As the Estonian capital's new city architect, Andro Mänd, longtime chair of the Union of Estonian Architects (EAL) and architect at the Tallinn-based Salto Architects, is expected to formulate a long-term vision and policy choices – and his vision is to make Tallinn the Baltic Sea city with the best living environment.

"Of course, the competition is pretty stiff," Mänd said in a recent appearance on Vikerraadio's "Uudis+" following the announcement. "Copenhagen, for example, is around half a century ahead of us, and obviously we're not going to catch up that much during my term [as city architect], but that's the kind of general goal we should be working toward."

Monofunctionality

More specifically speaking, Mänd considers the keyword of his term as city architect to be diversity.

"In Tallinn's case we can see that there are monofunctional areas here – in terms of population, functions as well as the typology of residential buildings," he highlighted. "Unfortunately we're still stuck in this same rhythm. If we look at Lasnamäe, for example, which is a city district that we need to tackle very energetically in order to avoid issues that have already begun to develop there, and we consider what we build there, then we will actually be rebuilding Lasnamäe."

He said that new apartment buildings in the district just copy the same exact model that has been built there since the end of the 1970s, "and considering the city and society's overall picture, that isn't sustainable."

Mänd believes there are issues with the function of the Estonian capital's Old Town as well, which has been lost for locals, leaving it a tourist attraction. Also needing consideration are the other so-called "-mäe" parts of the city, like Mustamäe District and the neighborhood of Väike-Õismäe, which remain bedroom communities.

"There are no jobs or leisure activities there, for example," he noted.

Segregation

Backdropped by the issue with monofunctional urban planning is also the issue of societal segregation. To address this, Mänd believes a cross-party agreement needs to be initiated.

"Everyone understands that this problem has arisen and is only getting worse," he said. "Political disputes moreso arise over how we need to tackle this problem. But the first step is to acknowledge the issue, and the next is to more closely monitor what is going on in the city. We sometimes conduct some sort of studies, but we don't actually know all of these processes."

Info on segregation, for example, comes from a pan-European study in which the University of Tartu (TÜ) participated, he cited, but added that even that information is already somewhat outdated.

"So in reality we're not actually aware of these developments," Mänd continued. "Just like we don't know about where new immigrants are located in the city – whether certain areas have already emerged where they're starting to concentrate or whether they are still spread out."

It is in this regard that he considers it his duty as city architect to foresee these processes and collect relevant information based on which to intervene if needed.

He said that Swedish cities like Malmö and Stockholm, as well as the suburbs of Paris, where there are stories of car burnings almost every year, are prime examples of what happens when segregation issues go unaddressed by urban planning. "It harms the development and the economy of the entire city," he explained. "This isn't just a social project, but an economic issue too."

Tallinn's monocentricity

"Tallinn's major downside is that it's also a monocentric city," Mänd admitted. "We have a city center, but there are no district centers as such. Places with restaurants, cafes, businesses, places where people go to spend time in the evening. Everyone travels into the city center, and then disperses from here again."

He noted that Nõmme District does have one to some extent, but that simply developed that way historically.

"In Mustamäe, Kristiine [districts]? There really isn't," he continued. "Kristiine Shopping Center isn't a city district center; it's a space controlled by one company where large chains always hold the upper hand. It isn't very easy for local businesses to get their foot in the door there. The same goes for people. When kids are sitting and doing stuff in the space assigned to a security guard, they're quietly directed away. So diversity is pretty much the word that sums everything up."

Municipal intervention in urban planning

As head of the Union of Estonian Architects (EAL), Mänd, using Helsinki as an example, urged local governments to more firmly intervene in urban planning processes in the interest of comprehensive societal and urban development.

"The Planning Act certainly needs to be examined too, and that is currently open at the state level," he noted. "That law is going to be amended, and Tallinn has already provided some degree of input toward it."

Even so, it's entirely possible to do even within the framework of existing rules, the new city architect said.

"'By 'more firm intervention,' I also mean that the city has to cooperate more with developers and the state," he explained. "To date, it's been kind of reminiscent of trench warfare. The so-called [public–private partnership, PPP] model has long since been out of favor in Tallinn. There's also a very specific reason for that, related to the predatory conditions of school management contracts signed 15 years ago."

Mänd acknowledged that credit is due to former Tallinn mayor Mihhail Kõlvart, who tried to change these contracts, with some success.

"These deals tainted the format, and it isn't trusted," he said. "But I believe that enough time has gone by now that it's time to start reviving this format."

Reconceptualizing comprehensive plans

According to an announcement from Tallinn city government, the city architect will also be responsible for the "rapid development of comprehensive plans," or üldplaneeringud.

"Comprehensive plans need to be simplified," Mänd said. "We can see that they remain valid for quite a long time, while at the same time, perceptions of urban planning have changed very rapidly. We can't lock the city's development into a specific moment with comprehensive plans. We need to critically review what is included in them; details should be addressed in detailed plans instead."

He added that land use designations need to be reevaluated as well. "We've heard for years that the city of Tallinn has little land, but if you take a look at what the functions of these plots of land are, doubts sometimes arise as to whether a given function is the most justified," he explained.

According to the new city architect, comprehensive plans also require a more open mind, and the approach of dividing up land solely between business, residential and production use is obsolete.

"Diversity comes into play here as well, and this, of course, also requires legislative changes," he said. "But maybe we should think instead about not defining whether a ground floor must be residential or commercial and instead define it using spatial characteristics, saying it must have a height of 3.5 meters so that it can be turned into an apartment. Or, if the city's circumstances change and someone else comes in who wants to develop a business there, then that size would allow for that too."

Linnahall

Meanwhile, Mänd says he wouldn't rush to demolish the Linnahall complex located on the Tallinn seafront.

"Things can only be demolished if what we replace them with is better than what was there before," he explained.

"So far, I haven't seen a single solution better than the previous one," he continued. "Linnahall may be run down, but it's actually Versailles among peasant shacks – but we as a society don't get that. The Estonian state will never again be capable of building something so big and so grandiose."

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