Хаукилахти: история, ландшафт и современность района

Haukilahti is surrounded by a line of cliffs 20 to 30 metres high (Hauenkallio, Telamäki, Rajakallio, Pitkänkallio). There are lower areas between these cliffs (5 to 15 metres above sea level). The lowest parts of Haukilahti are located at Telaniitty and Pattistenpuisto, which is a former part of the Haukilahti bay later reclaimed by land. The terrain of the Haukilahti area is nowadays dominated by clay in the lower areas and cliffs in the higher areas, with a thin layer of plant litter covering some of them. In 2012, there were 2854 homes in Haukilahti, 54 of which were built before 1960, majority or 1386 during 1960–1969, 673 in 1970 1979 and roughly 680 after 1979. The apartment buildings in Haukilahti are located west of the boat harbour on Mellstenin rantatie, on the highest spots of Pitkänkallionmäki and Hauenkallionmäki, and along Haukilahdenkatu and the border to Westend. There are terraced houses on the northern part of the former Toppelund manor area, on the Telamäki and Pattistenpuisto areas and around Pitkänkallionmäki. The business buildings in the area are along Haukilahdenkatu.

The first signs of human habitation in Haukilahti are the Bronze Age graves on the Hauenkallio cliff near the Haukilahti water tower. At the time Haukilahti was an island with cliffs and swamps. Development of Haukilahti stayed slower than that of the rest of Espoo for a long time, as there were no fast connections to there from Helsinki or from elsewhere in Espoo. Up to the 1930s Haukilahti could only be accessed by ship, but the situation changed when the Finnish state decided to build the Jorvaksentie highway (now known as Länsiväylä) in 1932 to combat unemployment in areas west of Helsinki. The new highway made the trip to Helsinki significantly shorter Because of this, all areas in Espoo got a functional zoning plan and a sketch for the plan in Haukilahti was made in January 1964. Construction during the zoning plan continued with exception permits. Many of the new buildings were apartment buildings and terraced houses. The city of Espoo made a new zoning plan in May 2016 for a new residential area on the Mellstenintie side edge of the Toppelundinpuisto park. The plan was materialised smaller than planned, with the area within construction rights being about half of what was planned.

Haukilahti has two Finnish language kindergartens run by the city of Espoo (Haukilahti and Toppelund kindergartens) as well as a private Swedish language kindergarten founded in 1990, with a service contract with the city of Espoo. The original building of the Haukilahti kindergarten was dismantled in autumn 2017 because of mildew problems, A French language kindergarten was founded in Haukilahti in 1995, but it later moved to Kruununhaka in the neighbouring city of Helsinki. There have been two primary schools in Haukilahti, the Toppelund School founded in 1985 The Haukilahti gymnasium used to be in the same premises as the Haukilahti school, but it moved to the Aalto University campus in Otaniemi in autumn 2016, keeping its original name. The Haukitalo building, maintained by the city of Espoo, is located in the centre of Haukilahti near the Länsiviitta shopping centre. The building serves as a meeting place for senior citizens in the area. Activities organised for senior citizens in Haukitalo include various exercise and wellness activities. Haukitalo also has a municipal dentistry clinic, and the building has been used for public education in Espoo. The building also hosts a lunch restaurant. Between the primary school and the kindergarten is a red brick building whose spiralling shape resembles a mollusc. The building, popularly called "Simpukka" (Finnish for "clam") mostly serves as an all activity centre for the youth. Haukilahti also has a library, whose continuation has been up to debate between the library staff and the city of Espoo. The library had been in the same premises as the Toppelund school, but later moved into the same premises as the new kindergarten during New Year between 2018 and 2019.

The city of Espoo maintains a public hiking trail called Rantaraitti which goes through the Haukilahti coast as well as a running track of 800 metres on Hauenkallio built in the early 1980s. There are two public beaches in Haukilahti. The eastern beach, in the Toppelund area, is smaller and quieter, and usually only visited by Haukilahtians. The western beach, in the Mellsten area, is larger and more popular. In 2015, readers of local newspaper voted it was the best beach in Espoo. It has been named by students from the Helsinki University of Technology as the best beach for windsurfing in the entire capital area, and has a direct connection to the Mellsten harbour, which is home to 637 boats and four yacht clubs, and includes two seaside cafés. Dogs are allowed to swim in a section of the beach. There are several different sports fields in Haukilahti. General sports fields include the fields of Pattistenpuisto, the Toppelund school and the Haukilahti school, as well as the Haukilahti field "Sandika" located on an old ground excavation site. There are basketball fields on the western end of the Toppelund school field, in Pattistenpuisto and on the northern end of Sandika. There is also a sand surfaced volleyball field in Pattistenpuisto, a beach volleyball field on the Mellsten beach and a petanque field in Lahnapuisto.

The shopping centre Länsiviitta was opened in Haukilahti in 1990. The shopping centre includes an S market grocery store. To the north of the shopping centre is Haukilahti's old shopping centre, hosting a Kotipizza restaurant and restaurant Rioni serving Georgian cuisine. The grocery store K Market Sorsakivi was opened in Haukilahti in 1968.

The local association of Haukilahti, the Haukilahti Society (Finnish: Haukilahden Seura, Swedish: Gäddvikssällskapet) was founded between 1964 and 1965, when the district was changing from a small villa resort to a residential suburb. The society was active up to the 1970s but as key persons died activity waned for several years. Activity was resurrected by the early 1980s, and the society has organised various kinds of activity in the area, such as public events and inhabitant activity. It has also given scholarships to nearby schools, published the Haukilahden Viesti magazine and had an effect on the zoning and construction plans in the area. Nowadays the Haukilahti Society is part of the union of local associations in Espoo and of the Finnish home area union. Membership of the society has ranged from one hundred to two hundred. There were 4029 households belonging to the Diocese of Olari in the Haukilahti Niittykumpu area, which comprised 27 percent of the member households of the diocese. The Diocese of Olari maintained the Haukikappeli chapel near the Länsiviitta shopping centre, inaugurated on 15 September 1991, The Diocese of Olari sold the chapel and the last mass was held in the chapel in spring 2016. A new apartment building was built in the place of Haukikappeli.