A person was considered to have visited the area if he spent at least 20 minutes in the area. The statistics do not make it possible to detect the movements of an individual mobile phone user.
The statistics show how much the city center has quieted down since the outbreak of the pandemic. For example, in September, the mobile phone network operator’s daily number of visits in 2019 was on average 202,400, but in 2020 only 121,700, in 2021 115,300 and in 2022 124,900. The number of visits in September was therefore almost 420 percent2 lower than in September. 2019
“The main reason for the decrease in the number of visitors to the city center is probably that remote work is still common.” Tapio AlväTelia Finland’s data manager, comment For Helsingin Sanomat at the end of November. “When you don’t go downtown to work, you don’t go downtown either.”
“More and more people shopping online and in shopping centers located outside the city center have probably also contributed to the decrease in visits to the city center.”
Regarding Finnish mobile phone subscriptions, the data do not give an idea of how the number of foreign visitors has recovered since the pandemic began to subside.
Levä also estimates that it is still premature to speculate whether the decrease in visits is permanent, as many workplaces have only just started to try out new hybrid models that combine remote and in-person work.
“Many workplaces created a hybrid model after this year’s summer holidays, where remote work and personal work alternate. The models are now in trial use. The future will show how work procedures are organised,” he commented.
Minna MarttolaThe development manager of the City of Helsinki emphasized to Helsingin Sanomat that big events still attract people to the city center. The opening of Aleksanterinkatu Joulukatu brought about 35,000 people to the center on November 19, according to data collected by the capital.
“Everything that increases and diversifies experiences increases the appeal of the city center. It must also be understood that people visit the center for different reasons at different times,” he said.
The city of Helsinki is already considering measures to renew the city center, including reducing the bureaucracy related to organizing events and developing pedestrian areas in the city center. One possible answer to the latter is to cut back on parking on pedestrian streets outside the opening hours.
“We have received feedback from street-level businesses in the area that a car parked on the street is not good from the point of view of shops or restaurants,” Maarttola said.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT