A Region Investing in Quality of Life
The Turku region pairs the cultural richness of Finland’s oldest city with pristine nature, short everyday distances and world-class public services — in the country ranked the happiest on earth.
And people are voting with their feet: after Helsinki, Turku now attracts more new residents than any other city in Finland. For companies, that pull is one of the most powerful tools there is for recruiting and retaining talent.
A city investing in the good life
Turku is putting real money behind quality of life — from world-class culture to the everyday infrastructure that makes a city work.
On the banks of the Aura River, the city is opening Fuuga, a new €90.5 million music hall designed for carbon neutrality. Nearby, a new Museum of History and the Future, an estimated €39 million landmark beside the medieval Turku Castle, will anchor the city’s 800th-anniversary year in 2029.
These projects are backed by everyday investments: a city library that handles 3.2 million loans a year, and a €150 million programme spanning schools, day-care centres, culture, mobility and housing.
A city that keeps investing in its cultural life, its schools and its public spaces is a city where talent wants to stay — year after year.
Turku region in numbers
#1
Municipality in Finland for new work-based residence permits (2025)
75%
Of local university students want to stay in the region
#2
In Finland for net migration gain, after only Helsinki
40,000
Of islands in the world’s largest archipelago, on Turku’s doorstep
15 min
Typical bike commute across the compact city
€90.5M
New Music Hall Fuuga
Free, world-class services for families
High-quality education and healthcare are publicly funded and open to residents — a decisive factor for anyone relocating with a family.
Finland’s education system is globally respected and free from early childhood through university, backed by affordable childcare and universal public healthcare. International families also have access to English-medium schooling in the region, from the primary years through to the International Baccalaureate Diploma.
When schooling, healthcare and childcare are this accessible, the decision to move — and to stay for the long term — becomes far easier for the whole household.
Sustainability built in
The City of Turku aims to be carbon neutral by 2029 — one of the most ambitious climate targets of any European city, timed to its 800th anniversary.
That commitment shows up in everyday life: expanding green mobility, clean urban districts and a regional clean-transition industry among Finland’s strongest.
For companies and talent who increasingly weigh values alongside opportunity, the region’s direction of travel is a genuine draw.
800 years of history
Turku is the oldest city in Finland, and it marks its 800th anniversary in 2029.
Founded on the banks of the Aura River, the city pairs deep history — the medieval Turku Castle and Cathedral among it — with a lively contemporary culture of riverboat restaurants, museums, music and year-round festivals. It is small enough to feel personal and rich enough never to feel provincial.
For relocating families and young professionals alike, it offers the cultural depth of a European city without the anonymity or the expense of a capital.
Nature on your doorstep
The Turku region sits at the edge of the largest archipelago in the world by number of islands.
Tens of thousands of islands, islets and skerries stretch from the city into the Archipelago Sea — a national landscape, home to the Archipelago Sea National Park. Within minutes of the centre, employees can be out on the water, riding the Archipelago Trail, or in the forests and shorelines of islands like Ruissalo.
Clean air, clean water and genuine access to nature are woven into everyday life here — not saved for the occasional weekend expedition.
People are choosing the Turku region
Over the most recent year, Turku recorded the second-largest net migration gain of any municipality in Finland — behind only Helsinki — for both domestic and international migration.
Relative to its size, Turku is now the fastest-growing large city in the country. The city passed 210,000 residents in early 2026, and it draws newcomers from almost every region of Finland as well as from abroad.
In a 2025 national survey, it ranked as the second most attractive place to live in the country. People are choosing Turku — and, just as importantly, staying.
Experience the city of culture
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