EDITORIAL: A year of celebration and decisions for Helsinki
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This year is a year of celebration and of important decisions in the Helsinki region.
April the 8th will mark 200 years from when Tsar Alexander I signed a decree under which Helsinki was made the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland. The father of the idea was Gustav Henrik Stjernvall, the Governor of the province of Uusimaa and Häme, and the idea was proposed to the Tsar in 1811 by Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, the Master of Joensuu Manor in Halikko.
That marked the beginning of the powerful development of Helsinki. Probably already next year the population of Helsinki will exceed 600,000.
The new year is also an important one for Espoo, which became a city 40 years ago, in 1972. At that time the status of a city was a milestone achievement for a municipality, and it was celebrated conspicuously in Espoo. It was an important matter for Espoo in many respects. Talk about linking the eastern parts of Espoo with Helsinki came to an end, and a strong period of growth for the city began. Last year the population of Espoo exceeded a quarter of a million.
This year is also marked by the fact that the four cities of the greater Helsinki area, along with Lahti, form the world’s design capital. The project involves 250 different events and projects aimed at clarifying and expanding the significance of design, and to make the cities better places to live in. Hopefully the promises of the big venture will be carried to their fruition and will not end up being just a costly way of keeping a small circle of people busy.
Already at the beginning of the year of the municipal elections there will be decisions in Helsinki that are likely to raise emotions.
On Tuesday next week a review is to be made public concerning the Guggenheim Museum, which might be set up in Helsinki. Opinions are already sharply split for and against. The debate will involve Helsinki’s cultural visibility, the shortcomings in care for the elderly, WOW architecture, the power of American capital and culture, and the project for a big central library.
In the early part of the year the City Council will also debate the development programme of the electric utility Helsingin Energia, with questions such as what to do with the Hanasaari power plant, and how to replace coal.
The ability of the company to generate revenue will be significantly influenced by the kind of legislative proposal the government will make on the question of competitive neutrality of public utilities.
The spring will also see the end of the seven-year term of the Mayor of Helsinki. Mayor Jussi Pajunen has not yet declared his intentions, but it is likely that he will want to continue in his job, which means that another term will be likely. Overshadowed by the choice of Mayor will be a much more intense competition between the Social Democrats and the Greens over which party will get the post of Deputy Mayor which is being vacated by Tuula Haatainen.
Perhaps the most far-reaching issue this year for both Helsinki and Espoo is nevertheless the proposal by Minister for Public Administration and Local Government Henna Virkkunen (Nat. Coalition Party) on how the administration of the greater Helsinki region is to be organised. The Mayor of Helsinki has proposed a merger of the cities of the Helsinki region, and others have sharply opposed the idea.
For the minister, whose main task in the current government is to push through a municipal reform covering the whole country, the setup in the Helsinki region is awkward and difficult, because Virkkunen’s National Coalition Party itself is sharply divided on the issue.
Nevertheless, it is not possible to push through a municipal reform without taking issue with how the Helsinki metropolitan area is to be administered.
Achieving the prerequisites for balanced development in the Helsinki region would be important. Now there is the danger that the region might split socially, and if that happens, it will be hard to repair the damage. Offering basic services and maintaining the level of service will require closer cooperation.
From the point of view of development in the Helsinki region it would be important at least to get the decision-makers of the Helsinki region to fix their gazes and their goals in the same direction. From the point of view of the overall best interest of the region it would be good if this point of view would be taken into consideration in the reform of electoral districts, and that the core municipalities of Finland’s only metropolitan region would not be split into separate camps through electoral districting. The interests of the people of this area are closely intertwined.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 2.1.2012
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 3.1.2012 - THIS WEEK |
 EDITORIAL: A year of celebration and decisions for Helsinki |
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