A greater Tallinn, but for whom?

TALLINN – Size matters, at least according to Tallinn's city council chairman, Rein Voog, who said last week that seven of the rural communities surrounding the capital should unite with Estonia's largest city to create a Greater Tallinn.

The Reform Party politician urged the leaders of the self-governed rural municipalities in Harjumaa county to join Tallinn, a move he says would benefit the outlying areas by offering them the support and services of a bigger city.

"From the Tallinn side, a bigger city would mean greater possibility for big investments," Voog said. "For the neighboring communities, residents would benefit from the transport, communication and health services a larger city can offer."

Voog's proposal unites Viimsi, Joelahtme, Rae, Kiili, Saku, Saue and Harku municipalities to Tallinn, which would raise the capital city's population by about one tenth and increase the city's territory seven times.

Heads of the affected municipalities said on March 17 after a meeting in the village of Tabasalu, 10 kilometers west of Tallinn, they were opposed to the idea and called for cooperation rather than consolidation.

"The borders which hinder better service of the people by transportation utilities, rescue and emergency services have been created artificially," Rae municipality leader Peeter Lepik told Baltic News Service. "In order to improve the situation, not unification but better cooperation is needed."

Voog said the merger would be preceded by a referendum, although he refused to predict when that would take place only saying, "We will become a bigger Tallinn when we are ready."

One fear by municipality leaders is that their residents will be lost in the political shuffle as a centralized government based in Tallinn will forget the needs of the neighboring communities. The heads also worry about the development of other Estonian cities whose populations are much lower than Tallinn's and have a hard time competing with the capital.

Compared with Tallinn whose population hovers at around 400,000, Tartu, Estonia's second city, registers its population at just over 100,000. Narva and Parnu list their populations at around 75,000 and 52,000, respectively.

"Tallinn is large in the Estonian context as it is," said Allan Kiil, head of the council of the Harku municipality. "Increasing Tallinn is not a good idea from the point of view of Estonia as a whole."

Voog recognizes that currently many outsiders don't see beyond the borders of the capital, but foresees a shift in investors' business strategies, despite a growing Tallinn. While the capital attracts investors initially, Voog predicts that in the long run companies will move out of the capital in search of cheaper production costs elsewhere in Estonia.

"The rest of Estonia will exist in the future, even with a larger Tallinn, and hopefully very successfully. This is a question of economic and geographical realities, though," Voog said.

It is also a different question altogether, said Vaino Sarnet, head of the state's public administrative reform bureau.

"We need to develop Tallinn no matter what because new investors come here. We also need to develop the regional communities and other Estonian cities. These are separate issues," he said.

Sarnet also warned that developing Tallinn is not simply a matter of acquiring the neighboring municipalities in one large scheme.

"This must be considered on a case-by-case basis where each community is treated separately," he said. "Residents can benefit and so can the city's infrastructure. But it must be handled correctly."

Mayor of Tallinn Juri Mois supports the idea saying all residents would benefit from the larger territory in such practical ways as connected transportation services and unified rescue assistance.

The leaders of the rural municipalities surrounding Tallinn are scheduled to meet with Mois on March 30 to discuss possible border changes.