A thousand years after the farms and hillforts of the Aura valley (stop 1), Turku is a modern city of students, ships and many languages. In 2026 it is busy with two big plans for the future: cutting its climate emissions to net zero and building a new tramway.
Turku in numbers
- About 209,000 residents. At the end of 2025 Turku had 209,633 inhabitants. It is the sixth largest municipality in Finland, and about 320,000 people live in the Turku region Well documented.
- A student city. About 40,000 students study at the universities and universities of applied sciences, among them the University of Turku and the Swedish-language Åbo Akademi Well documented.
- Many languages. About 18 in every 100 residents have a mother tongue other than Finnish or Swedish (stop 48) Well documented.
- Ships. The shipyard Meyer Turku has about 2,400 employees, and with its suppliers it creates more than 10,000 jobs in Finland (stop 49) Well documented.
Carbon neutral by 2029
- The goal. Turku aims to be a carbon-neutral city by 2029. That means the city should no longer add to the warming of the climate Well documented.
- An early start. The city approved its first climate programme in 2009. In 2022 it tightened its target for 2025, and it reached that target Likely.
- Three-quarters less. Emissions in the Turku area are about 75% lower than in 1990. According to the city, this is the biggest cut among Finnish cities, and its emissions per resident are the lowest. Most of the cut comes from how energy is produced and used Likely.
- The new plan. On 15 June 2026 the City Council approved a new climate plan. Transport is the sector where emissions must fall fastest. For the first time the plan also sets targets for emissions caused by what people buy and use Likely.
- What remains. Emissions that cannot be cut by 2029 are to be balanced by carbon sinks, such as forests, and by compensation Likely.
- Getting ready. The plan also prepares the city for climate risks such as floods, drought and heat Likely.
Trams come back
- Fifty years without. Turku’s old trams stopped running in 1972 (stop 44) Well documented.
- A long debate. The first study of new light rail was ordered in 2000. A proposal in 2002 had two lines and 43.1 km of track. In 2009 the council chose fast buses for the near future and light rail as a long-term aim Well documented.
- One line. In 2023 the city approved a general plan for one line from the Port through the Market Square, the Cathedral, the University Hospital and the Science Park to Varissuo: about 12 km and 20 stops Well documented.
- The decision. In May 2026 the City Council decided to build the tramway Well documented. A news report gives the vote as 36–31 and the cost estimate as about 465 million euros, and says that full construction depends on money from the state Likely.
- From 2033. Thirteen trams are due to start running in 2033, every 7.5 minutes at peak times. A trip from end to end will take about 35 minutes Well documented.
The road to 800
- 1229. Turku counts its age from a letter that Pope Gregory IX wrote on 23 January 1229. It gave the bishop permission to move his seat from Nousiainen to a more suitable place, which became Koroinen on the Aura river (stop 2) Well documented.
- Turku 800. In 2029 the city celebrates its 800th anniversary, which it presents as a celebration for the whole of Finland (stop 51) Well documented.
- 700 years. In 1929, 700 years after the papal letter, Turku held a fair that showed the new functionalist style (stop 38) Well documented.