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A Finnish businessman is planning to build a massive shopping mall between Oulu and Kiiminki, though the ambitious idea has not been universally accepted.
Toivo Sukari intends to build the new 'Ideapark' on a 30 hectare plot nine kilometres from Oulu. Kiiminki Council, who are responsible for the area, signed an agreement for the project's go ahead on Monday. This included selling the plot to the businessman and providing municipal engineering to assist the development. Scheduled to open in 2010, Kiiminki Ideapark will consist of 100,000 square metres of commercial space which will house 200 shops and 30 restaurants, providing work for up to a thousand people. The development is being spearheaded by Sukari's company Masku Kiineistöt company which has already opened another Ideapark in Lempäälä, in the south of the country, in 2006. However, the plan has been met with criticism in various quarters. An Oulu commercial planner has pointed out that Zeppelin, an out of town shopping centre near Oulu, has not been particularly successful and for the new idea to be viable Oulu residents would have to substantially concentrate their purchasing power on it. Oulu's chief planning officer has criticised the project because its supposed effect on climate change and the fact that it does not fit in with Oulu's planned development scheme. Sukari has reponded that the plan has been 'kept quiet' precisely to avoid these kinds of 'entanglements.' He has also insisted that Ideapark is matter for Kiiminki Council only and that there is definitely 'a clear slot in the market for something like this.'
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