Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2018 | Page 45

The vision includes the expansion of
the commercial centre from the surround-
ings of the Market Square towards the riv-
erfront and the harbour. The Market Square
will become a multipurpose meeting place
and a diverse centre of events, with plants
and permanent structures increasing its
attractiveness. The quarters surrounding
the Market Square will form a united net-
work of city malls and new business prem-
ises and other spaces are built in the quar-
ters of the centre.
“The plan for the Market Square is
based on already existing plans and two
thirds of the surface area will remain in mar-
ket use,” Hintsanen says.
Streamlining Logistics
For example, the overcrowded spot of public
transportation of Aurakatu and Eerikinkatu
will be transformed into new city termi-
nals, enabling the development of the Mar-
ket Square into a great meeting place for the
residents of Turku. The scale of the Market
Square will become smaller by building ter-
races and stairs to sit on; events and activ-
ities will become possible also outside the
operating hours of the market sales.
Hintsanen comments that the centre
will become more accessible and moving
inside the centre will be made more con-
venient by clarifying the traffic system and
use of street space. New city terminals of
public transport will make the centre hubs
more vivid and guide the flow of people to
an area wider than before.
“This will, in turn, allows the com-
mercial core of the centre to expand. New
street sections will gradually shift towards
focus on walking and cycling, in accordance
with international trends and in the interest
of reducing the carbon footprint.”
Business Hub
Central to the plans is the emergence of the
new Design & Finance District. Hintsanen
and Turto point out that creating prerequi-
sites for business is crucial for the vitality of
the city. The Market Hall area will be devel-
oped into an active business hub that houses
a variety of workplaces, ranging from small-
scale design and craft businesses, galleries
and cafés to high-profile office spaces for
large companies and organisations.
“The Design & Finance District could
encompass 150,000 square metres of new
commercial space and 300,000 square
metres of new offices in the city centre,”
Hintsanen says.
“Already, we have built a concept that
emphasises extreme flexibility. This means,
for instance, that companies on the growth
path can secure space solutions that fit their
needs right away,” adds Turto.
According to Hintsanen, the
vision work is opening up new kinds of
­ evelopment opportunities. The most impor-
d
tant observation is that controlled growth
– or, in accordance with the vision, even
remarkable growth – can help increase the
attractiveness of the centre and to improve
its functionality.
Thousand Islands
Just like in many other developed harbour
cities – in Copenhagen and Hamburg, for
example – also in Turku the centre will be
expanding to the river delta and the harbour.
In addition, the Turku of the future will fur-
ther expand to the archipelago and the cen-
tre will manifest more features related to
the archipelago.
“We feel that the Turku archipelago is
the most beautiful archipelago in the world
– and it’s largely an asset that, so far, has not
been linked to the development of the city,”
Hintsanen says.
The work of the vision group is more
about guiding development towards the right
direction on a large scale than single actions
as such. “What we are doing is looking at
the big picture and choosing the way we
need to take for the evolution of the city,”
adds Hintsanen.
Furthermore, Turku recognises its
roots as a European city and wants to rein-
force that rather unique profile. “Out of all
Finnish cities, Turku is the one with the most
European identity,” Hintsanen says. l
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