2016 , were granted for more than 270,000 m 2 of floor space , showing a 46 % increase . The rise in the number of building permits for housing was even higher ( 68 %), with the city centre attracting plenty of new residential buildings right now . Building permits granted for office construction showed a tremendous 53 % increase , too , as new office , industrial and storage facilities are required all around town .
The need for new business facilities – as well as the confidence in local business prospects – is reflected also in the exceptionally high number of reservations for industrial building sites . The reservations just hit their highest peak in years , having doubled from previous year .
Sustainable Success
Oulu is not flying blind in its quest for urban growth , either . The general plan of New Oulu – already partly in effect – is built around the idea of a “ Sustainable Northern City ”. The general plan focuses very strongly on building compact and diverse urban environments , making provisions for an increase of 30,000 new residents and 15,000 new jobs by 2030 . The general plan also provides a number of options for retail , offices and industry as where to set up shop – Oulu is big on variety and wants each and every company to find the optimal location for their operations .
Just a couple of examples from these trends : the new visions of northern university campus and Kontinkangas Campus for Health Care and Social Welfare Services allow for not only public but private services and business facilities , as well . In addition ,
4 Nordicum in the future the northern artery , the Kemintie road leading to the city centre , could be turned into a city boulevard where ample supplementary building and new services would be located along a tramway .
Mighty Wings
And that ’ s not to say that the current level of connectivity is poor . Domestically speaking , the Oulu airport is second only to Helsinki and saw a record-breaking number of passengers in 2016 .
“ The airport reached one million passengers in 2016 , with a 5.4 percent increase from the previous year ,” confirms Pauliina Pikkujämsä , Head of Marketing and Communication in BusinessOulu . Oulu Airport ’ s perfect year was capped off by its selection as the Airport of the Year in the summer and the decision to further improve the airport to the tune of EUR 14 million .
“ The airport ’ s annual capacity already stands at 1,5 million passengers , as many upgrades have been performed in recent years ,” she says . Passengers can choose from 100 weekly flight options between Oulu and Helsinki , and , furthermore , there are easy flight connections to Luleå in Sweden and Tromsø in Norway .
Call of the Wild
Interestingly enough , it seems that the planes touching down on the airport tarmac are jampacked with foreign investors . Recently , Oulu-based companies have been attracting more than EUR 50 million of venture capital investments each year , points out Minna Jokisalo , Project Manager in BusinessOulu .
“ Hot investment areas right now include 5G development , IoT , MR , Health Solutions , Printed Intelligence , Gaming and Cleantech ,” says Jokisalo .