Yesterday, 08.05.2012 Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta voted 4-5 against a proposal of once again re-planning Meri-Rastila, and therefore adopting into their prime strategy for Meri-Rastila the ideas given by the OURCity Alternative Master-Plan.
Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta instead decided to proceed with the plans set out by KSV, AND to investigate the possibilities of in-fill according to our proposal.
In many ways I feel that we have achieved alot, considering the difficult circumstances and the amount of time we have had. I also feel that the city is missing a prime opportunity to design a part of the city according to the unique needs of and in direct cooperation with the residents who live there. I also feel that once again the city is destroying one of the key elements within its boarders that makes Helsinki unique, its natural green/forested areas, and instead have decided to take the easy path, of corporate profit and simple construction strategies, based on outdated ideals.
I would like to thank everyone who has supported us in this project and I would personally like to thank the members of PRO Meri-Rastila Liike for the opportunity of working with them.
I also believe that it is still possible for the City to change its current strategy for Meri-Rastila and I hope that they will.
Tristan Hughes, Architect and coordinator of the Alt M-P project
You can see the Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta statement here:
http://www.hel.fi/hki/ksv/fi/P__t_ksenteko/P__t_stiedote
copy of text:
Helsingin kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunnan päätökset 8.5.2012
VIRASTOPÄÄLLIKKÖ/KSV
1 Kokouksen laillisuuden ja päätösvaltaisuuden toteaminen sekä pöytäkirjan tarkastajien valinta
ehdotuksen mukaan
2 Ilmoitusasiat
ehdotuksen mukaan
ASEMAKAAVAOSASTO
1 Vuosaaren Meri-Rastilan länsirannan osayleiskaavaluonnos
jäsen Holopainen teki jäsen Modigin kannattamana seuraavan palautusesityksen:
Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta esittää, että asia palautetaan uudelleen valmisteltavaksi siten, että kaavoittaminen perustuu olemassa olevan asuinrakenteen täydentämiseen ja rantapuiston säilyttämiseen virkistysalueena.
äänin 5-4 esittelijän ehdotus jäi voimaan
lisäksi kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta hyväksyi yksimielisesti seuraavat jatkosuunnitteluohjeet:
Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta pitää tärkeänä, että Meri-Rastilan alueen jatkokaavoituksessa mahdollistetaan ryhmä- ja omatoimirakentaminen.
Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta pitää tärkeänä, että Meri-Rastilan alueen jatkokaavoituksessa selvitetään myös mahdollisuuksia täydennysrakentamiselle alueen asukkaista ja kansalaisjärjestöistä lähteneiden kaavaesitysten esittämällä tavalla.
Lautakunta äänesti jäsen Särelän tekemästä jäsen Holopaisen kannattamasta Vuotien kattamista koskeneesta esityksestä. Äänin 5-3 (1 poissa) esittelijän ehdotus jäi voimaan.
2 Itä-Pasilan Allianssin tontin 17023/2 ja tontin itäpuolisen katu- ja puistoalueen asemakaavan muutosehdotus
ehdotuksen mukaan
LIIKENNESUUNNITTELUOSASTO
1 Lausunto valtuustoaloitteesta, joka koske pysäköintijärjestelyjä Töölöntorin ympäristössä
pöydälle
2 Lausunto valtuustoaloitteesta, joka koskee Tapanilan työväentalolle opastamista
ehdotuksen mukaan
3 Lausunto valtuuston toivomusponnesta, joka koskee liikkuvaa palvelutyötä tekevien pysäköintitunnuksia
ehdotuksen mukaan
PUHEENJOHTAJA
1 Kaupungin viranomaisten päätösten seuraaminen
ei käytetty otto-oikeutta
OURCity 
Also, take a look at Mikko Sarelä blog, he makes some very thoughtful comments:
http://mikkosarela.blogspot.com/
Inside every defeat is a small victory!
Yes, I agree with Tristan that we have achieved a lot, and more than we have ever imagine when we have started this project. In my opinion it was great that through the proposal we could motivate citizen’s participation and neighbors in Meri Rastila could better express now, how they want the area to be.
The debate that was going on in Osmo Soinivaara’s and Mikko Saarela’s blogs was extremely interesting and I appreciate a lot the richness of the discussion and how people have been defending our proposal.
We have now a working team, that has started to provide results. We have done this together with neighbors in Meri Rastila and the collaboration should continue, involving other communities in the area.
We need to better understand how our proposal can enrich the previous one. Hopefully, we are invited to collaborate in the final one.
Planning decisions are political. It would be marvelous if the City of Helsinki would actually encourage its residents to be more hands-on regarding their living environment. Instead what we often see is that people who rarely visit an area decide what will happen to it. When the alternative master plan (AMP) project started there was no guarantee – a hidden desire yes – that it would actually affect the lives of Meri-Rastilians. Now we can say that it managed even that to a certain degree. The active residents involved as well as all of us in OURcity and the AMP team got one more opportunity to see that it takes a lot of time- and energy-consuming negotiations with different communities in an area to be mobilized, and for a common cause to acquire the critical mass required so that these communities can actually pressure politicians. Even then there is no guarantee! Apparently politics are less straightforward than saving a forest area. Nevertheless, AMP project was a fantastic learning experience for all of us, students, and professionals, Meri-Rastilians and not, immigrants and Finns. Many thanks to the AMP working group and to all of you who invested your time and energy in workshops, discussions and the blogosphere. Many thanks also for your encouragement … it makes OURcity journey more fulfilling.
Please remember that there is still some hope, because the decision is not final. So we must continue telling the politicians that they can’t make Meri-Rastila a better place if they ignore the residents.
Thanks for everything. The city should be planned your way – or OUR way.
Here is what I wrote after the Lautakunta meeting:
http://hlylinen.blogspot.com/2012/05/paatos-meri-rastilasta-tehtiin.html
There was an interesting piece of news in today’s Helsingin Sanomat:
http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/Helsingin+kaupungin+ty%C3%B6ntekij%C3%A4%C3%A4+ep%C3%A4ill%C3%A4%C3%A4n+lahjuksista/a1305562019913
Meri-Rastila recreational park (Meri-Rastilan ulkoilupuisto) and Meri-Rastila residents still have a chance.
Thank you and good luck!
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This is an interesting blog, http://jeesjees.wordpress.com
Take a look and see similar planning/public space and communal integration problems to those that the OURCity project is trying to address
Meri-Rastila is no the only area but we hope it can be a hot bed for change
Here is an adress for those who want more transparency in city planning in Helsinki:
http://www.adressit.com/lapinakyvyytta_helsingin_kaupunkisuunnitteluun
The full minutes of the meeting can be found here:
http://www.hel.fi/static/public/hela/Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta/Suomi/Paatos/2012/Ksv_2012-05-08_Kslk_15_Pk/B3E4D27E-3287-441A-9272-05A976BD0056/Vuosaaren_Meri-Rastilan_lansirannan_osayleiskaaval.html