Laajavuori is an important tourism, sports, recreation, and nature area for our city, located close to the city center. Beyond Jyväskylä itself, Laajavuori also serves the wider Central Finland region as a year-round destination for tourism, outdoor activity, and recreation.
The city carried out a development study for the Laajavuori outdoor area in 2022–2023. During the process, residents and local communities were extensively consulted, and successful models were sought from elsewhere in Finland and Central Europe. The final report outlines the area's development needs along with proposed solutions and their projected timelines.
The city sees significant tourism potential in Laajavuori and is prepared to invest accordingly. These investments will support the wellbeing of residents and bring new services to the area. Local residents are currently the largest user group at Laajavuori. From the city's perspective, it is worth exploring whether this gem located right next to the city center could in the future attract more visitors to Jyväskylä — much like Lapland does — or whether Laajavuori could become a hub for diverse sports and outdoor events.
The study gives the City of Jyväskylä a well-founded basis for investing in the area's core infrastructure, which will enable new entrepreneurs and investors to come on board. Funding for the area's development has been proposed as part of the sports and recreation investment programme for 2027–2029.
A zoning plan amendment is currently being prepared for the Laajavuori area, updating the plan to reflect the current situation and enabling the land use and construction planned for the coming years. This includes matters such as the locations and boundaries of slope areas, alignments for new recreation routes and Hyppyritie, additional construction opportunities related to tourism and area maintenance, the integration of projects with the area's general recreational, sports, and nature values, and technical service arrangements. The plan area is located entirely to the east of Laajavuorentie. The plan was initiated on 28 June 2024.
The city acts as convenor of the Laajavuori area cooperation group, whose role is to bring the area's operators together and accelerate development. The city has also been instrumental in launching the laajavuori.fi website together with local entrepreneurs.
Welcome to help build the Laajavuori of the future with us!
Timo Koivisto
City Manager of Jyväskylä