POPS:Privately Owned Public Space: How to harness private capital to create public indoor spaces in Helsinki, Finland
Vuola, Aleksi (2020)
Vuola, Aleksi
2020
Arkkitehdin tutkinto-ohjelma - Degree Programme in Architecture, MSc (Arch)
Rakennetun ympäristön tiedekunta - Faculty of Built Environment
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2020-05-27
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202004304788
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202004304788
Tiivistelmä
This thesis attempts to examine ways of harnessing private capital to create public indoor spaces in Helsinki, Finland. More precisely, this thesis explores privately owned public spaces (POPS) as a space type. POPS is a term popularized by professor Jerold S. Kayden in 2000 referring to spaces that were born from the floor area bonus system in New York City. In 1961, the city introduced a new zoning resolution including an incentive for developers to exceed the densities permitted by the zoning rules. Developers got to build bonus floor area in exchange for creating public spaces.
A POPS is an oxymoron that is made possible with a thorough legal contractual agreement between the public and the private sector. Whereas a successful public space is a design question, the public qualities of the space is a non-physical question. This thesis argues for the fact that ownership does not imply whether a space is public or private.
The main sources for the thesis are books about POPS, news articles about the subject, zoning documents of varying countries, but also research articles and books on public space.
This thesis is tripartite. The first part includes a short overview of the history of POPS, an examination of the term and case studies. The second part focuses on programming a POPS in Helsinki. The programming advances in additive constraints from zoning characteristics of Helsinki to physical and non-physical elements. Programming is summed up with defined user groups and site-specific explorations. The last part consists of a design proposal for a POPS on a site on the quays of the Helsinki South Harbour.
The subject emerged from current events in the building industry globally, the lack of usable public spaces throughout the year in Helsinki, and the misuse of the term public space. Multiple private developments are taking place in prominent spots in Helsinki, of which many have not complied with initial regulations, including the amount and quality of public spaces. As tthe pace of urbanization increases, so does land value due to densification. Helsinki’s Nordic climate affects the usage of exterior public spaces during the winter months, which is why especially indoor public spaces are needed. Using incentive zoning, developers could achieve more profit of the rising land value, while providing public spaces throughout the city for the general public. The aim of the thesis is to find a win-win-win situation where the private, public and people benefit from the POPS.
The history of POPS has an abundance of failed examples, which are often results of defective contracts or infractions. Learnings from the negative outcomes demonstrate the importance of a comprehensive legal base in order to gain a positive outcome. The design part of this thesis aims at showcasing a best practice example of a POPS comprising of fundamental physical and non-physical qualities.
A POPS is an oxymoron that is made possible with a thorough legal contractual agreement between the public and the private sector. Whereas a successful public space is a design question, the public qualities of the space is a non-physical question. This thesis argues for the fact that ownership does not imply whether a space is public or private.
The main sources for the thesis are books about POPS, news articles about the subject, zoning documents of varying countries, but also research articles and books on public space.
This thesis is tripartite. The first part includes a short overview of the history of POPS, an examination of the term and case studies. The second part focuses on programming a POPS in Helsinki. The programming advances in additive constraints from zoning characteristics of Helsinki to physical and non-physical elements. Programming is summed up with defined user groups and site-specific explorations. The last part consists of a design proposal for a POPS on a site on the quays of the Helsinki South Harbour.
The subject emerged from current events in the building industry globally, the lack of usable public spaces throughout the year in Helsinki, and the misuse of the term public space. Multiple private developments are taking place in prominent spots in Helsinki, of which many have not complied with initial regulations, including the amount and quality of public spaces. As tthe pace of urbanization increases, so does land value due to densification. Helsinki’s Nordic climate affects the usage of exterior public spaces during the winter months, which is why especially indoor public spaces are needed. Using incentive zoning, developers could achieve more profit of the rising land value, while providing public spaces throughout the city for the general public. The aim of the thesis is to find a win-win-win situation where the private, public and people benefit from the POPS.
The history of POPS has an abundance of failed examples, which are often results of defective contracts or infractions. Learnings from the negative outcomes demonstrate the importance of a comprehensive legal base in order to gain a positive outcome. The design part of this thesis aims at showcasing a best practice example of a POPS comprising of fundamental physical and non-physical qualities.