The strong growth of the City has been set as a goal in both the Tampere City Strategy and the Mayoral Programme. Tampere wants to be Finland's largest centre of growth after the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.
– The message we are getting from the business community of the region is that Tampere must be kept growing and the availability of skilled labour must be ensured. This is fundamental for the vitality and economic sustainability of the City, said Mayor Kalervo Kummola in his opening speech.
– In our growing city, we must pay attention to ensuring that we will continue to grow creditably and will not have to compromise on other goals. Prerequisites for a good life need to be secured in Tampere for children, young people and older people alike. We need to keep Tampere an inspiring place to work and study and a comfortable and safe place to live. Settling in the city must be made effortless for everyone, whether arriving from near or far.
According to Mayor Kummola, it is essential that our common affairs are managed in a sustainable and responsible manner.
– A balanced economy must remain our goal. Tampere must be an ecologically sustainable city that actively works for the benefit of the climate and promotes biodiversity. Tampere must be a city of equality, determined to promote social justice.
MDI's advisor Timo Aro, Finland's leading advisor on migration, demographic development, regional development and vitality, discussed the anatomy of and background factors behind the growth in Tampere and the city's huge leap of growth.
– Tampere has really succeeded in its leaps of growth over the past few years and decades. The results are now crystal clear. Tampere has succeeded well, but in order to continue to do so, it cannot afford to stand idly by but must instead focus heavily on the future, Aro emphasised.
– Cities that are able to combine the hard and soft vitality factors with the ability to attract and retain people will emerge victorious in the intra-regional competition. Instead of attraction, I would now increasingly invest in retention.
Aro presented what he considered the five most critical factors for the future growth of Tampere.
– Succeeding in these factors will build a whole. Growth will not come without a price, and preparing for the growth will require a great deal of work. In my opinion, the tremendous growth observed in Tampere means that the city will face more growing pains than before, and its ability to retain people will play an increasingly crucial role, Aro says.
Mari Taverne, Director of Talent Attraction and Migration of the City of Tampere, gave her insights on the impact of immigration on the development of Tampere and how the integration of new municipal residents should be invested in. The positive impact of international residents on growth and development arises from a number of factors.
– Immigrants have a positive impact on the age distribution and they bring new skills and expertise with them, which can contribute to the local economy. They are extremely enterprising. Tapping into the international expertise of immigrants will help us better improve our navigation in the global market. Diversity will also promote innovation, as people from different backgrounds bring new perspectives and ideas to the table, Taverne said.
She says that from the perspective of new municipal residents, the City should invest in, for example, language training and educational policy solutions that would raise the level of education of immigrants and thus lower the threshold for finding employment. Investments are also needed in promoting engagement, supporting immigrant children and young people, and for communal events. There is also need for advisory and support services for local employers who are hiring immigrants.
– I think it is essential to consider whether immigration is seen as an expense for municipalities or as an investment in future vitality. Do we want to invest in measures that will promote integration and employment and genuinely attract international talent, Taverne asked.
Development Coordinator Henna Kuitunen shed light on aspects related to regional segregation and segregation development. She stressed that this is not a new phenomenon, nor specific to Tampere alone.
– As Tampere has grown strongly and this growth is predicted to continue over the next few years, it is important to promote socially sustainable urban development in a versatile manner, Kuitunen said.
But what is the City of Tampere doing to prevent regional segregation? Efforts to reduce regional differences in well-being include the Tampere Junior development programme, which promoted the regional well-being of families with children, while service network development measures currently aim at reforming schools and day-care centres in several older areas of the city, for example.
Measures related to housing and land use policy, such as the diversification of housing types, tenures, and distribution as well as infill construction based on local characteristics, have also been used to influence the development of areas. Suburban and neighbourhood programmes are being implemented in certain areas. In addition, the promotion of health and well-being will be increased through a new well-being development programme, among other measures.
– There is currently a strong will to strengthen the cooperation between functions in order to secure the long-term development of the areas. All functions of the city need to work together to promote the social sustainability of Tampere, Kuitunen says.
Docent Mari Pantsar from Kari & Pantsar Co spoke about the significance of natural capital in a growing and densifying city. Human activity is causing the ecological foundation of the world to crumble, and biodiversity loss is escalating in Finland, too.
– Drivers of biodiversity loss include land use, climate change, exploitation of natural resources, alien species, and pollution, Pantsar listed.
How can a city keep growing while taking natural capital into consideration? According to Pantsar, growing and densifying cities must follow the mitigation hierarchy. We must consider whether construction is necessary, minimise the harmful impact of construction, and compensate for the damage caused to nature somewhere else – i.e. the state of nature must be systematically improved outside the affected area. According to Pantsar, municipalities should jointly implement a so-called compensation bank model.
Pantsar summarised her presentation into four main points. 1) Economic, social, and environmental issues should not be examined in silos. 2) Growing and densifying cities can have a net positive impact on biodiversity with good planning, prioritisation, and ecological compensation. 3) Comprehensive information on nature and natural capital accounting is needed. 4) Compensation banks may also be an economic opportunity.
Municipal Finance Manager Sanna Lehtonen from the Association of Finnish Municipalities shed light on the economic perspectives of a growing city.
Lehtonen stated that the economic outlook, administrative reforms, the Government Programme, and national policy all have an impact on local government finances. Their impacts are large or partially unpredictable, and partially based on speculation. Lehtonen led the audience to consider the tasks of the new municipality and the impacts of the challenges brought about by the changes on the Tampere economy.
The seminar closed with a panel discussion on the topic "A growing city in the crossroads of objectives". The discussion focused on the cross-impacts of growth. The panellists were Housing and Development Manager Auli Heinävä, Development Coordinator Matias Ansaharju, Development Coordinator Monika Sola and Development Manager Kaisa Mustajärvi.
