Linna
ombudsman 
NB! Ikoonil klõpsamine viib mööda struktuuri edasi, kirjel klõpsates avaneb kirjeldus
Linnaosade
valitsused
Ametid
Talllinn 2011 applicationTallinn – European Capital of Culture 2011Application to Estonian Ministry of Culture Tallinn 2005
Table of contents
1. Tallinn – European Capital of Culture 2011
Tallinn’s bid for the contest of the European Capital of
Culture springs from the knowledge that this title means more
than simply a year-long very intense calendar of cultural
events, but an obligation to value the city as a cultural
environment for both its citizens and guests as well as men of
culture and entrepreneurs. It is an opportunity to introduce
Tallinn and Estonia to the world. For Tallinn, culture
is a lot more than professional high culture; it embodies art
and cinema, architectural heritage and museums, libraries and
schools, sports and city planning, science and technology,
dance and music, the traditional and the innovative – the
creative, lively and constantly changing city environment as a
whole. Tallinn is the home city for one third of the
Estonians. They are the ones who stand in the centre of the
year of the capital of culture – bearing the title of the
capital of culture and preparing for it must influence namely
their possibilities and practices of consuming culture, but
also those of all Estonians. With our application, we want
Tallinn to be more open to Europe and make all Europeans feel
at home in Tallinn. 1.1. Why do we bid?I n 20 years, the title of the European Capital of Culture has obtained high international value. The experiences of previous culture capitals have shown that the title influences the whole city’s development, enlivens cultural life, brings investments and tourists, increases employment rates and international recognition. Thus, bidding for the title is a unique possibility to develop Tallinn and expand traditional borders of co-operation. For Tallinn and Estonia, this title would probably be of highest international importance after the Olympic games in 1980 and the Eurovision Song Contest in 2001. Being the Capital of Culture is not only an honorary title – it is a chance to introduce the city to the world, a reason to pull oneself together, an obligation to pay thorough and considered attention to both the citizens and the city environment. As the Capital of Culture, Tallinn must not, cannot and will not be limited only by the Old Town or the city. Besides these two areas, we have to bring beauty back to the quarters of wooden houses surrounding the centre of the city, as well as to the distinguished residential districts where most citizens live. The value of our city lies in original districts that have survived. And we can say that today even by those tourists who have visited Tallinn many times, don’t recognise Kalamaja, Kopli or Pelgulinn. A city as a home is designed and open for designing. We all know the wooden houses in Kadriorg, built before the Second World War; or the network of wooden houses in Pelgulinn. Many of us have walked at Nõmme under the pine trees and between houses that are typical of only this city district. These are entities that must be preserved and restored – entities that embody the feeling of home. The massive residential districts of Tallinn are the home of nearly half of the citizens. When fifteen years ago tens of thousands of Estonians called together to stop Lasnamäe, by the year of 2011 Tallinn must find a suitable face for Lasnamäe, Mustamäe and Õismäe. These huge areas cannot remain simply residential districts; the culture capital must expand to these parts of town as well – and namely there. Both the tourists and the citizens have to get a temptation to jump on a trolleybus or a tram and go to the peculiar, strange and alternative districts full of culture, where concrete walls are covered with sharp graffiti, cool garage-bands play, revolutionary happenings and performances are performed. For the citizens of Tallinn, becoming the capital of culture certainly means that the municipal power will pay more attention to culture; there will be new opportunities for active cultural participation, cultural buildings will be restored and the overall appearance of the town will improve. Culture unites producing, consuming and action. If we wish to enliven the cultural life, we have to develop these three together. There is no point in producing and offering many cultural events in 2011, if the citizens’ habits to consume culture and participate in it have not developed to the same level. Therefore we stress that for us, the title itself is not as important as the process – we do not want to be “made” the Capital of Culture in 2011, we want to grow into being one. To balance the growth of culture, it is important to know where we are at the moment and what we expect from the future. Tallinn has searched how the citizens participate in cultural activities and how they consume culture (see tallinn2001.ee). While bidding for the title, those kind of researches will become regular in order to see the changes but also the difficulties and to take all this into consideration while composing the calendar of events for 2011. A research among the citizens during the preparation of the application showed that people wish to participate in the process of creating culture, both as authors and audience (see supp. 4). We can strongly say that the calendar of events for 2011 will be richer and more interesting than this year’s calendar; that our traditional international festivals will get a boost and there will be a lot of new. For example, by the year 2011, the Cultural Factory will certainly be working at full power (see supp. “The Project of the Cultural Factory”). In Europe, such institutions have long traditions, but in Estonia it will be something absolutely new, embodying every possible field of culture and offering everyone an opportunity to both enjoy and create art. 1.2. Tallinn’s strengthsTallinn is the gate to Estonia.
Wider response
Experience and means
2. WHAT IS LEFT FOR TALLINN AFTER THE YEAR OF THE CULTURE CAPITAL ENDS?The project of the culture capital can and must be measured on different levels, from the development of infrastructure to the growth of individual culture consumption. The most important objective of this project should make our capital Europeanized, starting from the improvement of service culture and ending with grown tolerance. All that should also improve the self-evaluation of the citizens and strengthen our identity. And naturally – the infrastructure, service culture and experiences will not disappear anywhere after the year 2011 has ended. Tallinn already hosts more cultural events than any other town in Estonia. The status of the Capital of Culture certainly means adding new events, just as there will be more places for concerts, exhibitions, plays and sporting events. More importantly, the growth in quantity also means more individual culture consumption. Tallinn holds a vital place in Estonia’s progress. Its part as a cultural engine has to grow even more by 2011. For this to happen, we have to improve co-operation with the remote regions as well. People of culture and cultural institutions in Tallinn have to make it their mission to bring culture to the inhabitants of remote regions. Through cultural integration the citizens of Tallinn should become more tolerant towards different cultures. While bidding to become the culture capital, but most of all while being it, government and local authorities have to co-operate in terms of culture, namely considering the role of local administration in cultural organizing. Tallinn believes that a year as the culture capital gives us experience in organising international co-operation and hosting mass events, which helps us to establish our position in the cultural scene of Europe for many years to come. We are convinced that if Tallinn becomes the Capital of Culture, the biggest international winner is Estonia as a country. When Tallinn has established its position on the international scene, it will do everything to take all corners of Estonia there as well. 3. THEMATIC PROGRAMS OF TALLINN AS THE CAPITAL OF CULTUREToday, in 2005, it would be rather pointless and hypocritical to compose the final and detailed program for 2011. Doing that, we would abandon our central objective – to make Tallinn a modern, open and creative city. Hence we don’t try to list all the hundreds of events and projects, but to produce the main themes we want to concentrate on in the process of building up the program. The task of creating the detailed program is the duty of a foundation yet to be established. At the end of the application there is a sketch of the most important events we wish to see in the program of 2011 (see supp. 1). 3.1. The Old TownObjectives: introducing the unique Old Town (which belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage List) and Tallinn’s history to the citizens and with their help to tourists and guests. The purpose is to involve the citizens in the process, so that all citizens knew the most important objects and were able to introduce them to our guests. Renovating the towers of the Town Wall and opening most of them to visitors, opening the passages in the bastions and renovating churches with the help of project “Tallinn’s Church Renaissance” are objectives that are related to the valuation of milieu. Preparation stage: working out routes and e-solutions, producing info materials. Finding new and innovative solutions to introduce the history of the Old Town and Tallinn. Working out educational programs. By 2011 the information about Tallinn’s main sights has to be available both on paper and electronically. The Old Town has to be marked, signed and mapped for tourists.
Projects for 2011:
First and foremost – in 2011 Tallinn’s Old Town will be open and interesting for everyone, alongside with pubs there will be small music salons and coffee-shops, the doors of the cultural institutions on the edge of the Old Town will open already in the morning, museums will have interactive exhibitions to attract teenagers as well. 3.2. Masters, journeymen and apprenticesObjectives: introducing and advocating cultural, educational and sports projects on all levels; drawing citizens in creative processes. The aim is to root the lifestyle of participating actively in creating culture. For this, we want to involve the private sector in creating the necessary infrastructure, as well as creating it ourselves. The program has three levels:
Tallinn is the home for hundreds of thousands of people, who have different values and lifestyle. Attitude towards the environment starts from home – home shapes the way of thinking and behaving, and is in its turn shaped by the environment. As a culture capital, Tallinn has to be a town where children can feel safe, where playgrounds and parks are not rarities, where every restaurant and dining place is accessible with push chairs and carriages. Tallinn’s museums will become friendly for children of all age – there will be interesting attractions for teenagers as well as quiet corners for babies. Only this way it is possible to call everybody to enjoy the culture capital. Tallinn wants to pay attention to citizens at all age and has taken the courage to bid for UNICEF’s title of a children- and youth-friendly city. At the moment, children from babies to teenagers have a place in Tallinn, from playgrounds to extreme sport grounds. There are open hobby groups supported by the town; also an exiting world of books – mainly thanks to the central library – that has made the children read and think. Besides art and music schools that teach professional skills, the experience of exploring the world and creating something are provided by hobby-schools and youth centres. When we talk about a children-friendly town, we cannot forget the Zoo that has paid a lot of attention to its visitors’ well-being in the past few years and has thus become the favourite place of spending spare time among families – and not only for the citizens of Tallinn. As for children and youngsters, the town has taken the principle that financial state should not stop anyone from engaging in culture or sports. And we are not talking about sweet dreams – for example, Tallinn recently expanded the list of disciplines being supported and provides support for the youngest, 4-6-year-old kids who are interested in sports. We create new sporting opportunities, e.g. renovate old and build new school gyms, build new ball and extreme sport courts of public use. The objective is to extend the sporting opportunities of all citizens and guests, but especially children. Supporting the Pupils Academy that operates at The Tallinn University means that the town gives a hand the pupils with deeper interests in gathering knowledge. For students there is the Student House – a place where all student organisations are gathered; it is a place of spending spare time as well as a centre for hobby groups and seminars. The heart of the biggest student event, the Student Days, will also be there. We also have many world-known masters form different fields of life – Olympic champions Erki Nool and Erika Salumäe, internationally recognised conductors Eri Klas and Olari Elts, early music master Andres Mustonen, choreographers Mart Kangro and Katrin Essenson, composers Veljo Tormis and Erkki-Sven Tüür, artist Jaan Toomik, animator Priit Pärn and many others. The town continues to support several master classes that take place during different festivals. For example, in 2011 we shall have the master classes at Black Nights Film Festival and theatre festival “Midwinter Night’s Dream”. Preparation stage:
Program for 2011:
As a capital of culture, Tallinn wants to be something of a home where kids make first acquaintance with culture and sports, where young people meet and masters of European and World class show their skills in all professions. They have all grown here. 3.3. A city that sings and dances
Objectives: introducing national culture, the traditions of
dance and song festivals. It is important not to concentrate
our attention only on the song festival, but to introduce the
roots and immense response of the traditions, thousands of
choruses and dancing groups that come together every week, not
just once every four years. Since this subject is strongly
connected with village and folk culture, effective co-operation
with the Harju district is vital.
Home is a place of preserving traditions – a place where folk songs are passed on form generation to generation. The joy of making and self-achievement should be the signs that our visitors take with them. 3.4. Gate – a meeting place for different culturesObjectives: to introduce Tallinn as a multicultural town. The thematic program covers the history of different nations connected with Tallinn, introduces contacts between communities and the influences of different cultures, embodying both the European dimension and national minorities. Cultural integration is an important, but not the only part of this subject. Preparation stage: creating the necessary infrastructure for multicultural activities (The Russian Museum, Russian Centre of Culture, The House of National Minorities etc.); integration projects; making the information about Tallinn available for different national communities; educational projects; contacts with embassies and cultural centres. The project is partnered by foreign cultural representations accredited to Estonia, mostly regarding the Festival of European Cultures:
Tallinn is the home of not just Estonians. Of course we could start digging in history or demanding our rights, but it is a lot more sensible and progressive to admit that we are all different and special – because it is the ability to recognise and use these differences that makes Tallinn a creative future city. 3.5. Seaside cityObjectives: strengthening the connection between Tallinn and the sea and making us more conscious of it. Thematic program embodies sea tourism, introducing seaside lifestyle, opening the coastal area, creating the necessary infrastructure on the island of Aegna etc. Preparation stage: formulating initial tasks, starting detail plans, contests of ideas. Tallinn’s attractiveness has grown since we opened coastal areas that had been closed for decades. The silhouette of Peter the Great’s castle can today be best admired from the sea; by 2011 the coastal area of Kalamaja should get a coast promenade with pubs and restaurants. The island of Aegna near Tallinn also provides great entertainment and vacation possibilities. Tallinn’s coastal line is 40 kilometres long, but only one fourth of it is open for public. By 2011 Tallinn wants to assure that those 10 kilometres have turned into 40 and the whole coastal line is for citizens and visitors. A seaside walk or a picnic must become a part of the citizens’ everyday lifestyle. We also hope that Tallinn provides valuable experience for many Europeans who get a chance to see for themselves how closed or unused areas can become the centre of the city. The coastal area that borders the port of Tallinn has to develop into the city’s calling card, therefore new buildings in this area have to be designed thoroughly. There are enough cities in Europe whose lead we can follow. Seaside town Tallinn in 2011:
Opening the coastal areas gives Tallinn the chance to introduce our beautiful beach as well as talk about the fifty occupation years in our past. It is important that Tallinn today is a free and open seaside town that remembers its history but has also set sight to the future. 3.6. Modern and changing townObjectives: introducing Tallinn as a youthful and alternative, up-to-date culture town. Preparation stage: contests of ideas, working out IT-solutions. Internet has to be made accessible for everyone and the so-called digital split between the citizens must disappear. Thus, Tallinn would be one of the first cities in the world to provide all citizens with basic services, including the Internet. Among others, Tallinn has introduced its IT-solutions to Moscow, St. Petersburg and many German towns. IT-solutions are an inseparable part of the culture capital project – event information can be found at the portal “Where to go”; one can learn about old buildings and sites via an information system soon to be called into life; every guest can send an E-request, use interactive pocket guides in the Old Town etc. Another idea that is strongly connected with IT-solutions is Tallinn’s plan to become one of the experimental fields for Europe’s model of creative economy in the next few years. There it is possible to assess on a small scale the potential of creative industry (which has up to now mostly been the field of theoreticians); to see how creative work becomes “a product” and to realise how many of our everyday primary consumers’ goods are actually creative work. Taking advantage of the good structure of enterprise incubators, Tallinn is destined to pay special attention to supporting creative industry in the upcoming years. We have also considered creating independent incubators of creative industry. In terms of creative economy, our central project is Polymer, the factory of culture that will move into the rooms of a former power station. It should give a good impression of a culture factory’s working principles both as for form and content – the unused industrial environment will be turned into a cultural room filled up to the maximum. Theatre, cinema, music and art on the one hand and unique architecture on the other will enrich one another, thus creating a successful, future centre of culture. Projects for 2011:
Let’s face it – Internet is no longer an unnecessary luxury, but it has become an essential tool to arrange everyday life. From here, it takes only a small step to understand that creative industry is nothing anti-cultural, but it is our normal environment – from a milk carton to high culture. 4. CO-OPERATING WITH OTHER ESTONIAN TOWNSOn Europe’s scale, Estonia is small and previous experiences have shown that when we plan international events, we can only be successful if we all work together. Therefore, to create the program of the Capital of Culture for 2011, Tallinn has made an offer of co-operation to all Estonian towns. If chosen to be the Capital of Culture, Tallinn will stand for the idea that every town in Estonia hosted at least one important event in the European calendar of culture. That way Tallinn would be the bearer of the title, but the whole country would become the home of European culture that year. Many Estonian festivals already reach several cities – the concerts of the Tallinn International Organ Festival take place in all corners of the country, Klaaspärlimäng and OpeNBaroque embrace Tallinn, Tartu and Pärnu. Not to mention Jazzkaar, which has reached over the whole country in past years, or Schooldance, in case of which it is probably already impossible to tell where the centre might be. The concert program “Forgotten Estonian Manors” also embraced the furthest corners of the country. In the field of education, The University of Tartu and Tallinn City Council have together announced an essay contest for high-school students, where actual topics are discussed and which is gaining popularity from year to year. One of the topics of this year’s essays is “Tartu and Tallinn – rivals or partners?” Another result could also be the idea of different seasonal and thematic “capitals” that has become real popular during the past few years. As we are talking about the title of the culture capital, given by the rules to one town, Tallinn with its outskirts is in the centre of the program. For that, Tallinn has improved its co-operation with the Harju district. As already mentioned, the Harju district plays a very important part in the thematic program “Singing and dancing town”. Tallinn also wants to participate in the Home Defence Days that have been organised for years. In good faith we call up all towns to help us compose the program of the culture capital in order to host Europe together in 2011. We do not try or want to take all the credits. Because of Tallinn’s location and size it has already become the door to Estonia, but our wish is that the guests didn’t stop at the door, but stepped in. On November 1st, Tallinn has called all Estonian mayors together in order to discuss taking the culture capital to every district in Estonia. 5. INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION
6. TALLINN IN THE CULTURAL CALENDAR OF EUROPE IN 2011Planned events:
Events already in the culture calendar:
A more detailed program can be found from the supplement at the end of the application. Mind that first and foremost, this an initial image of the program; composing the detailed program will be the task of a soon-to-be-established foundation. 7. EXPANDED INVOLVEMENTOne of the key points of the culture capital’s project is that of involving citizens and all Estonians – especially when we take into consideration that Tallinn wants to stress the feeling of home. Therefore we understand that our first objective is to bring everybody to culture. Our application to become the Capital of Culture gives us the chance to define the town’s identity. Tallinn has published a collection of essays under the title “From Tallinn. With Regards. Sharply.”, where one can find about ten fresh reflections on the ideas about Tallinn and the capital of culture. As the title says, the essays tend to be rather incisive. But such sharpness and self-critical thinking gives us a possibility to improve. We hope that these essays are some sort of a seed for an extended discussion on the topics of Tallinn, the identity of the citizen and culture. The idea of Tallinn becoming the Capital of Culture in 2011 has already found support among our major cultural organisers (see supp. “support of cultural organisers”) and businesses dealing with infrastructure (see supp. “support of businesses”). The citizens have also had their chance to support the town by posting coupons to special mailboxes at the information centres of each city district or in libraries (see supp. “citizens’ support”). Those who were interested had the chance to participate in Tallinn’s Vision Conference, where there was a workshop about bidding to become the capital of culture. In addition to that, there is a website about the application on the address tallinn2011.ee. Information can also be found in the local district newspapers and country-wide mass media channels. The town pays special attention to children and youngsters. Therefore, if we become the capital of culture, we shall hold a special contest for ideas destined to them, where the stress is on finding original and clever educational programs. In addition to that, the town’s priorities embrace educational programs for children and youngsters, supporting adult extension courses, introducing broad guide-practice programs among citizens so that every one of us could learn to know our town form various angles, to see what is old and new, what is hidden from the eye inside medieval houses and how ultra modern art is born. We will also educate velotaxi- and taxi-drivers and service attendants to guarantee that the people whom our guests first meet would really know their town and would be able to guide and recommend. It is important to involve as many volunteers as possible. After the European Capital of Culture is chosen, we will start a public campaign with several objectives: a) introducing and explaining the essence of the capital of culture to the citizens in order to make everybody who is interested think along; b) introducing the project to tourism, housing and cultural enterprises, evaluating their problems and needs; c) directing a campaign to the EU citizens in order to locate and introduce Estonia. 7.1. Communication in Estonia
7.2. International communicationThe aim of target marketing is to spread information in the cultural spheres of different countries and to acknowledge their citizens of our existence as the capital of culture. It stands on seven pillars:
In addition to the ones already mentioned, Tallinn has many smaller and bigger supporters who have promised to help us receive the necessary attention on the international scene. For example, the English towns of Newcastle and Gateshead will support Tallinn as a tourist destination. It is also important that the international advertising agency JCDecaux has promised to support us, offering free regular advertising over Europe and participating in the development of an integrated tourist information system. 8. FOUNDATION “TALLINN – THE CAPITAL OF CULTURE 2011”Following the footsteps of most previous culture capitals, we intend to establish an independent organisation, the foundation of Tallinn as the Capital of Culture, which gets the task to make all the necessary preparations for the bid and to carry out the program of 2011. Based on our experience, establishing an independent organisation guarantees a more comfortable and effective co-work with the private sector, other organisations and third parties, plus sufficient political independence. We have already made the necessary preparations to start the foundation and it will be established as soon as Tallinn advances to the second round of the contest. The main objective of the foundation “Tallinn – the Capital of Culture 2011” is to offer a high-level international culture program in 2011. Thus the foundation is responsible for making all the necessary decisions concerning financial issues, contracts, marketing, sponsoring and involving foreign partners etc. They will also have the task to design the slogan, logo and visual identity of the culture capital. We want to learn from the mistakes of previous culture capitals and make sure that all this work would be of use after 2011 as well. Therefore we expect the foundation to keep working after 2011 as a coordinator of Tallinn’s cultural life, thus following the example of our English partner Newcastle/Gateshead by being the unit that organises the marketing of the destination after the contest has ended. 9. PLAN OF ACTIVITIES2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
10. BUDGET AND ADDITIONAL SOURCESTallinn’s economic abilities to successfully carry out the project of the Capital of Culture are significantly better than those of other Estonian towns. Creating a well-considered and high-level international cultural program and carrying it out costs a lot and the town itself has to find most of the necessary financial means. Although the European Union has started to support the Capitals of Culture more and more, their support covers only a small part of the budget and thus Tallinn will not rely on the financing of the EU. Tallinn’s budget for 2011 is prognosticated to be 5.8-5.9 milliard kroons. Tallinn estimates to draft approximately 250-300 million kroons to the project of the culture capital and hosting it, which is about 5% of the town’s total budget for 2011. For cultural and sports investments related to the project in 2008-2011 the city plans to draft approximately 100 million kroons per year. The whole capacity of investments related to cultural and sports objects will reach about half a milliard kroons by 2011, which means that the estimated costs of organising and investments will be nearly 800 million kroons. Major culture objects that the town intends to build are the great hall of Tallinn City Theatre, a summer concert hall in the Pirita Convent, Children’s Museum, Tallinn Culture Factory, the Sõle sports complex and Tallinn Sports Gymnastics Centre. The Russian Cultural Centre will be renovated. In addition to all that, the city will invest in other fields, all directly or remotely related to culture. Analysing the financial experiences of previous culture capitals, Tallinn has reached an understanding that the main part of the expenses will be covered by the hosting city and the hosting country, both drafting about 35% of the total budget for the project. The estimated financial support of the private sector is 10%, that of international organisations and sponsors also 10%, the draft of the European Union is 5-10% and profits from other sources, including ticket sales, also 5-10%. The necessary financial drafts to carry out the project can also be covered in co-operation between the public sector and international organisations and the private sector. In order to bear the title well, Tallinn has prepared documents to establish the foundation “Tallinn – the Capital of Culture 2011”, where one of the most important tasks is to arrange the financial part of the culture capital before and after 2011. SUPPLEMENTSSUPPLEMENT 1: PROGRAMThis list is definitely not the final culture calendar of Tallinn in 2011. These are some of the events that have already found their place on the cultural scene and that will take place in 2011 as well. Events both in Tallinn and other places over the country that are organised in co-operation with other Estonian towns will certainly be added here. Composing a more detailed program is the task of a foundation soon to be established. JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
EVENTS STILL TO BE SCHEDULED
SUPPLEMENT 2: TALLINN TODAYPosition and population Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is situated in Northern Estonia on the coast of the Gulf of Finland. The territory of Tallinn is 159.2 km², under that comes one island – Aegna (3 km²) and two lakes – Harku (1.7 km²) and Ülemiste (9.4km²). The river of Pirita runs through the city. According to the data from January 1st 2005, the population of Tallinn was 401 502, 54% of them were Estonians, 36% Russians and 10% people of other nations. The population of Tallinn is about 1/3 of Estonia’s population. There are 2524 persons per one square kilometre. Tallinn is divided into eight city districts – City Centre, Nõmme, Lasnamäe, Haabersti, Pirita, North Tallinn, Kristiine and Mustamäe. The employment rate of the citizens is 69% (data of 2004). In 2004, the number of people working in Tallinn was 222 900, 197 000 of them were the citizens of Tallinn. Every tenth citizen is unemployed. Transport Tallinn has the only international airport in Estonia. In 2004 it performed over 35 000 flight operations and served more than one million passengers. Most of Estonia’s shipping traffic also goes through Tallinn. After St. Petersburg and Copenhagen, Tallinn was the third largest cruise destination at the Baltic Sea in 2004. In 2004, the Port of Tallinn served almost 12 500 ships and 6.7 million passengers. The public transport of Tallinn consists of 67 bus, tram and trolleybus routes (data of 2004) with the total length of 711 km. Citizens and guests are served with 463 vehicles that made 132 million runs in 2004. By 2015, Lasnamäe should get a new speed-tram line. The City Council has accepted such proposal. Tallinn is the biggest railroad junction in Estonia with an international railroad connection; the bus station is the starting point for several international bus lines. Bus and railroad transport play an important part in the life of both a tourist and a local citizen, it also determines life in the outskirts of Tallinn, where people go to work to the capital. Tallinn forms a united labour district together with the Harju district and the North Rapla district. Environment Tallinn has three nature preservation areas, 30 parks, 119 single objects under preservation and four public beaches. The green belt covers 27% of Tallinn’s area. There is 100 m² of green area per citizen (including city forests, green areas belonging to the nation, parks, alleys and coast areas). The green belt makes over 40 km² of Tallinn’s 158 km² area, 3.5 km² of it are town-wide parks and 11.43 km² are district-wide parks. The green belt is distributed unevenly – the “greenest” districts are Mustamäe, Pirita and Nõmme, mainly due to forests. City planning takes the green areas into consideration and if possible, the green belt is expanded and the existing part is kept in good condition. In 2004, Mustamäe-Nõmme nature preservation area was established, the reconstruction of Mustamäe Duck Pond was finished, Stroomi park forest, Police Garden and the park of the Glehn Castle etc. were brought into good condition. The city will continue building the cascade of water fountains and park in Kadriorg. The city has already accepted Tallinn’s general plan and the general plan of coast areas, the general plans of Mustamäe, Pirita and Nõmme are waiting their turn, as well as thematic planning of high buildings, roads and residential areas. Building regulations for Pelgulinn and Nõmme have been enforced. Tallinn has started the project of church renaissance that should last until 2006 and embrace the renovation of 21 church buildings. The Town Wall has 26 towers altogether, their renovation began in 2002 and so far six have been renovated. In 2002, a project “Repair Old Houses” was started to improve the face of the city. Enterprising On January 1st 2005, 40 293 entrepreneurs had registered themselves in Tallinn, which makes 45% of the total number of 90 026 in Estonia. There were 1043 enterprises per 10 000 citizens in Tallinn (the average number of Estonia was 690). Table 1 Number of enterprises per 10 000 citizens, 1999-2005 The registration centre of the Justice Department Tourism Tourism is a branch of economy that develops fast. According to the strategic plan “Tallinn 2025”, the capital of Estonia could become a centre of festival and event tourism in the Baltic Sea region. Compared to other Estonian towns, Tallinn holds the first position in terms of the number of tourists – in 2004 Tallinn welcomed 83% of all tourists visiting Estonia, which means almost three million tourists altogether. A third of them spent more than a day in Tallinn. The average length of a visit was 2.8 nights. In 2004, Tallinn had one of the biggest increases in terms of tourist numbers and it became the leader in the list of Northern European and Baltic capitals for the first time. The growing number of visitors and tourists staying overnight has also resulted in the growth of businesses providing housing services – there are already 247, 99 of which were opened last year. Tourist numbers have continued to increase this year. In the first half of 2005, the number of foreign guests spending the night in Tallinn’s housing firms increased by 73 000 persons (+19%) and the number of nights spent here by them by 162 000 nights (+26%). Altogether, 452 00 tourists spent 777 000 nights in Tallinn’s housing businesses in the first half of 2005. Compared to the same period in 2004, the biggest increase was among vacation passengers (+28%). Among business passengers, the growth of conference passengers was high (+15%), whereas the number of other business passengers decreased. The profits from housing foreign guests were also increased by one fifth, reaching over 466 million kroons in the first half of 2005. Tallinn is actively working on marketing the city as a tourist destination. In 2004, we participated in 11 international tourism fairs and the same number of international workshops, seminars and other marketing events outside Estonia. In 2004, the town’s tourism institution welcomed 228 members of the writing press from 18 different countries (in 2003 those numbers were respectively 208 and also 18) and 18 television groups from 10 countries. In addition to that, Tallinn was introduced as a tourist destination by welcoming 515 travel organisers. The town has been actively advertised in international press, including special literature for vacation and conference tourists. We are publishing information materials and advertising brochures of different content and target groups in six foreign languages. The penta-lingual tourism web of Tallinn is in active use. Tallinn as a destination of cultural tourism is introduced with the help of Tallinn Card. In 2002, Tallinn opened its representation in Brussels, which has to guarantee that Tallinn’s interests are represented in the institutions of EU and the representations of cities and regions, as well as introducing Tallinn as a destination for tourist and other useful investments in Europe. Housing Tallinn has 293 recognised housing enterprises with 5549 rooms and 10698 beds. 45 of them are hotels (4765 rooms/ 8988 beds), 18 guesthouses (207 rooms/ 419 beds), 11 hostels (202 rooms/ 430 beds), 204 guest apartments (320 rooms/ 637 beds), 12 places offering home housing (37 rooms/ 78 beds) and three are vacation camps and villages (18 houses/ 56 beds/ 90 caravan places). Health care Tallinn has seven hospitals; in 2004 there was 2893 bed spaces, including 50 places for restoring care and 255 places for treatment care. In addition to that, there were 181 institutions of medical help and private doctors (dental care not included), including 86 institutions of family doctors. Tallinn has 1785 doctors, 981 of them in hospitals, and 3710 nursing workers. There are also 239 family doctors. In 2004, there were 484 dentists and 547 321 visits were made. Education Most of the country’s educational institutions are in Tallinn (see table) Table 2 Educational institutions in Tallinn in school year 2004/2005
Ministry of Education Sports Tallinn has 46 stadiums, 100 outside ball courts, 20 swimming halls and 109 gyms that the citizens can use. In addition to that, there are two shooting-ranges, three horse riding bases, four ice halls and seven sports tracks. In 2002-2005 28 tarmac basketball courts have been or will be built in Tallinn, nine courts have got new basket constructions and two beach volleyball courts have been built. In 2005 skate-parks will be built at Kristiine (2), Lasnamäe, Kopli and Merivälja. Culture Tallinn can be considered as the cultural centre of Estonia. Half of the theatres are here, as well as many museums and galleries. Table 3 Cultural institutions in Tallinn, April 1st 2005
Cultural Heritage Department In 2004 Estonian theatres had nearly 934 000 visitors, 61% of them in Tallinn. The number of museum visitors was 478 000 last year. For enthusiasts, there are cultural centres in different city districts: Free Time Centre at Haabersti, Lindakivi Cultural Centre at Lasnamäe, Cultural Centre Kaja at Mustamäe, Nõmme Cultural Centre at Nõmme, Free Time Centre at Pirita, Salme Cultural Centre at North Tallinn etc. SUPPLEMENT 3: TALLINN IN 2011A vision of Tallinn in 2011 is based on the documents accepted by the City Council: strategy “Tallinn 2025”, Tallinn’s development plan 2005-2014, the budget strategy of Tallinn 2005-2007 and “The development plan of Tallinn 2006-2015” currently in manipulation by the City Council. Population Despite the fact that the population of Estonia is decreasing, a decrease in the number of the citizens of Tallinn is not expected to be considerable. Estimations say that in 2006-2009 Tallinn will have the population of approximately 403 000, 2011 should not bring a significant decrease either. Considering better infrastructure and labour market that exceeds Estonian average, the increase of Tallinn’s population will come at the cost of other Estonian districts. We expect the employment rate to increase and by 2009, the average salary should grow up to 12 000 kroons. Tallinn and its outskirts is the engine of the country’s development. Due to free lots and their low prices, the outskirts become more and more attractive for investors. In the future years, the citizens of Tallinn will continue to move from residential districts to the outskirts. Thus Tallinn will become one with nearby small towns and villages, which results in better co-operation with the municipalities of the Harju district. Tallinn provides more than half of the Gross National Product. The continuous development of the capital is supported by the data of the Bank of Estonia, according to which in 2004, 65% of loans in Estonia were given to the trading companies and citizens registered in Tallinn. Transport By 2011 Tallinn has set the following objectives:
Environment Planning the development of the city derives from the principles of economical development. Waste management will be based on the waste management plan to be accepted in 2006. By 2008 four waste stations will be built, including one in the area of the Mustjõe-Veskimetsa crossing and one near the Pääsküla dumping ground in 2005-2006, one in the area of Punane street at Lasnamäe and one in the area of Paljassaare street at North Tallinn in 2006-2008. Valuable parks will be taken under protection and they will be kept in good order according to their class. In 2006, new regulations concerning cemeteries will be forced. By 2011 the general plans for Pirita, Mustamäe, Nõmme, North Tallinn, Kristiine and Lasnamäe will be drawn and by 2014 those of other city districts as well. We intend to project and build the Pirita coastal promenade and develop the coastal area at Pirita that is of town-wide importance. In 2006 we intend to approve the thematic plan of the green belt and street network, also the thematic plan concerning public transport and light traffic. We will expand detailed planning initiated by the town. We set the objective to make students more aware of environment protection and economical development by creating possibilities to obtain environmental education in the nature. An important point is to revive the sea tradition with thematic events and thus confirming Tallinn’s position in the Baltic Sea region. Enterprising We will create a better enterprising environment by intermediating information, working on active and destined marketing, advising entrepreneurs, organising schooling and information days, developing small businesses in incubators, drafting supports etc. The objective is to promote innovation, the co-operation between entrepreneurs and the public sector; to improve labour quality by building TEHNOPOL, the Technology Park of Tallinn; to confirm the relationship with Helsinki, paying attention to starting the project of Tallinn-Helsinki as a twin city of science. With the help of a successful structure of business incubators, Tallinn intends to pay special attention to supporting the development of creative industry. We have also considered the need for independent incubators of creative industry. To create new jobs we will build the Industrial Park of Lasnamäe, co-finance educating new workers, engage homeless people in common weal work and support the companies that offer homeless people temporary jobs. Tourism By 2011 we have set the following objectives:
Health care The main attention is on health improvement, especially developing a lifestyle that values and favours health. It also means creating the necessary infrastructure (for sporting and spending spare time). Due to changes in the age structure of the population, the numbers of treatment care places have to be increased and more attention paid to restoring care. The objective is to minimize double work by developing co-operation between hospitals, also cutting long queues by improving services, namely by introducing a new internet-based registration system. If a new central hospital is built, the city will apply for it to be set in Lasnamäe, as most of the existing hospital facilities are located in the western part of town. Next to the Lasnamäe hospital, a department of extraordinary medicine and a traumatology facility will be established. In order to improve the accessibility and quality of special health care, the services of home nursing and day-care will be improved. Social issues By 2011, the following objectives must be reached:
Education Tallinn’s general objectives to carry out the educational strategy for 2011:
Sports To improve the sporting and spare time spending opportunities of citizens, new walking paths, public ball-courts and playgrounds will be built. The network of walking paths will be developed. Tallinn will continue to build gyms to schools, renovating school stadiums and opening those stadiums for public use. To improve the sporting environment, the city will continue investing to sports bases in its possession. Together with the owners and administrators of private bases, new co-operation models of the private and the public sector will be brought to life in order to develop the bases. In 2007, Tallinn will start to work out a system to support sporting activities of 20-26 year-olds in co-operation with sport organisations, the Ministry of Culture and the Estonian Olympic Committee. New public swimming halls will be built at Mustamäe, North Tallinn, Lasnamäe, Haabersti and Kristiine. Culture The objective of the city’s culture life is to guarantee the permanence of Estonian cultural traditions and vitality in all fields and give the citizens various opportunities that fill their spare time and develop their mental powers, thus helping them in self-realization. City districts have the task of creating the citizens sufficient possibilities to participate in enthusiast circles and spend their spare time. Tallinn’s general objectives to develop the field of culture in 2011:
The financing system of Tallinn’s name events is being worked out and it should be a guarantee for the organisers of major cultural events (Tallinn’s Day, Old Town Days, Jazzkaar, PÖFF, Festival of Light, Medieval Market, theatre festival “Midsummer Nights’ Dream” etc.). The name events of Tallinn are a great opportunity to co-operate with our partner cities to enrich our cultural life and introduce Tallinn’s cultural heritage and our potential as an attractive cultural city. Calling our partner cities to Tallinn’s Day and developing Tallinn’s Day into an international cultural event should become regular. We plan to work out the Festival of Tallinn that lasted from Tallinn’s Day to Old Town Days. SUPPLEMENT 4: RESULTS OF THE INQUIRY “HOW DO THE CITIZENS OF TALLINN VALUE THE TITLE OF THE CAPITAL OF CULTURE?”The omnibus-inquiry was carried out by ES Turu-uuringute AS among the citizens of Tallinn between the age of 15-74 (the size of the random sample being 300 persons) from 15th to 23rd September. The purpose was to understand what the citizens of Tallinn expect from the culture capital, what this title gives to the Estonian capital and its citizens and what advantages Tallinn has compared to Tartu and Pärnu, the other two Estonian contest cities. Analysing the question “What do you expect from the program of the culture capital?” showed that the citizens expect diversity of events: in addition to the events of high culture they also want to take part in popular mass events (approximately half of the people wanted that). Interestingly enough, there were no major differences in terms of gender, age, educational level or nationality. The citizens also value the importance of active participating in the program, through the above-mentioned popular events as well as being volunteers and organising events, e.g. via non-profit unions. It has to be mentioned that women valued this opportunity higher than men. Answers to the question “In your opinion, what will the title of the Capital of Culture bring along?” showed even more than wanting Tallinn to grow its importance as a tourist destination, the citizens wish Tallinn’s general look and the state of cultural buildings to improve. The group with especially high hopes in that matter are 30-39 year old well-educated women. The citizens also valued highly the importance of increasing investments and the growth of vacant working places, strengthening the integration process and increasing co-operation of different national groups, but also increasing self-evaluation and strengthening identity. In the matter of growing investments and vacant jobs, non-Estonians were more optimistic, the same applies to male answerers and people of primary or fundamental education. Men were also more optimistic about the idea that the title of the culture capital would raise the self-evaluation of Tallinn’s citizens and strengthen their identity. This also applies for middle-aged and old answerers. The situation concerning the cultural integration was rather the opposite – young people see culture as a possibility to unite different national groups, every other citizen of primary or fundamental education think the same, just like those of high education. On the contrary, citizens of secondary and applied secondary education are more pessimistic about these two questions. Answering to the question “What are Tallinn’s strong sides compared to Tartu and Pärnu, the other two Estonian contest cities?”, the citizens of Tallinn named several advantages. 98% were convinced that the unique Old Town and rich cultural heritage play an important part in Tallinn getting the title and bearing it. 95% mentioned better resources and the fact that in Tallinn, the number of people participating would be the highest. This kind of attitude that values Tallinn’s bid shows the main truth that our citizens share – Tallinn is the capital of Estonia and therefore the best candidate to represent Estonia. More than 4/5 of the answerers were convinced that Tallinn’s cultural program would be intense and rich, offering experiences not only in 2011, but also in the previous and following period. SOURCES
Last updated: 10.03.2011
|
