Hiiumaa municipality architect Kaire Nõmm takes a look at what life could be like on one of Estonia’s main islands.
What is Hiiumaa like?
This picturesque and somewhat mysterious island is located in a peripheral area in Estonia, but at the same time it is only a stone’s throw away from the centre of Europe. The surface area is just over 1000 km2 and there are under ten thousand residents. There are many bays on the coastline with numerous smaller islets and reefs in the coastal waters. It is largely thanks to the abundance of protected areas and its peripheral location that Hiiumaa still retains a lot of pristine nature and well-preserved biodiversity which is why it also boasts a calm and clean family-friendly living environment. These values deserve to be protected. There are no large-scale industrial parks, dense urban environments, or vast entertainment centres. There is one city (Kärdla) and two small towns (Käina, Kõrgessaare) with around 4200 inhabitants but the population on the island is mostly sparse.
People, lifestyles and seasonality
Hiiumaa natives tend to have their peculiar sense of humour and an open mind. They live on their own by their own wisdom, although ideas from the wider world have also found their way to the island—in older times with ships coming from the sea, in more recent times with the local people’s own explorations (although I suspect there are still some people in Hiiumaa who have never left the island and even leaving their own village for the local centre is as rare as a trip abroad).
In addition to the natives, there are also many people who arrived on the island in some other way—either to start a family, work or travel here and have come to appreciate this inexplicable something so much that Hiiumaa has become their permanent home. Or their second home. Commuting between the mainland is a common way of life, also among the natives. At one point, one might need to make the decision to work or study elsewhere but returning home is important and frequent. Those who have built their summer house on the island usually extend the season and come back whenever possible throughout the year. So they may also be called part-time locals and it is only a matter of time before it is replaced by the full-time status. The trend is that people with two homes find it increasingly difficult to define if their real home is on the island or on the mainland.
There is a widespread illusion that time passes differently on the island, that we cannot be rushed. When you get on the ferry from Rohuküla, you already feel the pace slowing down and time flowing freely—in its own rhythm, with your own thoughts, in the midst of nature and with nature, away from the big world, in some sense even out of reach. And similarly, leaving the island always requires planning. You cannot come and go whenever you feel like it, you have to plan your moves and make time for it. Nothing happens quickly here, and the departure of the ferry or the plane depends on the weather. Going to the theatre or a concert does not mean a fun night but at least a two-day adventure. The quality of local life and services is thus all the more important. In summer, there are numerous events in Hiiumaa and with them also visitors. Life is bustling and you cannot possibly reach everywhere. In autumn, life becomes quiet and more contemplative again.
The sea plays an important role in local people’s life. It is both a separator and a unifier. You come and go by sea, fish are brought from the sea and also the local identity is shaped by the sea. On this side of the sea, things are as we think, our way. The built-up areas are also mostly located on the coast where you can enjoy the environment that only an island can offer: being on the borderline, interaction between various ecological communities, the alternation of covert and overt spaces. Therefore, the development interest is the greatest on the coast, and when planning the future we need to find the right way to enable it while also preserving the values that we collectively consider important on the island.
Future visions and wishes
As a result of the administrative reform in 2017, the former five municipalities of Hiiumaa were merged into one, forming the only county-sized municipality in Estonia. The new municipality needs a new perspective, and a new plan covering the entire island is currently being prepared to replace the twelve comprehensive plans that have been in force until now. The comprehensive plan will define the general spatial design principles for many years to come and will act as a local government tool in shaping the built environment and in protecting the local values. With the new comprehensive plan, we will align the requirements but obviously also reconceptualise our attitude to different topics and island-wide goals
Looking at recent history, we can see changes in long-standing spatial relations all over the world. These changes and revisions are driven by the rapid growth of world population, increasingly tenser human relations (both in sharing resources and interpreting important values), global viruses, overproduction and overconsumption, the ageing of the population in developed countries but also changes in climate conditions. When planning the future of Hiiumaa, we are walking on a relatively thin ice. We do not know if we actually need to be prepared for a greater contraction and decrease in population or if a completely different scenario will unfold with the pristine nature and good climate attracting a number of new residents, including climate refugees. Both scenarios are entirely possible within the next 30–40 years. In the context of the new comprehensive plan, we aimed to predict the impact of the given scenarios on the spatial development of Hiiumaa and the proposed changes should not run counter to the development of either extreme.
Regardless of the scenario, the comprehensive plan highlights the most important starting points for spatial design in Hiiumaa:
- The island is a good place to live if you value natural environment, island lifestyle and unique cultural space.
- A selection of services allowing to uphold contemporary living standards is ensured. Most of them are located in the county centre, however, considering the size of the island, they are still accessible.
- It is necessary to strengthen energy security and ensure good connections with the outside world (in terms of transport, communication and electricity) and promote business diversification.
- The sea and the coastline with all the services (harbours, fishing, tourism) create opportunities, not obstacles.
Scenario 1: shrinking Hiiumaa
In case Estonia is seen as a peripheral country in Europe, and Hiiumaa, in turn, becomes peripheral in Estonia, then Hiiumaa will shrink. In that case, it would be very difficult to uphold entrepreneurship (since there are few consumers, getting a loan is difficult, connections expensive, raw materials and products must be shipped, only small-scale consumers can be connected with the energy infrastructure etc.), the choice of jobs would remain poor and services with uneven quality would not give young people confidence about the future. Pristine nature and peaceful environment alone cannot support the development of the island. In such a scenario, the county centre will become even more important compared to other regions as services are mostly concentrated here. The area around Kärdla will become more attractive as a place to live since people want to be closer to work and services. Places of natural beauty and the coastline will still be valued. Development and connecting roads will be concentrated in the north and the east, linking the main centres and harbours. The natural landscapes around Kärdla will be under greater pressure. However, all areas on the coast as well as the more easily accessible forests and bogs will remain important.
Scenario 2: growing Hiiumaa
The most important attractions of Hiiumaa are nature and peaceful environment that appear as an attractive oasis in the immediate vicinity of Europe’s overcrowded urban environments. The island’s way of life and peripheral location can be seen as an advantage when choosing a place to live (incl. raise children). The increasingly difficult living conditions in the southern regions due to the climate change force people to move in search for new habitats. Our climate is getting warmer, winters milder. The good climate, pristine nature and developed society make Estonia an attractive area to live. With its natural way of living and abundant unused land, Hiiumaa will stand out among residential options. Good connections (externally by ship and plane, the internet, locally cars, public transport and cycling between different regions on the island) support the availability of services and business development, for instance, living in the midst of beautiful nature you can do business all over the island or over the world.
In such a scenario, the population will grow, business boom, services improve and diversify, and also other centres besides Kärdla will get stronger and expand beyond their original territory. Most of the people arriving look for a place to live and work in or near the centres and they do not wish to own a large plot of land for cultivation. Built-up areas will expand primarily along the main roads allowing a good access to their homes and links to utilities. As the population is more evenly distributed, connections between the residential areas will become more important and the demand for harbour services and berths will increase in all harbours, including the small ones. In this case, the electricity infrastructure will need significant improvement. Seaside areas along the entire coast as well as the more easily accessible bogs and hiking trail will become recreational areas for both locals and visitors.
Short-term scenario: preserved Hiiumaa
In recent years, the population curve in Hiiumaa has risen slightly. In the short-term scenario of the comprehensive plan, the population will remain at a similar level. Hiiumaa is known in Europe as a peaceful place of natural beauty suitable for recreation (tourism) and for improving the silver economy, that is, services for the elderly. Business is oriented to diversifying the tourism sector, creating temporary housing and improving recreational services. Young people find feasible tasks in developing rural tourism and want to bring their family to the local nature. Hiiumaa is increasingly popular as a second home and not only in summer. Getting out of the peripheral status in the Estonian context requires a lot of effort and special agreements from the state (on encouraging business development, ensuring medical care, updating the educational network, building non-motorised traffic networks, improving ferry and air connections etc.).
Challenges
At the local level it is important to develop the island as a whole to avoid marginalisation within Hiiumaa. Since the small number of inhabitants does not allow the duplication of services in different areas, the services should be distributed among different centres and their availability improved through connections (roads, non-motorised traffic, public transport).
Areas outside the centres are largely considered as sparsely populated regions with no strict rules imposed on the developments. Investments are mostly welcome and each of them is considered separately pursuant to the nature of the development, taking into account their willingness to preserve valuable landscapes and agricultural lands, architectural cultural heritage, green networks and protected areas.
In the context of the globally agreed common climate goals, people could commute less between centres and countries and get more things done locally. The question is whether locally here means in Estonia or Hiiumaa or even on the local village level.
The challenge is how to reduce the inevitability of personal car use in a sparsely populated area. There is public transportation, but the stops tend to be far from people and thus few people use the bus. Time is relevant also when living on an island. Could self-driving cars come to the rescue here, taking people to public transport hubs, or a practical app to coordinate carpooling between neighbours? Time will tell, but with the plan we can suggest how to steer the development of people’s daily mobility habits. Choosing a (electric) bike instead of a car is all the more likely if there is non-motorised traffic network across the island, between the centres and the most important service points and attractions. However, the implementation of the proposed network on such a scale requires state support as Hiiumaa’s revenue base is not enough for the purpose.
There is a shortage of rental spaces and modern flats in the centres of Hiiumaa. This, in turn, makes it difficult to attract new specialists. In addition to finding suitable places for apartment buildings in built-up areas, the plan should also create possibilities for new detached houses in rural areas. With the new comprehensive plan, we intend to find a balance between the possibility of developments and preserving the natural heritage. There are many marshy areas in the central part of the island, which is why built-up areas are mainly on the coast. Coastal areas also include various nature conservation restrictions that do not really favour new initiatives. With the comprehensive plan, we want to establish where and to what extent it would be possible to allow new developments, as they are more attractive in terms of the local lifestyle and often also more feasible in terms of building specifications. According to the current Land Board maps and the interpretation of the Environmental Board, the building exclusion zone has sometimes moved as far as a kilometre from the shore, that is, deeper inland than the historical inhabited areas. A restriction of this scale aiming at the protection of the coastline and the shore does not seem to be justified far from the coast. For this purpose, we have mapped the actual situation, estimating the outlines of the frequently flooded areas from where the 200-metre building exclusion zone will be calculated. A suitable solution has not been found yet, and the local government must continue to work closely with the Environmental Board.
County seat
Kärdla as the county centre is also the largest built-up area, but in character it is more like a small and cosy garden town. Most of the services are here, so it is important for both locals and visitors. People come here by car. The comprehensive plan takes a more detailed look at the development of Kärdla than the rural areas and we suggest some ways to make it a convenient and compact living environment for locals and a friendly place for visitors. To this end, we propose densification of the town centre and encourage new activities around the central square and along the streets leading there. If the places to visit are located close to one another and they are accessible on foot, it will encourage the choice of slow modes of mobility. This way we can reduce speed and make the journey safer for pedestrians and cyclists so that, for example, children do not need to be driven to school. Basically we suggest turning the streets of Kärdla into sidewalks where cars are allowed at a slow speed. We do not want the centre to become a parking lot and so there will be smaller parking areas on the edge of the town centre. This way, there will be less noise, the urban space will be safer and the street more pleasant. The street is not merely a surface for traffic, it carries the ambience and identity of the area and it is an important place for communicating and spending time. This is also made possible by the recently reconstructed central square. Kärdla is located by the sea, but the harbour is a little further away from the centre. We are trying to bring the seaside closer to people, steering the daily walking routes to connect important service points, pass through parks and green areas and link also the banks of the rivers leading to the sea with the route.
To sum up
In order for people to continue living in fringe areas, residents need to be assured that there will be medical care and rescue service, functioning schools and kindergartens and a sufficient amount of high-quality contemporary services also in the future. In addition to services, we also need a contemporary and caring environment. If the surroundings are not cosy or pleasant, people will leave sooner or later. Rural life is changing. There is no longer land cultivation or farm animals in every household (at least no more than needed for personal use). Changes in lifestyle become faster with the development of high-quality internet connection allowing remote work and global communication. Perhaps the most important utility is electricity as these days nothing much can be done without it. However, almost all of the available capacity in Hiiumaa is in use already and the entire electricity grid should be rebuilt to connect new power plants. Perhaps now is the time to toy more seriously with the idea of producing all electricity needed for Hiiumaa locally? Even despite the fact that for some locals a mere mention of wind generators is like a red rag to a bull. With the spread of new lifestyles, could Hiiumaa finally get a chance to take a leap forward? Also the national planning trends studies have shown that the general understanding of the need for green scenarios has improved and their realisation is more likely than ever before.
The comprehensive plan of Hiiumaa is drawn up by AB Terrae OÜ, the environmental impact assessment report by Akranel OÜ. The public space vision for Kärdla was drawn up by Kino Landscape Architects with Kristiina Hellström.
KAIRE NÕMM is the municipal architect of Hiiumaa Parish. She is one of the founders of the School of Architecture in Estonia and ran it for the last ten years.
HEADER photo by Joosep Kivimäe
PUBLISHED: Maja 114 (autumn 2023), with main topic ISLANDS
