Brain Power
Of course, the local academic anchor – consisting of the University of Turku, Åbo Akademi University and the Turku University of Applied Sciences – is in fine form. The powerful combination of business and science has yielded great results over the years – and, against this background, it is no wonder that the City of Turku named Campus and Science Park as one of its key spearhead projects in 2016.
The foundation certainly seems strong enough. There are as many as 38,000 higher education students in town and the campuses of the three universities are located exceptionally close to each other( as well as the city centre). In the same area, one can also find the functions of Turku University Hospital, the Turku Science Park and the most prominent cluster of office complexes in town.
Mikko Lehtinen, Managing Director of Turku Technology Properties, comments that Turku Science Park is unique in both its scope and style. He calls the Science Park“ a real pearl” that is now being realised one step at a time.
The Campus and Science Park was raised to the rank of spearhead project since the City feels that exceptionally multidisciplinary strategic management and coordination is needed in comprehensive city development. The intention here is to connect especially with the development of the physical and functional environments.
“ Linking the worlds of higher education and business is something we want to do with great frequency, since we believe that is the best platform for winning innovations,” says Jouko Turto.
Ride the Rails
In addition to developing a world-class innovation and experimentation environment for the interlinked actors, Campus and Science Park project is aimed at delivering high quality planning and implementation of land use, housing, construction, and traffic. A central element is the logistic accessibility of the area – especially via the national One Hour Train initiative; there are plans to link Helsinki and Turku with one-hour fast rail connection.
“ The state is investing € 40 million into the planning of One Hour Train initiative which concerns also the remodeling of the railway station into a modern traffic centre,” explains Turto.
One of the objectives of the initiative is linking Campus and Science Park area to the commuter belt of the Helsinki metropolitan area. Bridging the old and new capital
should yield numerous benefits and synergies, now and in the long run.
The Campus and Science Park project is one potent example of the City’ s mindset which emphasises certain agility and a positive attitude towards experimenting. The chosen spearhead projects must be comprehensive, yes, but not at the price of losing their flexible nature. The success of such projects is measured by investments in the area and development of business as well as the national and international recognition of the area brand.
Time to Move!
In addition to the Turku-Helsinki fast rail, there are also plans to upgrade local traffic connections. Turku’ s first electric buses hit the road in October 2016, but the e-revolution does not stop there. Turku is participating in the EU-funded CIVITAS ECCENTRIC initiative along with e. g. Munich, Madrid and Stockholm, spearheading also the pan-European‘ Mobility as a Service’( MaaS) component of the CIVITAS collaboration. In the coming years, Turku has the ambition to implement a more interactive and participatory planning approach to traffic, as well as significantly expand its electric public transportation network. In addition, the City wants to keep growing the electric car
Photo: Jaska Poikonen
There are plans to link Helsinki and Turku with one-hour fast rail connection. Nordicum
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