The seaside promenade connecting the Cruise Terminal and Kalaranna areas has received a new look
As part of the Green Capital project “Green Tracks” the seaside promenade connecting the Cruise Terminal and Kalaranna areas has received a new look in Tallinn.
The promenade, created as part of “Green Tracks” marks a significant milestone in opening the city to the sea and establishing an uninterrupted coastal route. The renovated area features various spatial interventions, providing both leisure and activity spaces: new stairs along the coast, diverse seating areas, table tennis tables, a petanque area, a stage for outdoor events, and landscaped dunes.
“We aim to highlight Tallinn’s coastal journey with this area, connecting the Cruise Terminal and Kalarand, and we invite people to explore the area and spend time there. The redesigned area enhances the region’s safety and enriches the environment with architectural forms and greenery,” said the author of the solution, architect Ann Kristiin Entson from the Tallinn Strategic Management Office’s Department of Spatial Planning.
The seaside promenade project is a conceptual continuation of tactical urbanism activities that previously took place in the same area, such as the Culture Kilometer and Beetapromenade. It also initiates the area’s further development through temporary interventions.
Tactical urbanism involves rapidly and often temporarily transforming a space with simple techniques to test the place’s possibilities and potential, thereby opening a discussion on implementing longer-term changes. While discussions about changes to urban spaces often happen just by looking at drawings, our goal is to bring ideas into urban spaces, test them, and then decide on the way forward.
Nearby is the artwork “City-Machine” (authors Mariann Drell, Villem Sarapuu, Ruuben-Jaan Rekkor), the winner of the “Green Tracks” installation competition in the spring, which recycles local residual materials and emphasizes the formal and material nature of the City Hall.
In addition, with the support of Tallinn’s Green Capital initiative “Let’s create together” a year-round community sauna will be opened next to the City Hall on Logi Street in December.
In the year of being the European Green Capital, Tallinn has set a goal to contribute to changes in urban space. The “Green Tracks” project brings together activities across the city aimed at improving the quality of green areas, introducing new greenery, improving densely used urban spaces, supporting the development of urban green networks, and experimenting with innovative urban solutions.
In addition to the harbor promenade, other areas that have received a new look include the mouth of the Pirita River, flower meadows, and food platforms established throughout the city, along with the planting of hundreds of trees. The summer park on Raekoja plats (Town Hall Square) has also proven to be very popular and will reopen in the summer season.
For more information: Hannes Aava, hannes.aava@tallinnlv.ee
Photos:
Seaside photos: Martin Siplane, Linn-Masin photo: Paco Ulmann
