Oulu May Become Giant Municipality
Proposals were announced yesterday to massively cut the number of separate municipalities in Finland. If the plans are followed through, the Oulu municipality will have a population of 253,000.
It will also have the largest area of any municipality in the country. Inari is currently the biggest municipality but the new Oulu-centred one would be fifteen times bigger.
The government board behind the proposals argue that it makes sense to merge together Oulu and its many surrounding towns and villages into one administration because so many people living in these towns commute into Oulu for work.
They also argue that a joint administration will save money, make it easier to care for an aging population and be better able to adapt policy to region-wide changes, such as the opening of the nuclear plant. This one change, they argue, will dramatically affect the whole region.
It is proposed that there will be one municipal structure incorporating Oulu, Hailuoto, Ii, Kempele, Liminka, Muhos, Pudasjärvi, Tyrnävä, Utäjärvi and Vaala.
Already next year, Oulu is set to merge with Haukipudas, Kiiminki, Oulunsalo and Yli-Ii. When this was reported the Finnish language press releases claimed it would lead to one big ‘kaupunki’ (‘city’). In reporting the even bigger merger, ‘kaupunki’ has been dropped in favour of ‘kunta.’ Both, however, can seemingly be translated either as ‘municipality’ or ‘city.’
