Urban planning Vantaa’s new Deputy Mayor Tero Anttila hopes for more detached houses – “Opportunities for lifelong living”

City|Town planning

First a work week at a new job is usually a stressful experience, but on a Friday afternoon Tero Anttila, 61, doesn’t look any tired.

The interview will be conducted in the office of the new Deputy Mayor of Vantaa on Kielotie. Between dozens of meetings and meetings, Anttila has had a bit of an interior: a board suitable for a bus man is hung on the wall.

“It’s the only thing I brought with me from HSL. The author is Timo Jakola”Anttila says.

In the picture, a blue bus runs in the landscape of Mannerheimintie.

Anttilan freshness can be explained by the fact that the field of work is familiar and he has returned to his roots. He has been representing the Vantaa residents in the Coalition Council’s group for 22 years and in the city government for nine years. The delegation expired in 2004.

Vantaa has also kept his job in the service of public transport, most recently as the head of the Helsinki Region Transport (HSL) department.

Something about the situation in the Helsinki metropolitan area is that public transport scientists have been selected for the two responsible urban planning tasks instead of architects. Anttila to the management of land use in Vantaa and appointed President of the City of Helsinki Transport Authority (HKL) Ville Lehmuskoski.

Lehmuskoski is the first engineer to lead Helsinki’s urban planning.

“These choices reflect the strong role of urban transport in the development of the region right now. The importance of traffic will increase as cities become more condensed, ”Anttila thinks.

Both Lehmuskoski and Anttila are the grand old man of Finnish urban planning Pentti Muroleen apprentices. Their careers have passed through the recently deceased Murole company.

In Vantaa The fate of the Vantaa tramway has been the hottest traffic issue for a couple of years now. The council is due to decide on the fate of the project in 2023, when more detailed plans are completed.

Critics are ready to bury the project now. Some opponents of the tramway would also like to have a new electric bus comparison, because they think that buses would be a suitable solution for Vantaa.

Anttila says that quite a concrete experience will be gained from the electric articulated buses when they start operating line 570 in August. Route 570 from Mellunmäki via Hakunila and Tikkurila to the airport follows the route planned for the tramway.

There is no equivalent in Europe for so-called superbuses, which are buses that operate frequently in their own lanes. Superbuses have become more common mainly in Latin America.

“In Western Europe, when there is not enough bus traffic, we move to the tram,” says Anttila.

Land use the working time of an deputy mayor is not just about dealing with traffic issues. In a multipolar big city, residents of different agglomerations watch out for concern that development work will be done equally.

Anttila has assured that urban centers will be developed equitably, but not everything can be done at the same time.

“Right now, a lot is happening in Tikkurila, Aviapolis and Kivisto. But Myyrmäki City Culture House, for example, is one of the city’s top projects. It is scheduled for the end of the decade, ”says Anttila.

At the heart of Myyrmäki is the implementation of previously approved supplementary construction projects.

Anttilan One of the key tasks is to protect the interests of the City of Vantaa in negotiations between the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and the state administration. The agreement on land use, housing and transport (mal) to be concluded after the parliamentary elections is one of them.

The Mal agreement determines the distribution of the state’s money pot in the region’s transport projects, but also patronizes cities in zoning. In recent years, the targets included in the mal agreement have also approximately been completed during the four-year period.

Over the years, the jovial and sociable Anttila has been well networked. He also has a reputation as a strict negotiator.

The new deputy mayor wants to develop housing production in Vantaa in such a way that people can live in Vantaa in different life situations.

“Vantaa has had a reputation as a kind of footboard, which means that the Helsinki metropolitan area will first be moved to a studio in Vantaa. I want to have opportunities for life in Vantaa, ”says Anttila.

In practice, this means that the city has to take care of the supply of family housing and detached house plots. This is also the aim of the new urban strategy, which will be discussed by the council in January.