Helsinki City Council Election 2025
My name is Kalle Pusa, and I am a 32-year-old lawyer and IT professional. I want to see Helsinki with a walkable, vibrant city center, an ever-expanding light rail network, beautiful architecture, and green, inviting neighborhoods.
A balanced economy, high-quality education, and reliable public services are the foundation of a thriving city.
For a Sustainable, Green, and Liberal Helsinki
Let’s ensure the best schools and daycare centers in the country.
Public services should be efficient, reliable, and accessible to everyone.
Helsinki deserves beautiful, functional, and people-friendly urban spaces.
About me
I grew up in Herttoniemi and have since lived in Kulosaari, Jätkäsaari, Harju, Kamppi, and Lauttasaari.
I hold a Master's in Law and a Bachelor's in Computer Science. Both degrees are from University of Helsinki.
I work at Sanoma as a Senior Developer. During my career, I’ve built software solutions for finance, insurance, and growth companies. As an entrepreneur, I also provide legal consulting services.
Politics, for me, is about meeting the biggest challenges of our time — fighting climate change, upholding the rule of law, and investing in education and culture. These are the foundations of a better future, and without them, we cannot thrive.
I am at my happiest when reading in the quiet room of a local library, wandering through an urban forest, sitting in a cozy café, or swimming in the frozen sea.
I want Helsinki to prosper
I grew up in Herttoniemi, on the same street where my mother spent her childhood. She used to tell me how the eastern metro line once opened up the city and drove its expansion eastward. I watched as the western metro continued that story, and now I see how the new tram lines are increasingly connecting the north and east more efficiently.
Since its founding, Helsinki has been a city of arrivals. People have come here by train, ship, and plane — some have even walked across the frozen sea. Our city has never been a walled fortress but a dynamic meeting place for cultures, languages, and change.
As a deputy member of the City Environment Committee, I have seen how Helsinki’s skilled civil service, together with thoughtful decision-making, has shaped a functional and welcoming urban environment. Balancing the needs of a growing city is no easy task, but we’ve achieved remarkable successes that, fifteen years ago, would have seemed like a distant dream.
Helsinki is a fantastic city, but there’s still plenty to improve. Let’s make Helsinki a place where people can easily access healthcare, where nature is protected, where teachers enjoy their work and children thrive in schools, and where sidewalks are well-maintained for everyone — including those navigating slushy November streets.
I want Helsinki to stay on its path toward being ecological, just, and livable. We should boldly aim for a Helsinki that welcomes new ideas, leverages the best urban research, and strives to be the best city in the world to work, study, and live in.
My Themes
One of the city's most important roles is to provide functional services to its residents.
We need excellent schools and daycare centers where staff thrive, hospitals and health centers that offer timely access to care, and effective social services that ensure the most vulnerable are not left behind.
However, demanding better services without proposing ways to finance them is pure populism. That’s why we must also advocate for policies that support a strong municipal economy in Helsinki.
To sustain the city's functionality as it grows, we must attract more taxpayers and ensure Helsinki remains a well-run, livable city.
Helsinki is in a uniquely strong position in Finland’s urbanization process. With steady population growth — driven by an influx of high-income earners—the city's future is full of potential.
To make the most of this opportunity, I am advocating for three concrete strategies to fund essential services while ensuring that Helsinki continues to function smoothly as it expands.
Read more about my key themes below.
Beautiful and Pleasant Urban living
Helsinki is a rare European capital in that living here is affordable, and middle-income people can afford to buy a home. This good housing situation is not by chance, but the result of bold and forward-thinking urban planning. We must not put the brakes on this progress.
However, merely planning ahead is not enough; the construction must be of high quality, and new areas must be both pleasant and beautiful. Residential neighborhoods should have their own identities, and all development must respect the character of older districts. Even new buildings should blend seamlessly into our city's cherished cultural landscapes. And let’s not forget to include gabled roofs, pastel-colored facades, and enclosed courtyards in tomorrow’s Helsinki.
We must not thoughtlessly destroy beloved green spaces for new developments, and even new areas must shine with greenery: we need more trees, shrubs, and plantings throughout Helsinki.
A functioning rail network is the backbone of Helsinki
As the city grows, its transportation must be rail-based. Rail transport is a flexible and effective way to move residents to their workplaces, schools, and services.
Trams won’t get stuck in traffic and metro trains won’t race over pedestrian crossings. A hundred people will fit comfortably in a tram, but their cars would clog up Mechelininkatu.
Rail projects make the city more convenient. They are not just routes for travel, but solutions to traffic congestion, drivers of urban development, contributors to reducing overall transportation emissions, and connectors between neighborhoods.
Let’s make public transport the primary option with flexible pricing: bring back the tram ticket and enable single-zone travel cards.
We should also explore the costs and impacts of reinstating the night metro. It’s been a decade since the last experiment, and now there are many more potential passengers living by the rails.
Let’s make Helsinki an internationally attractive and functional city
Helsinki has a great reputation among international talent. Clean air, a well-functioning city, strong social trust, and high-quality public services attract skilled professionals from all over the world.
Moving to Helsinki—and living here—must be easy and convenient.
We need to offer skilled, multilingual advisory services for newcomers and provide services for the families of those who have just arrived in the city.
We must also attract top-tier international companies to Helsinki and continue zoning for modern office spaces in the city center and along well-connected transport routes.
All of this will pay for itself many times over if we do it right.
Said about me
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“The world needs a politician like Kalle. Future needs a new type of politics, not the kind that desperately tries to hold on to yesterday. Kalle is intelligent, empathetic, and in his effectiveness, absolutely excellent."
Sonja Laurila
Software Developer -
“With Kalle, you can discuss law, politics, and the problems in our society, or even talk about good books or theater performances. Patient, hardworking, and cultured – that's how I would describe Kalle.”
Lasse Mustakangas
Credit Manager -
"Kalle is a well-read and knowledgeable professional with a diverse skill set. Thanks to his genuine curiosity he could promote a better world."
Simon Jernroth
Analytics Officer -
“I met Kalle in high school. He has always been an intelligent, accomplished, and honest person who stays true to his values. He also has an exceptionally good listening skill and isn’t afraid to engage in dialogue on even the most difficult topics.”
Atte Lamminsalo
Member of the Board of the Helsinki Greens
Get in touch!
Got questions? Would you like to hear more? Or perhaps you’d like to join my team?
You can reach me by emailing: kalle.pusa@gmail.com or sending me a message on Instagram!
