Expert: Tallinn is Losing Families to Neighboring Municipalities - the Solution Lies in Developing the City's Waterfront Areas Also as Single-Family Homes

More than 80% of Estonian youth dream of a detached house, yet nearly 90% of residential spaces in Tallinn are apartments. This contradiction contributes to urban sprawl, which cannot be curbed solely by restricting construction beyond the city border. According to spatial planners, the solution lies within Tallinn itself: the city must encourage developments that offer families homes they desire and can afford. One possible solution is a small-house development in Paljassaare, designed following Nordic examples – a comprehensive living environment by the sea that has remained unused until now.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications recently released the key solution of the national plan "Estonia 2050," one of whose main messages is the need to move toward more compact land use. This means creating more diverse living options within cities and other settlements, making better use of existing infrastructure, built environment, and the benefits of urban life.

When discussing urban sprawl, the focus is typically on settlements adjacent to the capital and limiting new developments. Yet the root cause of the spatial problem originates from the city itself. Tallinn does not offer people enough pleasant, suitable, and affordable living options. One of the most effective ways to control urban sprawl is to make better spatial choices within the city limits.

Tallinn is a city of apartment buildings, but young people dream of their own yard

Urban sprawl typically begins with house hunting. A trend study conducted during the preparation of the national plan shows that more than 80% of today's young people dream of a detached house. This reflects society's strong desire for privacy, individuality, and closeness to nature.

However, suitable options in Tallinn are few: nearly 90% of residential spaces in the city are apartments. In 2025, detached houses, townhouses, and row houses made up only 7.3% of residential premises that received occupation permits.

There are three dimensions to choosing a home: need, preference, and budget. In Tallinn's housing market, homes that would fully meet the expectations of an average Estonian family are extremely rare.

In 2025, just over a hundred detached houses, townhouses, and row houses were completed, located mainly in Haaberstis, Pirital, or Kristiines, and most remain unaffordable due to their price.

For the second year in a row, real estate experts' autumn forecast points to growing stocks of unsold apartments. This indicates a mismatch between market supply and home seekers' expectations. The spatial uniformity of developments may not match home seekers' preferences or needs. Our city and its residents need more diverse housing types.

If affordable homes with private yards and greater privacy than apartments cannot be found, young people's gaze turns away from the city toward newly developing residential areas.

Since more than half of all residential permits issued in Harju County are granted for Tallinn, the capital's housing choices affect the development of the entire region. The issue is also highlighted by the motto of Tallinn's new city-wide master plan: "A City Creating Possibilities." However, formulating strategy is only the first step; actual change requires bold decisions and cooperation with developers.

The Nordic dream: row and townhouses in the city

The contradiction between housing preferences and market supply is not merely an Estonian problem. Similar spatial preferences and changes characterize other Nordic countries as well.

One possible solution is to allow new housing types in cities, such as quality factory-built standard houses. In Nordic housing economies, such solutions help bring homes offering individuality to families faster and more affordably. A quality row or townhouse combines the privacy of a detached house, greenery, and a near-urban living environment, which could be called the Nordic dream.

A good example is Mesiohaka Niidukodud near Keila, designed by Mari Hunt Architects, where quality architecture and environment meet a more affordable price. Within Tallinn, such examples are essentially absent, though opportunities exist to develop previously unused areas within the city into comprehensive residential neighborhoods.

At the end of 2025, for example, the land owner Põhjakalda OÜ and spatial design bureau Muutruum OÜ proposed a similar approach for 16 properties on Paljassaare põik, to create a comprehensive living environment in the attractive North Tallinn area, combining urban life with natural opportunities and opening up the seashore.

The development concept's idea is to create an extension of the seaside residential village based on Neeme Street's detached house typology, featuring homes suited to families' needs, including single houses, townhouses, and row houses, which would offer greater individuality and private gardens or courtyards. Diverse public space and a natural park would tie the development together, helping direct human activity and protect the values of the Natura bird protection area.

The development would be characterized by the compactness typical of Nordic and Dutch small-house neighborhoods, which in turn allows one-third of the property to remain completely untouched: as potential expansion of the Natura protection area! This innovative approach in Tallinn's context has received positive feedback from urban planning experts who confirm that such an approach is needed in Tallinn. However, implementing this vision requires a bold decision by the City of Tallinn to allow development that is unconventional and requires rethinking quality space, preservation of nature values, and the city's strategic development from a different angle.

A residential village in the city, but where?

In Tallinn, which has developed unevenly over the past 30 years, there are few opportunities to create new cozy and family-friendly small-house neighborhoods. The Paljassaare peninsula is one of the few areas that could offer the closeness to nature and privacy similar to Lahemaa villages while simultaneously taking advantage of the infrastructure that comes with North Tallinn's rapid development, already completed public spaces, and nearby services.

Currently, this is hindered by an urban planning approach that treats nature conservation and city development as opposing goals and prefers to maintain Paljassaare's current state. Why change anything for development's sake? Simply imposing restrictions does not ensure genuine protection of nature values in a rapidly developing urban area.

Recent disputes elsewhere in Tallinn also show that when nature and development are opposed, procedures drag on for years and both end up losing.

The Paljassaare Natura 2000 bird area is an important recreation and movement space for people. It is used for walks, dog walking, picnics, and bonfire evenings. However, visitor pressure disturbs birds, especially during nesting season.

The solution could be nature-sensitive development that buffers the impact of human activity. If quality public space with recreation and movement opportunities and private garden areas in homes, including grilling spaces, are created next to the bird area, some of the visitor pressure would be redirected away from sensitive nature.

Thus nature conservation and urban development would not need to exclude each other. Carefully planned development could even help protect nature. An additional benefit is an organized area where it is safer and brighter to move about.

Successful spatial strategy requires courage to implement novel solutions

Urban sprawl cannot be completely reversed, but its spread can be slowed by offering people more living options in cities that match their desires and needs. Through previous public space projects, Tallinn has experience in designing environments that are balanced from both human activity and nature perspectives.

The decision of where and how to live always remains an individual choice, but the possibilities that the city encourages and offers play an important role. In October, Tallinn City Government set the goal of the new master plan to be a city open to the sea, closer to nature, and more family-oriented, and committed to processing detailed plans 2.5 times faster.

In Paljassaare, it would be possible to implement these goals right now: open up the closed seashore, add over 33 hectares of green and nature conservation areas to the city, and offer families homes that Tallinn lacks. This would also help move toward the goal of Tallinn's development strategy "2035," which states that the share of residents who consider Tallinn a truly people-friendly city should grow. Currently, only 30% of residents feel this way.

Nordic experience and quality factory construction offer one possible solution. The Põhjakalda development area could become Tallinn's first pilot project that combines quality space, construction innovation, and the city's strategic goals. It would be an opportunity to bring the small-house format back to the city and genuinely address urban sprawl in Harju County and create attractive and comprehensive living environments in the capital.

The owner's and developer's willingness and spatial experts' approval are in place. Now the question is whether Tallinn is ready to make choices in people's interests that also help the city achieve its own stated goals.