Finland
2020-2029
The city of Turku aims to develop pedestrian and leisures areas to promote sustainable mobility by 2029, including the residents in the decision-making process.
Residents of Turku via some surveys
Turku is a city and former capital on the southwestern coast of Finland at the mouth of the River Aura, in the region of Southwest Finland (Varsinais-Suomi). The population of Turku is 201,889, making it the sixth largest city in Finland. The Turku region has a population of 346,662, making it the third largest urban area in Finland after the Helsinki and Tampere regions. The city is officially bilingual, with 5.5 per cent of the population having Swedish as their mother tongue.
The aim of Turku's development programme for pedestrian and leisure areas is to promote the development of walking and spending time and to implement concrete measures to improve walking conditions and create an attractive urban space. The final objective of the programme is to have 66% of journeys with sustainable modes of transport by 2029.
The best way to do so is through long-term and multidisciplinary cooperation, taking the needs and wishes of city residents into consideration. Indeed, in addition to the representatives of the city, the larger working group that led the preparation of the programme comprised residents representatives.
The Turku city centre transport environment survey launched in 2019 examined the residents' views on the development of the transport environment. The target group was residents of Turku, Raisio, Naantali, Kaarina and Lieto over 15 years of age.
Improving the conditions for walking and cycling was considered important especially in the development of central areas. This is why improving road safety for walking and cycling and providing traffic education in schools were considered very important. The respondents of the survey saw the accessibility of services on foot and by bicycle as well as considering walking and cycling more actively in land use and decision-making as important matters.
Turku residents' views on traffic arrangements in the city centre have been listed in another survey, the "Turku discusses" citizens' panel in 2020. The citizens' panel discussed the traffic scenarios of the city centre, by discussions in small groups, expert speeches and an information package on traffic arrangements. Participants were invited to the citizens' panels by random sampling, and their opinions were examined before and after their participation in the panel. After the citizens' panel, the principal measures supported were
The special needs of an ageing population is also taken note of in the programme, and in urban planning in general. For example special attention has been paid to the safety of residential areas (lighting, winter maintenance of pedestrian routes, etc.).
Citizen participation was a strong focus of this case, relying on feedback via the online survey to discover ideas of most benefit to the local citizens. The analysis of these responses were used as the foundation for the planning processes about the programme.
Sources of information
City of Turku's development programme for pedestrian and leisure areas 2029
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