Land Acquisition for City Planning

The City of Turku acquires land for future land use and city planning mainly by means of voluntary purchases. The land acquisition of the City of Turku is guided by the local master plan and the objectives set for land use.

Land acquisition can also be conducted with special procedures, which are:

Compulsory purchase procedure

Compulsory purchase is used if land acquisition cannot be realized by other means for one reason or another. Compulsory purchase may be used in the following situations, for example:

• land is marked as public area in the local detailed plan (park, street)
• land is a only a part of a plot or site
• the land project is of high public importance and a voluntary agreement cannot be reached
• there is not enough time for lengthy negotiations
• reaching the owner of the property is impossible
• the owner of the property is incompetent

Pre-emption procedure

Using the pre-emption procedure means that the city puts itself in the place of the buyer in a property deal between two private parties. Based on the pre-emption legislation the city has the right of first refusal in property deals conducted within the municipality if the area is over 5000 m2.

Turku City Public Utility Property Management is responsible of the land acquisition of the city and other possible property ownership arrangements.