Since the 1990s, children’s independent mobility in the city has been a lively topic of research. By international comparison, children in Finland still move fairly independently. However, recent decades have seen evidence of decreasing autonomy in children’s mobility. The article looks at Helsinki from the 1940s up until the present day and discusses how a changing city influences the spontaneous mobility of children.

For the first time in fifty years, a considerable part of the growth in the child population of Helsinki occurs in the existing housing stock and infill areas. Today, there are more children in the city than at any time since the mid-1970s. This article looks at the development of the number and proportion of 0–15-year-olds in Helsinki’s population between 1962 and 2017.