Haukilahti () is a neighbourhood in Espoo, Finland. It is located on the seashore of the Gulf of Finland in the southern part of the city.
Haukilahti is quiet and has many forested areas and parks. Right across the road from the main residential area is the Toppelund forest, beyond which lies the seashore.
The Finnish name "Haukilahti" and the Swedish name "Gäddvik" both translate to "bay of pikes", referring to the narrow bay at the mouth of the Gräsaån stream.
The modern history of Haukilahti starts from the 16th century, but most of the development to its current state happened in the decades after World War II, when many new detached houses and apartment buildings were built in the area. After the war, Haukilahti grew from a small vacation spot for Helsinkians into a suburb of six thousand inhabitants, which also caused its main income to change from agriculture to services and trade.
Name The name Haukilahti apparently comes from the Gäddviken bay used for fishing pikes. Earlier spellings of the village include Geddeuik (1540) and Geddewijk (151). The area received the Finnish name Haukilahti in the 1960s. The name pair Haukilahti - Gäddvik has been the official name of the district since 1976.Ukskoski, Laura: Haukilahden nimistö, City of Espoo 2016. Accessed on 1 October 2024.
Geography
The area of Haukilahti is about 3.2 square kilometres. Haukilahti is located between the districts of Westend in the east, Matinkylä in the west and Niittykumpu in the north. To the south of Haukilahti is Miessaarenselkä, part of the Gulf of Finland, which got its name from Miessaari island. The stream Gräsanoja (Gräsaån in Swedish) forms the border between Haukilahti and Matinkylä, and it opens into the Haukilahti harbour.
Haukilahti is surrounded by a line of cliffs 20 to 30 metres high (Hauenkallio, Telamäki, Rajakallio, Pitkänkallio). There are lower areas between these cliffs (5 to 15 metres above sea level). The lowest parts of Haukilahti are located at Telaniitty and Pattistenpuisto, which is a former part of the Haukilahti bay later reclaimed by land. The terrain of the Haukilahti area is nowadays dominated by clay in the lower areas and cliffs in the higher areas, with a thin layer of plant litter covering some of them.
Buildings in Haukilahti are a mixture of apartment blocks and lower houses: detached and row houses. The apartment blocks are by roads Mellstenin rantatie and Haukilahdenkatu, on hills Pitkänkallionmäki and Hauenkallionmäki and near border to Westend. In 2012, there were 2854 homes in Haukilahti, 54 of which were built before 1960, majority or 1386 during 1960–1969, 673 in 1970-1979 and roughly 680 after 1979.
The apartment buildings in Haukilahti are located west of the boat harbour on Mellstenin rantatie, on the highest spots of Pitkänkallionmäki and Hauenkallionmäki, and along Haukilahdenkatu and the border to Westend. There are terraced houses on the northern part of the former Toppelund manor area, on the Telamäki and Pattistenpuisto areas and around Pitkänkallionmäki. The business buildings in the area are along Haukilahdenkatu.Haukilahden ajantasa-asemakaava Espoon karttapalvelussa, city of Espoo. Accessed on 23 December 2014.
History First inhabitants The first signs of human habitation in Haukilahti are the Bronze Age graves on the Hauenkallio cliff near the Haukilahti water tower. At the time Haukilahti was an island with cliffs and swamps. The village of Gäddvik was first mentioned in a geography book from 1544, where it was marked as belonging to the medieval socken of Espoo, Finnoviken. Gäddvik is missing from the books from 1560 to 1756, when Estonian peasants moved into the area. A 1774 map representing the lands of the Gräsa manor shows six croft houses in the Haukilahti area.
From Russian rule to before World War II
Wealthy Helsinkians started to found villas in Haukilahti in the late 19th century. 29 lots were separated from the lands of the Gräsa manor by 1917. This lot plan, completed in 1924, is still visible in the local zoning plan.
The military outpost XXXIV (34) of Krepost Sveaborg built by Imperial Russia is also located in Toppelundinpuisto in Haukilahti. Fortifying the outpost started during World War I in spring 1916. The outpost was never used in battle, and the fortifications remain partly incomplete as the Russians withdrew from Finland after Finnish independence in spring 1918.
Development of Haukilahti stayed slower than that of the rest of Espoo for a long time, as there were no fast connections to there from Helsinki or from elsewhere in Espoo. Up to the 1930s Haukilahti could only be accessed by ship, but the situation changed when the Finnish state decided to build the Jorvaksentie highway (now known as Länsiväylä) in 1932 to combat unemployment in areas west of Helsinki. The new highway made the trip to Helsinki significantly shorter and hastened the development of the area.
World War II
During the Winter War, a lighting battery division of the Helsinki anti-aircraft troops was based in Haukilahti, with the intention to light up Soviet bombers invading Helsinki during the dark. The division started operations on 13 October 1939 when it had received its equipment. The Lotta canteen of the division was discontinued after the Moscow Peace Treaty in late March 1940 and the troops were sent home on 5 April. The lighting battery resumed operations at the start of the Continuation War on 12 July 1941 after general mobilisation. The Pitkänkallionmäki battery participated in combating the bombing of Helsinki. Female Lottas were responsible for the battery from late July 1944 until 15 October 1944 when the battery was finally discontinued.
After the war
Haukilahti got many more detached houses after World War II as evacuees from the Karelian Republic were settled in Finland. Lots from the area now known as Salakkatie were separated for the use of veterans.
Many new buildings were built in Haukilahti by the 1950s as connections to the area improved. The 1957 zoning map shows new detached house areas in northern Haukilahti. The roads in the area were still pretty basic, there were few buildings in southern Haukilahti and use of land was pretty inefficient. There were no apartment or terraced houses. The beaches of Haukilahti were mainly populated with villas. The Uusimaa provincial government decided on a ban on buildings in Haukilahti on 4 May 1950 to be able to create a new zoning plan. Some buildings were still being built with exception permits.
In the 1960s population increased along Jorvaksentie. Still in the early 1960s there was a farm, a fishing installation and villas near the beach, and Jorvaksentie was the only connection from Haukilahti to Westend. Construction of the area happened in the 1960s at the pace of one terraced house per year. Construction in the area increased when Espoo became a market town in 1963. The municipal zoning monopoly was born in Espoo in 1966 when zoning rights were transferred from the provincial government to the municipality.Espoonlahti, municipality of Sipoo, p. 1. Accessed on 5 January 2015. Because of this, all areas in Espoo got a functional zoning plan and a sketch for the plan in Haukilahti was made in January 1964. Construction during the zoning plan continued with exception permits. Many of the roads had already been marked at their present locations in the sketch.
Construction was at its fastest from 1963 to 1967. Buildings in the area increased 30-fold during the 1960s and Haukilahti got 1300 new apartments.Haukilahden asuntokanta 1920–2013, Helsingin seudun asuntosarjat. Accessed on 1 February 2015. Many of the new buildings were apartment buildings and terraced houses. The Haukilahti water tower, now a landmark of the area, was taken into use in September 1968. Architects designing buildings in Haukilahti included Matti Aaltonen, Jaakko Laapotti and Toivo Korhonen.
From the 1970s to today
The central areas in Haukilahti had already been built by the 1970s. The first zoning plan of the area came into force on 6 May 1974 when the Ministry of the Interior approved it. The plan mostly enforced the situation of the construction that had already been completed. The same 1974 zoning plan was mostly still in force in the 2000s in the Haukilahti area; changes have been mostly so-called "postage stamp zoning plans" consisting of one or two lots. Construction slowed down, and there were only 674 new apartments in the 1970s and 411 in the 1980s. The Toppelund school, the Simpukka all-activity centre, the Haukilahti library and kindergarten were built on the northern end of the former Toppelund lot.
The depression during the early 1990s and lack of planned construction ground depleted building new apartments, and there were only half as many apartments built in the 1990s than in the 1980s. The shopping centre Länsiviitta and the Toppelund kindergarten near the sea shore were built in the 1990s. There were less than 100 new buildings in the 2000s, which was mostly due to depletion of planned ground.
There was no significant increase in constructing new buildings in Haukilahti in the 2010s, as the intention was to build only 32 new residential buildings in the area during the next decade.Pietiläinen, Jari: Haukilahden asukasluku vähenee pian roimasti , Länsiväylä 24 April 2012. Accessed on 2 December 2018. The city of Espoo made a new zoning plan in May 2016Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta hyväksyi 25.5.2016 Leppäsillanmäen ja Toppelund II asemakaavamuutokset , city of Espoo 2 June 2016. Accessed on 31 August 2016. for a new residential area on the Mellstenintie side edge of the Toppelundinpuisto park. The plan was materialised smaller than planned, with the area within construction rights being about half of what was planned.Toppelundin kaavoitussuunnitelmat muuttuivat , city of Espoo 20 November 2015. Accessed on 31 August 2016.
Services In 2013 there were about 1037 jobs in the Haukilahti area. The biggest employers were healthcare and social services (144 jobs), wholesale and retail sales (175 jobs) and professional, scientific and technical activity (116 jobs).Haukilahden työpaikat 2008 - 2013, aluesarjat.fi. Accessed on 31 August 2016.
Education, youth and senior services
Haukilahti has two Finnish-language kindergartens run by the city of Espoo (Haukilahti and Toppelund kindergartens)Haukilahden päiväkoti , city of Espoo. Accessed on 2 December 2018.Toppelundin päiväkoti , city of Espoo. Accessed on 24 January 2019. as well as a private Swedish-language kindergarten founded in 1990, with a service contract with the city of Espoo.Espoon kielikylpypäiväkoti. Accessed on 23 January 2019. The original building of the Haukilahti kindergarten was dismantled in autumn 2017 because of mildew problems,Tuominen-Halomo, Anneli: Tapiolan kirjaston tulevaisuus on taas auki – Haukilahden kirjastolle löytyi ratkaisu, Länsiväylä 28 September 2016. Accessed on 2 December 2018. and a new two-story kindergarten was built in its place. The new premises increased the number of places for children to 147.Haukilahden päiväkodin koko tuplaantuu , Länsiväylä 16 April 2015. Accessed on 2 December 2018. A French-language kindergarten was founded in Haukilahti in 1995, but it later moved to Kruununhaka in the neighbouring city of Helsinki.Who are We?, Club des Cinq 7 November 2014. Accessed on 31 August 2016.