The City of Jyväskylä believes in the power of social cohesion
When asking how the Finnish cities maintain competitiveness and social cohesion is better than in North America, one must realise the differences in our social models. In Finland the society is responsible - through local government - on basic services. Our health care, kindergartens and education services, which by the way was the highest ranking in OECD Pisa study - are based on residence, they are not depended on the employer - these services are not put on employers' responsibility - we believe that all residents - employed, or unemployed - of Finnish or other origin - are entitled to services of about similar quality - and on about similar costs or fees.
To produce these services the local government is entitled to collect income tax. Taxes cover about 52% of municipal income. Why is it important that cities collect income tax? Because by doing so, they are extremely interested in keeping the economy, companies and enterprises in the municipalities, and viable, and thus having good taxpayers. The cities have to have a good policy for the viable economy in cities. - This means they have to be active in cooperating with private enterprises.
My hometown is Jyväskylä, which is located in Central Finland, some 20 miles from Helsinki. Jyväskylä is one of Finland’s fastest growing and most attractive cities. The town population is some 85,000 and the Jyväskylä region approximately 170,000 inhabitants. The population of our city has grown by nearly 1.5 % annually, and that is by over 1,000 inhabitants.
Jyväskylä is one of Finland’s major university and education cities. Over 40% of the city’s population are school children and students. More than one-third of the adult population has a university degree. The education level of the city’s inhabitants is one of the highest in Finland.
This is one very interesting feature of us. These young people are not good tax payers, but they are our richness as a future generation. Employers are – of course – interested in of this kind of regions where they know to have always high educated labour force. - This is one part of our regional competitiveness.
Jyväskylä is a significant venue for international meetings, conferences and large trade fairs. The handiwork of the world famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto is visible in many ways in our architectural cityscape. The face of the city can be described as young, active, lively and future-oriented.
Jyväskylä is also a high tech city with very modern Science Park. Our most well known company is NOKIA. The most modern NOKIA camera technology comes from the development unit in Jyväskylä.
First, I should mention that municipal self-determination has a long tradition in Finland. The position of municipal self-government is especially strong. The municipalities have taxing power over their citizens and extremely wide responsibilities for arranging services.
1) Services available to all citizens and social rights; 2) common responsibility for citizens; 3) relatively equal income distribution; 4) low unemployment and high work participation rates; and 5) gender equality, are all considered the central principles of a Nordic welfare state. With welfare policy based on these factors Finland has been able to build a society where economic development has been fast and which is competitive in the global economy.
The state and municipalities are the main actors in our welfare policy. The state determines citizens’ rights and the services that will be provided. The municipalities are responsible for delivering the services. The responsibility of the municipalities is emphasised in Finnish welfare policy. The municipalities’ share in service funding is approximately 75%.
Even though every citizen has the right to services and municipality is, in principle, responsible for the welfare of citizens, but there are also problems and the development has not been purely positive. In the early 1990s, Finland faced a unusually difficult economic slump and its effects are still partly visible even today. We live in a very high level welfare society in Finland, but unemployment levels are decreasing in some parts of country far too slowly and long-term unemployment has become a structural problem. Also there are subsistence problems, poverty and mental problems. The shortcomings in welfare are visible in the lives of families and children.
Which factors are crucial in the increased illfare in the community while welfare increases and the national economy grows? Researchers are looking into these themes. There are a lot of questions, but too few answers.
One developmental feature within Finnish society is regional concentration. The population is converging on the capital city region and a few district centres. Rural and fringe areas are losing inhabitants.
Jyväskylä with it´s surrounding area is one of those most attractive areas in Finland.
Regional concentration creates problems both for the areas that loose inhabitants and those that are growing very fast. Social misfortune focuses on developing town areas. Both the promotion of growth as well as the removal of social problems and prevention of marginalisation must be planned in town development.
City of Jyväskylä has defined a balanced city policy, which consists of the competitiveness of the city area, sustainable development and social coherence as the methods for developing the town area in its strategy. It is visible in the town area that these factors are interconnected. Only a region that ensures social coherence can be attractive and competitive.
Social coherence is composed of several factors. The service system must work. All citizens must receive education, social support and healthcare services which they need for every day living. Citizens do not, however, base their welfare on these services alone, they also care about the residential environment, leisure time and recreation possibilities, involvement in different communities and the ability to affect the management of communal affairs.
When building social coherence the activity of organisational actors and citizens and the responsibility for your own welfare are also important factors, alondside public services. The co-operation between different actors holds a key position. In the Jyväskylä region co-operation with neighbouring communities and networking between different actors is regarded as so important that we now speak of the “network city Jyväskylä”. This term does not only refer to co-operation between municipalities and public actors but also a method, which involves public, private and third sector actors and where the involvement of citizens is seen as a central factor.
I wish to emphasise the importance of voluntary work and the so-called “third sector” in today’s and tomorrow’s city policy. In Jyväskylä, the role and importance of the third sector is enormous.
A balanced city policy also strives to encourage the populations of each district and neighbourhood to reflect on the average citizens of the area. We try to prevent districts from becoming divided into areas of rich and poor, old and young, singles and families with children. We try to home immigrants and refuges evenly in different districts. Town planning aims at preventing problems and uses valuation methods to analyse social effects.
City planning aims at promoting exercise among citizens and keeping oneself in shape. Jyväskylä feels that the construction of cycle paths, exercise paths and park areas creates opportunities for exercise and to meet other fellow residents.
Creating social coherence decreases social costs. When every citizen can use the same services, the need to maintain expensive parallel service systems does not exist. Social coherence increases safety and thus fewer investments are needed to maintain law and order. The prevention of problems reduces the costs arising from corrective actions.
As a university city the importance of academic research has a crucial role in all of this. The general atmosphere in the city is favourable to new ideas and trends.
Finnish research has found that the aim of families moving from one region to another is to ensure a safe and welcoming environment for children. When competition for employees increases, the regions to which suitable workers move will succeed. By improving social coherence preconditions are created for industry and commerce and for economic prosperity. The funds used to build social coherence should be seen as an investment instead of a financial loss.
One central city development element in Jyväskylä is so-called “forum work”. The city arranges citizens’ meetings under special themes, where experts give presentations and which often result in lively discussions. Citizens’ forums are arranged in different parts of the city. The themes concern both young and old. The themes have included both the town’s economic policy as well as the extent of the public library network.
The aim of the forum’s work is to create a basis and depth for city planning and building a good city. City of Jyväskylä already has historical experience in this area and we believe in this power in our new ideas for development. Listening to citizens is an important part of town planning and in the work towards social coherence and balanced town development.
Ladies and Gentlemen
This was very briefly our model and some of our answers to the theme of this Montreal conference. I am sure that the city of Jyväskylä believes in the power of social cohesion.
Finally, next time I would like to welcome this conference and you all to visit Jyväskylä and see how the dimensions of social coherence and city planning meet in my hometown.
Mayor Markku Andersson, City of Jyväskylä,
Montreal, 13-14 October 2005
OECD Conference
