Timo Cantell works as the director of the Urban Research and Statistics Unit of the City of Helsinki.

In this capacity he edits Kvartti, a quarterly print and web publication that presents the work of the unit to the citizens of Helsinki. This has one English language edition each year, with the other three in Finnish and Swedish.

He has worked as an academic and as a cultural consultant. In 1999 he wrote Helsinki and a Vision of Place.