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Mikko Särelä named city resident of the year

Achievements in debate on urban planning caught selection panel's attention.
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The Local journalists' association has selected Mikko Särelä as the city resident of the year.  Särelä works as a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Electrical Engineering in the field of internet security. In his free time he has set up the "More City for Helsinki" group aimed at improving the city, and has served as its leader and moderator for five years.

The selection meeting drew attention to the positive discussion culture in the Facebook group comprising more than 6000 members, in which there is room for different kinds of opinions. Praise was also given to the active involvement of the participants in developing alternative plans and the array of points of view in the discussion. Special mention was made of the moderators who have managed to keep the discussion civilised and businesslike.

- Actually the prize is for the entire More City for Helsinki group. In five years we in the group have changed the way in which urban planning and city construction are discussed, Mikko Särelä writes in his blog.

The Local journalists' association has selected a City resident of the year for the greater Helsinki region since 1997.

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