North Pasila

{{prettytable
 * +Pohjois-Pasila
 * Sub-district number || 293
 * District || 29, Pasila
 * Electoral area(s) || 17E Pasila
 * Area || 1.05 km²
 * Population as of Density || 3,089 Oct 08 2940/km²
 * }
 * Area || 1.05 km²
 * Population as of Density || 3,089 Oct 08 2940/km²
 * }
 * }

North Pasila is a sub-district of Helsinki, located north of Pasila-Turku railway, west of the Finnish Main Railway, east of Central Park and south of the sub-district of Metsälä.

History
First records of the place are from the 15th century, the village of Samsi being mentioned in a valley around a lake in the vicinity of a Swedish fortress at modern-day Kulosaari. In 1498, the region was conquered by the Kingdom of Tavastia. The fertile land of the valley was thereafter a crown property.

The village continued to be inhabited by the serfs of the king, until the Finnish Revolution of 1830 united the regional monarchies into a republic. The need to modernize the state caused the planning and building of Finnish Main Railway, after which the whole area fell into the hands of the state railway agency (VR). Due to the need to get the railway into a terrain with low gradient, an artificial canyon was built between Töölö Bay and Samsi, draining the lake and slumping the terrain.

It was decided in 1851, that the whole region of Samsi would become a railway classification yard, named Ilmalan ratapiha, as which it has been known since then, both officially and colloquially.

The yard has been constantly upgraded, but in recent times it has been realized, that it is more economically efficient to relocate the classification facilities farther from the capital, releasing land for the purposes of commerce and residence. VR will hand over the area on January 1st, 2010, after which the area will be reclassified as Samsi, southern part of the new district, Samsi-Metsälä, and planned into a dense residential area. However, there are already some residential development on a cap above the railways, mainly for students.