Espoo's location right next to the capital city of Helsinki attracted people working in the capital city to move into the rapidly growing neighbour city, and already before World War II there were many suburbs along the Rantarata railway, such as Leppävaara, Kilo and Kauklahti which had formed into an industrial area. After the new Jorvaksentie road (predecessor to the Länsiväylä highway) was completed, new detached houses were built along it, particularly in Westend. After the war, many detached houses for soldiers having fought at the frontline were built in Espoo. The highest increase in population only started in the early 1950s when the Asuntosäätiö foundation started construction of the garden city of Tapiola, and construction of a new campus area of the Helsinki University of Technology started in the neighbouring district of Otaniemi.
Espoo's location right next to the capital city of Helsinki attracted people working in the capital city to move into the rapidly growing neighbour city, and already before World War II there were many suburbs along the Rantarata railway such as Leppävaara, Kilo and Kauklahti which had formed into an industrial area. After the new Jorvaksentie road (predecessor to the Länsiväylä highway) was completed, new detached houses were built along it, particularly in Westend. After the war, many detached houses for soldiers having fought at the frontline were built in Espoo. The highest increase in population only started in the early 1950s when the Asuntosäätiö foundation started construction of the garden city of Tapiola, and construction of a new campus area of the Helsinki University of Technology started in the neighbouring district of Otaniemi.