Search
Digital transformation is a cross-cutting priority for City of Turku and region of Southwest Finland. Turku’s flagship project Smart and Wise Turku aims to help the city to prepare for climate change and the challenges brought by urbanisation and ageing population with the use of digitalisation and the data it produces. Southwest Finland has a strong ICT cluster and the region is Finland’s most significant hub for health technology and life sciences.
Green transition is a top priority for the City of Turku and the region of Southwest Finland, which can be seen in the ambitious climate and environmental policies. Turku aims to be carbon neutral by 2029 and climate positive from there onwards. The region holds strong expertise in circular economy, sustainable food-based innovations and cleantech solutions.
Located by the Baltic Sea, region of Southwest Finland has strong historical roots in the maritime business. Today, Turku region is the most important production cluster of Finnish maritime industry. Sustainable blue growth is key as Turku and Southwest Finland strive to protect the vulnerable Baltic Sea and to preserve the unique biodiversity of the Archipelago Sea. Turku systemically promotes cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region and is an active member in many Baltic Sea related organisations.
The strong maritime cluster of Southwest Finland, Turku's ambitious work for climate mitigation and enhancing circular economy, as well as smart solutions in urban context and in businesses – these are the topics we are good at.
Our focus areas are
We are a Blue, Green and Smart City and Region.
City of Turku
Turku is a vibrant and steadily growing city by the Baltic Sea. Founded in 1229, it is also the oldest city in Finland and the former capital. Nowadays, the City has almost 200.000 inhabitants. The Turku region, comprising Turku and neighbouring municipalities, has approximately 330.000 inhabitants which makes it the third biggest urban region in Finland.
Turku-Southwest Finland European Office (Turku EU Office) represents City of Turku and Regional Council of Southwest Finland bringing together all 27 municipalities in the region. The office has been active in Brussels since 1998.
The main mission of Turku EU Office is to act as interlocutor between our region and Brussels – we bring EU closer to the region and serve as regional contact point in Brussels. Our main task is to support our stakeholders to implement their strategic priorities at the EU level.
Our main activities are
Higher education students enjoy living in Turku. This was demonstrated by the student survey conducted in the spring of 2020, which was responded to by 3,430 students. As many as 98% of them would recommend Turku to their friends as a student city.
The abnormal spring period overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic did not dilute higher education students’ views of Turku as a great city for students. They find that Turku offers an excellent environment for studies and living. Almost all of the respondents would recommend Turku to their friends as a student city.
Almost a million squares of new construction, investments worth billions, over 8.000 new jobs and apartments for 16.000 new Turku residents. The area of Itäharju triangle, approximately 90 hectares in size, offers a platform for the significant growth of Turku Science Park. Turku Science Park combines projects of land use, construction, mobility and functionality in the area into comprehensive urban development where all these projects support each other.
Good transport connections, a walking distance to the city centre, park-like urban spaces and modern housing solutions also guarantee the attractiveness of Science Park as a residential area. The number of residents in the Science Park area will grow by as many as 16.000 when new apartments are built on the side of Kupittaa park, in Itäharju and in the Student Village. The sharp increase in residents will add to the round-the-clock vividness of the area and diversify its service offering.
The strength of Turku Science Park is its excellent location in the proximity of the city centre and good transport connections. The developing of Science Park proceeds in stages as large entities and the transport and mobility solutions are further developed at the same time.
Turku Science Park is a future-oriented urban space of high class. Its building blocks include smooth and smart services, smart mobility solutions and diverse free time opportunities that support wellbeing.
Turku Science Park, one of the spearhead projects of the City of Turku, is an important component in developing the attractiveness and competitiveness of the city. The objective of the project is to use new network-like operating models to create a boldly experimental cluster of know-how of international interest that has diverse functions and is logistically attractive.
Turun Tiedepuisto - Turku Science Park is part of the web service turku.fi.
More information on the turku.fi privacy policy and register descriptions can be found at www.turku.fi/en/privacy-policy.
Turku hosts many privately owned student restaurants all around the campuses. To get the student discount, one needs the official student card. Some of the restaurants are open during the evening times and Saturdays as well. Holiday seasons limit the opening hours, but they often serve themed lunches such as Chirstmas lunch and Vappu brunch.
Websites where you can find mosts the lunch options in one place (both in Finnish):
The Christmas Peace will be declared by Mika Akkanen, Manager of International Affairs and Protocol of the City of Turku, from the
All these themes were further developed in a four-year CIVITAS ECCENTRIC project funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.
- The purpose of the video series is to tell students who are already in Turku, as well as those looking to come here to study, about different car
This year’s tree was found in Tammialho in Masku, on the residential plot of Antti Koivisto.
