has been considered ugly and outdated for more than 20 years and a new development plan for the town centre was approved in May 2006. The project begun in December 2006 when the first building was demolished. The population surpassed 10,000 inhabitants in 2020. At the end of 2020 there were 10,177 people living in the town. Transport Roads Kauniainen has good road connections in most directions. The east-to-west Helsinki–Turku motorway (national road 1) passes Kauniainen to the south and the old Helsinki–Turku main road (regional road 110) passes the northern parts of the town. The construction of the motorway in the 1960s played a big role when new inhabitants moved to Kauniainen, when they could drive quickly along the motorway into Helsinki's city centre. The north-to-south Kehä II (Ring Road 2) passes the eastern corner of Kauniainen. Public transportation Kauniainen is served by two commuter rail stations, Kauniainen and Koivuhovi, on the Rantarata line, which was opened in 1903. The railway has been important for the development of Kauniainen as a suburb of Helsinki. Trains leave appromaximately every 15 minutes and the ride to Helsinki Central railway station takes about 20 minutes. There are two regional bus lines which connect to Helsinki. There are also local bus lines which connect to various districts of Espoo. Services Kauniainen offers a very large range of services to its inhabitants, considering the size of the town. There are six schools in Kauniainen, spread out on three levels and two languages – Finnish and Swedish. Kauniainen has: swimming baths indoor ice rink downhill skiing slope (only one slope, the oldest in Finland opened in 1934, elevation difference 54 meters) small athletics stadium indoor sports arena (handball, tennis, etc.) music school (for children) art school (for children) public library adult education school health station Kauniaisten Jäähalli (ice hockey arena) Districts There are three districts in Kauniainen called I, II and III. No districts are named because of the small size of the town. The only area that is viewed as a named district is Kasavuori () in the western part of the town. Politics The following parties have seats in the city council of Kauniainen following the 2021 municipal election: * National Coalition and the Christian Democrats formed an electoral alliance. Parliamentary elections Results of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Kauniainen: National Coalition Party 39.5% Swedish People's Party 35.2% Green League 6.2% True