Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2014 | Page 46
Photo: NCC Property Development Oy
screens. The result: a real “hands-on” experience with 24/7 access. So it seems that
the shopping centres can go “e”, too: E for
experience.
Juha Tiuraniemi, Managing Director
of the Finnish Council of Shopping Centres,
believes that the shopping centre is enduring as a service concept: services are found
under the same roof and they are conveniently accessible.
“The business mix changes constantly according to customer needs. Business
proprietors are able to operate ecologically and in a socially responsible way, at the
same time gaining from the advantages of
the mix,” he says, adding that goods flows
can be optimised from the environmental
viewpoint and recycling can be pioneered
together.
Heart of the Community
Tiuraniemi agrees with international experts
that shopping centres can be so much more:
the public space in shopping centres is currently finding more frequent and increasingly diverse uses for promotions, events and
participatory functions.
“The role of shopping centres has
gained strength as the beating hearts of communities and as a living room and meeting
place for people.”
Tiuraniemi also talks about regeneration which is a rising trend, both in Finland
and in other parts of Europe. Investments
in shopping centres have been the driver in
redeveloping provincial city centres during
44 Nordicum
the past few years in many towns, including
Jyväskylä, Vaasa, Lahti, Joensuu, Seinäjoki,
Salo and Rovaniemi, to mention only a few.
Energise the City Centre
In the Eastern city of Mikkeli, for example,
new shopping centres Stella and the Akseli have brought about a broadbased renewal of the city centre, with underground parking beneath the market square. In the south
in Hämeenlinna, a shopping centre has been
raised over a motorway, linking the formerly divided city centre together.
Furthermore, there have been rather
sizeable additions to the ranks, with shopping centres Veturi (Kouvola) and Matkus
(Kuopio) both placing i