Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2013 | Page 48

– can be utilised to improve products and
services in various fields,” Levomäki points
out. Using ICT or innovative materials, it
is possible to make a “tiger’s leap” in productivity – as many local companies have
found out.

Back to the Future
In this seaside city, people have always kept
their eye on the horizon. The City of Turku
is trying to look into the future and explore
the living trends of tomorrow by creating a
new type of residential area in Skanssi district. Jouko Turto explains that the approach
here is rather different:
“We are working together with top
international companies such as Siemens
and Fujitsu to find solutions that are realistic enough to work.” The seed of the collaboration was sown three years ago with
Turku’s involvement in the World Business
Council for Sustainable Development, and
Turku was selected – out of dozens of candidate cities – to participate in the programme.
“These leading companies bring substance and vision into the process and the
City is committed to see this thing through,”
says Turto, while reluctant to use the “Living Lab” term to describe what’s going on
in Skanssi. In his mind, ‘Living Lab’ projects have a tendency to fall short of impacting the real, day-to-day life of the citizens:
“We are only after solutions that are viable and can really improve people’s lives,”
he promises.

Turku: Recommended for
business and living

The main focus area of Turku Science Park is biotechnology. As a national forerunner, Turku also coordinates the biotechnology cluster of Finland, HealthBIO, combining all the five biotech centres.
The same focus can also be seen in
real estate investments – the ambitious expansion of the Turku’s T-hospital started in
2007 and the finishing touches were delivered in 2012. The end result is, in all likelihood, the best, the most versatile hospital
in North Europe. Some of the world’s best
surgical talent is to be found right here, too
– for example, superstar football player David Beckham flew into Turku when faced
with a tough operation.

ICT Evolution
The other strong anchor at the Park – information and communication technology – is
the second biggest business sector in Southwest Finland at the moment. ICT has been
growing continuously and steadily, employing a total of 13,500 people. The Turku–Sa46 Nordicum

lo region forms Finland’s strongest ICT expertise cluster outside the Helsinki metropolitan area.
As Nokia has been struggling lately,
many ICT experts have sought employment
elsewhere – or started their own companies.
Rikumatti Levomäki says that this change
is felt at the Turku Science Park as well:
“A new kind of ecosystem is starting
to evolve right now,” he says, adding that
ICT is one of those sectors which can give
a boost t