percent of its population mainly due to emigration to Russia, but also to western countries and the countryside.

Housing situation and large housing estates

Today the housing stock of the city consists of app. 27 percent pre 1945, 21 percent from the period before the 1960s and 52 percent built between 1960 and 1997. While older parts of the city were neglected during the Soviet period - with the exemption of the preserved historic core - new housing was built in small scale estates during the 1950s and 60s which were easily integrated into the urban fabric. Since the 1960s building for the growing Estonian population as well as for immigrating workers for the growing Soviet style industry concentrated on large prefabricated housing estates at a considerable distance from the traditional settlement areas. Mustamáe, planned for 100.000 inhabitants was followed by Oismáe at half this size and Lasnamáe, planned for 200.000 though never finished, was the latest and largest estate. This largest and least favoured estate houses over 115.000 people, often immigrants of the 1980s. But all the time, small scale single family developments covering app. 10 percent of the housing stock also were possible.

Today, building and renovation concentrates on the inner city and the outskirts. But after widespread repair to heating and insulation, some model projects for the renovation of panel buildings have emerged as well as renovated serviced housing in panel buildings for the elderly and disabled.

Problems and areas requiring action

• quality and technical infrastructure of the 1960s to 80s buildings; maintenance problems.
• formation of housing and flat-owner’s associations and as a prerequisite, legal reform of the land status; formation of plots and the transformation of land into real-estate.
• social and ethnic differentiation parallel to different value structures segregates ”active” from ”passive” zones.
• management of housing and maintenance; lack of models of local self management.

Actors and activities

Local self government and the public housing administrations on district level are still the main actors as co-ordinated action is only developing to a very limited degree. But some emerging owner associations as well as reformed co-operatives are beginning to take on loans especially for heating renovation. But while some areas are clearly neglected, self organised maintenance and the care for the public space is clearly improving housing quality in other regions.

”Mustamáe” Estate

The estate was built in accordance with Finnish and east German examples beginning in the 1960s and is thus the eldest of Tallinn's large estates. Housing complexes line up along Tallinn's radial road system and form distinguishable quarters. A university compound was built next to an - unfinished - centre and some knowledge based industry exists. The area has a good reputation in contrast to the other new estates and younger families are slowly replacing the ageing first generation who moved here in the 60s and 70s. The population seen as the asset to the future and is actively encouraged to settle ”for good”. Some smaller centres are being modernised and serving commerce and leisure.

Physical and ecological situation

• public space is mostly well kept and the asset of the adjoining woods and recreation areas is seen as a quality in itself.
• traffic is car oriented but the public transport net is still tightly knit.
• though the heating systems are under repair, new types of heating and better insulation is needed to keep service cost bearable.

Problems

• technical condition of structural parts of building (roofs, piping)
• demand on assistance for the formation of self managing owner's associations with economic and legal competence
• small incomes and rent arrears hinder the use of credit funds available for private owners
• social segregation in more distant parts of the estate though still in an insignificant number
• opening opportunities for integration of app. 1/3 of the population with uncertain legal citizen status
• conversion of unused or mal-used buildings in order to prevent spatial corers of social problems

Strategies

• the active municipal council and the local housing administration furthers a quality development of the district based on the natural assets and the favourable social composition
• rehabilitation of buildings is starting on a model (1994-95 renovation of four buildings as a first stage; followed by 10 Buildings 1996-97) basis and former hostels are converted into special ”social housing” for disabled and elderly people
• developing technical and financial proposals for the housing fund
• use of local and foreign funds and assistance for the modernisation of the technical infrastructure
• the district is planned to keep the ”Estonian” and middle class atmosphere which it had in Soviet times through quality development, stressing the difference in contrast to other large estates

Source: EA.UE: A future for large housing estates, Berlin 1998

Bratislava Bucharest Budapest Katowice Kaunas Klaipeda Ljubljana Lublin Prague Riga Sofia Tallinn Tartu Warsaw