This report provides an overview of the scenarios and forecasts shaping the development of the Ülemiste smart city district and Tallinn Airport for 2050.
We developed 3 scenarios to find new opportunities and potentials for sustainable urban mobility, matching the projected growth of residential, office, retail space and the planned expansion of Tallinn Airport.
Our main observation is that the Ülemiste development plan is central not only to the metropolitan region of Tallinn but it is a development of national strategic importance – thanks to the doubling of Tallinn Airport and the construction of the Rail Baltic Terminal designed by Zaha Hadid. These project will fundamentally change the role of Ülemiste at all scales.
The Ülemiste development plan must be conceptualised as the Estonian hub of the international network of travel, communication and technology for the rest of Europe and Russia. Therefore, the Ülemiste smart city district will be planned with the global in mind and towards a sustainable and carbon-neutral future. The task of the future planner is to highlight the potential of the region, to support grassroots activities that are already taking place, and innovations built in the neighbourhood.
After developing the scenarios we forecasted the mobility needs with specialised Engineers from Ramboll Finland. The aim of the mobility analysis was to specify at which stage of development the existing connections can no longer serve the forecasted vehicle traffic and at which new connections (roads, light traffic passages, public transport, etc.) will need to be built.
Eventually we have presented a road map addressed to the policy makers and urban developer to build a sustainable smart city that would see the completion by 2035.