Jätkäsaari

Jätkäsaari Busholmen
Helsinki Subdivision
Position of Jätkäsaari within Helsinki
Country	Finland
Region	Uusimaa
Sub-region	Greater Helsinki
Municipality	Helsinki
District	Southern
Area	0.88 km^2 (0.34 sq mi)
Population (2005)	2,318
Postal codes	00180
Neighbouring subdivisions	Ruoholahti Punavuori Munkkisaari Lauttasaari

Jätkäsaari (Swedish: Busholmen) is a peninsula and a quarter in Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It is part to the Kampinmalmi district and Länsisatama neighbourhood. It was the location of the main container harbour in Helsinki until late 2008, when the harbour moved to the new facilities in Vuosaari. The terminal for passenger ferries to Tallinn, Estonia, remains in Länsisatama (literally West Harbour in Finnish).

What is now known as Jätkäsaari (literally Logger Island in Finnish), was originally a group of three islands: Jätkäsaari, Hietasaari, and Saukko. The sea between the islands and the continent was filled, creating a peninsula to house harbour facilities. The area became an island once more with the construction of the Ruoholahti Canal. With most of the harbour operations having moved to the new Vuosaari Harbour, the construction of a new residential and office area is expected to begin in late 2009, after a clean-up of contaminated soil is completed.

A construction site in Jätkäsaari. The 315 m long M/S Celebrity Eclipse is seen in the background.

The Ruoholahti Canal, with Jätkäsaari on the right hand side

Horisontti is a sculpture on the eastern shore of Jätkäsaari, consisting of hundreds of tiny plaques, each bearing the name of a donator to the "Keep the Baltic Sea clean" campaign.

Pop singer-songwriter Madonna performed in the vacant harbour of Jätkäsaari as a part of her Sticky & Sweet Tour on August 6, 2009.^[1] The concert was attended by 85,000 people^[2] and, thus, the event was the biggest concert ever with an entrance fee in the Nordic countries. The surrounding air and maritime space were closed as a safety precaution during the evening and the night.^[3]

The new Jätkäsaari area is planned as an urban, densely built city district, built around the shoreline and an S-shaped park in the middle. The apartment blocks will be closed to protect the inner courtyards from wind. The planners envisage the completed area of having 17,000 residents as well as 6,000 jobs. The area will have several schools, kindergartens, sports facilities and public services. The public transport in Jätkäsaari will be handled primarily by extensions of the Helsinki tram network. The waste collection and sorting is planned to operate by automated vacuum collection.

See also

• Helsinki

Coordinates: 60°09′19″N 24°54′42″E / 60.15524°N 24.911714°E

References

1. Madonna Tickets and Tour Dates Madonna's homepage
2. This won't be forgotten, article by Iltalehti (in Finnish)
3. Madonna's first concert in Finland closes Jätkäsaari air space, article by Helsingin sanomat (in Finnish)