 Ye Zhiwei, Anne Zhang zhangy49@gmail.com FOUNDED more than 200 years ago, Tampere used to be a major industrial center in Finland. After shifting its focus, the city has become renowned throughout Europe as a technological city and a popular tourist destination. The successful transformation has primarily depended on the city’s high-quality education, government support and emphasis on sustainable development, Mayor of Tampere Timo P. Nieminen said in an exclusive interview with Shenzhen Special Zone Daily. Education: an economic tool Education has laid a solid foundation for the city’s development and transformation, Mayor Nieminen said. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the city government has invested hugely in education and reformed its education system. Nieminen said the city abides by the principle of respecting the individual development of each student.  “The wisest measure we’ve taken was establishing the University of Tampere and the Tampere University of Technology,” he said. More than 100 Chinese students are currently studying at the universities.The universities have helped improve the general educational level of the city’s labor force, which enabled the transformation of its industrial structure. Tampere is home to the headquarters of Nokia, a world-renowned telecommunications company. The Tampere government has offered a lot of support to the company. In addition, the two universities produce the talent that Nokia needs. The telecommunication company can choose its employees from more than 30,000 universities’ graduates every year. Nokia has also collaborated with the universities and others around the world in technological research and innovation. Restoring historical buildings One of the most important parts of Tampere’s transformation has been restoring and preserving its historical buildings. Tampere’s downtown area has a lot of sites that are important to its history as an industrial center. The former industrial zone covers one-third of the city’s area. “We highly respect these sites and have tried to preserve them and make them adaptable to new uses,” Nieminen said.  One effective way is to convert the historical sites to commercial and office buildings, schools and museums. This has become the backbone of the city’s economic development. “A major premise of reusing the buildings is to protect and preserve historical sites,” Nieminen said. Pursuing sustainable development Tampere has been pursuing sustainable development, strictly adhering to its international commitment to conserve energy and reduce emissions. An environmental project ECO2 has been carried out to cap emissions from the industry clusters in the city. During this year’s home exhibition in Tampere, a zero-emission house that uses geothermal energy for heating and cooling was proposed and gained popularity among the public. To improve citizens’ lives, the city organizes a variety of cultural activities for the public, Nieminen said. There are rock music events and a weeklong flower show in summer and a variety of concerts and performances in winter. Big events promote cultural industry Tampere is striving to build its cultural industry. Mayor Nieminen said hosting international events would be helpful. Nieminen added that Shenzhen successfully held the 26th Universiade, which has helped the city become more internationalized. Tampere plans to host international conventions and events every year and invite celebrities from all fields to the city, Nieminen said. One ongoing project is to hold international concerts and galas in the Tampere Hall, a concert hall that can hold more than 30,000 people. “Shenzhen has achieved a lot in the development of its creative cultural industry,” Nieminen said. “We hope the two cities can collaborate more in this field.” Mayor of Tampere Timo P. Nieminen TIMO P. NIEMINEN is the mayor of Tampere, Finland. Born in 1944, Nieminen served as the chairman of the National Coalition Party of Tampere between 1978 and 2000. In his role, he worked with a number of organizations including the Tampere City Council, the Association of Finnish Cities, and the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities. Nieminen was elected mayor of Tampere in 2007. He was granted the honorary Finnish title of Kaupunkineuvos by the president of Finland in 2003. City of Tampere A city in southwestern Finland, Tampere is 180 kilometers away from Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is the third-biggest city in Finland. With a population of more than 200,000, Tampere is the most populous city in Scandinavia. The city of Tampere was founded in 1779 by Gustav III of Sweden. Located between two lakes, Tampere is highly picturesque. Tampere is known as the “Manchester of Finland” for its former status as the center of Finnish industry. In the mid-1990s, Tampere was re-energized by a technological development plan. Tampere is Finland’s capital of theater. The city holds drama festivals, jazz music festivals and movie festivals every year, all of which draw a great number of foreign visitors. ? | 