Visualizing Tammelinn as a 15-minute neighborhood.
Introduction
Tammelinn which translates to old oak is one of the 18 districts of Tartu, the second-largest city in Estonia. In an area of 311 ha, 8209 people reside. The neighborhood is located southwest of the city center and connected to it and to the motorway via Riia Street, one of the most important streets in Tartu. Originally planned by architect Edgar Johan Kuusik in 1923, wih 423 plots (Tartu Linn, 2022, Kallast, 2021). The originally planned development structure of Tammelinn can be found mainly in the northeastern part, which is characterized by detached, two-story singlefamily houses, some of them historic wooden houses. The southwestern part, which was developed much later, has, in addition to detached houses, other structures such as semidetached houses, terraced houses, and modern, multi-story apartment buildings. This project plan deals with the 278 ha section sharply delimited by Riia to the northwest, the railway line to Valga to the east, and the motorway to Tallinn to the southwest, hereafter referred to as Tammelinn. The area with a population of 6612 people is characterized by its homogeneity, functional separation, and focus on the automobile as a mode of transportation.
Aim
Provide more accessibility and connectivity for the residents of the Tammelinn neighborhood.
Vision
The purpose of this project plan is to build a comprehensive strategy for transforming Tammelinn neighborhood into a 15-minute neighborhood. The aim of the project is to provide more accessibility and connectivity for the residents of the neighborhood. The proposed plan features a variety of facilities and activities, including better access to services, improved active mobility infrastructure, and recreational facilities. The 15-minute neighborhood will promote physical activity and social interaction. There will be areas where residents and visitors can relax, enjoy nature, and interact. Creating a neighborhood center that increases accessibility to almost all services is the primary goal. The vision for this project is to create a vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable neighborhood that will serve better walkability and soft mobility for people of all ages.
Current Service accessibility
Improved Service accessibility
Empirical Analysis
To visualize and understand the current accessibility of existing services in and around the neighborhood, isochrones distances between services and population grid cells were calculated. Isochrones indicate the area that can be reached on foot from one or more points within a given time (from 4 to more than 10 minutes). Four categories of services were considered here, namely shops, food services, educational institutions, and health facilities. Based on the isochrones, a ranking was formed for the grid cells. Based on this, a correlation analysis was carried out to determine whether there is a correlation between the population, the age group, and the accessibility of the services. The isochrone analysis shows that most services are located outside the neighborhood and reach mainly the north side of the neighborhood. The Tamme School within the neighborhood provides better accessibility scores for educational services. Also, it appears that the southern part of the neighborhood is the worst served. In general, a large proportion of the population (4699 out of 6612 people) in the southern neighborhood has partial or limited access to services.