Saturday had the Old Student House on Mannerheimintie full of community-spirited folk gathering for Dodo's annual Megapolis event, where the theme this year was "The Rhythms of Cities". One of the talks was a slam-style "battle" between representatives of developers for two of Helsinki's decommissioned harbour areas Jätkäsaari and Kalasatama. The showdown ended in a cliffhanger, with the MC stating that "the winner will be revealed over the coming years", presumably when the grafitti wall and containers have long been replaced by blocks of flats. But it was fun watching Jätkäsaari's temporary use for concerts featuring certain megastars being parried with the Dodo city growers' harvest party (pictured below) where Archie was officially launched. I don't know what role developers have in the pre-construction phase, but hopefully they will continue to capitalize on local values rather than bending to global forces. The audience was most vocal with their concern over the presence of malls and the impact that would have on the ability of small businesses to thrive (photo). We look forward to hearing the topic for next year's Megapolis!
