Pasila
The Clearance of the Wooden Houses

Kimmo Pälikkö, painting, 1974.
Pasila Hill.

      From 1940 on, the rental agreements for the plots in Pasila were extended for shorter and shorter periods of time and in 1965 some of the agreements were discontinued. Pasila fell into disrepair. The rented houses

were no longer renovated because the future seemed so insecure. The inhabitants did not stay for long and slowly the amenities disappeared. Pasila became the home of people who had been marginalized from working life or who were on a low income. The clearing of the old Pasila and the relocation of the population took almost 10 years. The systematic clearance of the area began in 1977. The first residents moved to the new Länsi-Pasila (West Pasila) in 1981 while the clearance of the old Pasila was still in progress. Only a few wooden houses in Hertanmäki were left as a reminder of the past.