Emmi Sihvonen, Property Development Manager

Coordinator of concepts

I carry out long-term development work, especially in the Otaniemi district of Espoo. Even though the results of the work will not be visible until many years from now, the future client and users of the district are always on my mind.

What particularly interests you in your job?

I like the multidisciplinary nature of my job and the fact that I can collaborate with experts from different fields. It’s also great that no two projects are the same. I want to make a difference by creating a new and good environment for people. It’s important to make areas and sites that are no longer in use part of a vibrant city.

In the development of the built environment, I get to have a concrete impact on things, even though the development projects are long. When the Senate’s part ends, it will still be some time before the area is complete. We are usually involved in the development process until land use planning is completed, after which the planned sites are transferred to the new owners for project implementation.

It’s interesting to reconcile different interests and issues. I like figuring things out and solving things to make the end result serve the users. Many compromises have to be made, but the main thing is for us to reach a good result together. I think I know how to listen to others, and I greatly value the skills of others. It’s easier to find a solution to the whole when different perspectives are raised.

Who do you work with?

Every development project requires a lot of planning and various studies. That’s why I collaborate a lot with experts in different fields. We at Senate also have diverse expertise and work a lot with each other.

Urban planners and other planners are important partners for me, as are authorities in various fields, such as the Finnish Heritage Agency and ELY Centres. Otaniemi highlights close collaboration with Aalto University and Aalto University Campus & Real Estate. And of course, a very important role is played by our client, who buys and executes the property. When solutions are made many years from now and the client is not involved in all cases, I have to think on behalf of the client about what they might want in the future.

Which project has particularly stuck in your mind?

Development of the Otaniemi district became a key part of my work almost immediately after I started at Senate Properties. Development of the district is a broad concept that involves almost every possible dimension and also presents many challenges to be solved. It makes my job interesting!

What also makes it interesting is that I studied in Otaniemi in the early 2000s and have now seen, for example, the changes that the arrival of the metro and Jokeri Light Rail line have brought to the district. They have integrated Otaniemi into the urban structure in a completely new way. Also the fact that Aalto University has centred all its fields of study in Otaniemi and invested significantly in the development of the campus also brings new vitality and multidisciplinarity to the area. Our goal is to develop Otaniemi into an even more diverse urban environment in collaboration with our partners.

3 principles that guide your work?

• Grasping the big picture: examining and analysing things from different perspectives.
• Reconciling many interests, if necessary by means of compromises, so that we can reach a good outcome.
• Accepting one’s own limitations and utilising the expertise of others as part of the whole.

About me

I joined Senate as a Property Development Manager in spring 2016. Before that, I was a project manager at FCG Finnish Consulting Group, where I worked as a consultant in local detail planning and land use planning for municipalities and businesses all over Finland.

I graduated as Master of Science (Technology) in 2008 from Helsinki University of Technology in Otaniemi. I studied real estate economics and urban planning at what was then the Land Surveying Department.