Editorial: Welcome to Vantaa, our new Mayor!

In many ways, August is a month of new beginnings. Schoolchildren and students start new semesters, and employees and decision-makers return to daily routines after the summer holidays. We, Vantaa residents, are also facing a new era: in the summer, our previous Mayor, Ritva Viljanen, started her well-earned retirement, and in June, the Vantaa City Council elected a new Mayor. The Vantaa City Council elected Pekka Timonen as the new Mayor of Vantaa.

Our new leader will work in an innovative, bold and relaxed city. The fourth largest city in Finland, we are also vibrant, growing and international. Here, we boldly look ahead and invest in the future. We are an excellent home for start-ups and big operators alike. We welcome new city residents, regardless of whether they arrive by train or plane. We are a city of many urban centres, and in the spring, we made the historic decision to become a tram city. Our significant and extensive investments include planning an urban culture house in Myyrmäki and a learning campus in Tikkurila, developing our outdoor gem, Kuusijärvi, and building the Elmo sports park. This is all possible now that the city’s economy is on a sound foundation and we have successfully paid off considerable portions of our loans. 

Vantaa is part of a metropolitan area and the capital region and is an active player in national and international city networks. Together, we are more. With the continuing urbanisation, large cities will be the focal point in fostering sustainable growth, investments, innovations, events and experiences. The cities will also provide the setting for solving large-scale social issues.  We work in close cooperation with the state, which requires our new leader to assume an active approach to representing our interests in relation to funding and various legislative projects. 

We warmly welcome Pekka Timonen to our city. Vantaa has a good, constructive and conversation-oriented decision-making culture. Officially, the Chair of the City Executive Board is the Mayor’s supervisor. In practice, we will work in close cooperation based on open exchange of information, clear division of duties and mutual trust and respect, all of which I am sure we will promote in our respective tasks. The City of Vantaa employs about 7,500 professionals, and we have good work communities that will welcome the new Mayor 

with open arms. In the spring, we celebrated the Eurovision boom in our green boleros. Now, we are preparing for next year when the City of Vantaa will turn fifty. The jubilee year will be celebrated all year round with the theme “At Home in Vantaa”. A wide range of programmes and events are planned throughout the city. During the events, our new Mayor will surely become familiar to all Vantaa residents as well. 

Sari Multala, Chair of Vantaa City Executive Board

_{This article was published in Residents' magazine 3/2023. Read the other articles on the resident magazine home page!}