Kangas

A living fabric of business and people

Kangas is the main urban development project of the City of Jyväskylä for the next several decades. Kangas will be the Smart City area and a living ecosystem of innovative companies and educational institutes. In the future Kangas will be a home to 5 000 inhabitants and 2 100 new jobs. The total investment of Kangas will be approximately 1 billion euros. In 2022 there are already 1200 residents living and 1100 employees working at Kangas. 

Kangas area has been a place for new ideas, businesses and innovations for a long time. Already in the middle of 1800’s it was filled with water mills and later there were all kinds of businesses wanting to get their share of the river Tourujoki. Kangas paper mill was opened in 1874. The last paper mill owned by Sappi was closed in 2010 and the area of 27 hectares became the property of the City of Jyväskylä. The new era of Kangas was started.

Location

Located right next to the City Center we can talk about City Extension when referring to Kangas. It’s about 600 meters from the City Center and easily reachable from all over the city. The Travel Center of Jyväskylä is located less than 1 km from Kangas and is reached in 20 minutes by foot and 5 minutes by car.

Smart Ecosystem

Kangas will be built into a cyber secure area and its ICT infrastructure is based on future projections. The area is partly energy self-sufficient, the fibre networks are reliably maintained. The smart infrastucture benefits homes, businesses, supported living, energy companies and public services. For companies Kangas offers plenty of new opportunities to develop and grow as part of innovative business ecosystem. Two modern office buildings (Kankaan Arkki and Optimes Business Garden) will guarantee optimal conditions for work. Valkoinen talo, a former office building, and parts of old paper mill building also provide premises for businesses. 

Landis+Gyr is a leading provider of integrated energy management solutions and has one of its Global R&D centres in Jyväskylä. The site with 250 employees in the new office facilities (Optimes Business Garden) moved to Kangas in spring 2020. CEO of Nordics, Sami Kurunsaari, shares his thoughts about moving to Kangas.

Sustainable Community

Wise use of resources is one of the main themes in Kangas. Kangas is for example one of the first two areas in Finland that are trying out the One Planet Living approach. Kangas is also designed with a car-free lifestyle in mind.

Easy Living

There is a dedicated service company to support the area. Services like parking, common areas and waste disposal are produced centrally to make life at Kangas flow easily both for people and businesses. Parking is available in parking carages with modern solutions. Yards are dedicated for people and life. Light traffic lanes are planned carefully to support biking, walking and car-free way of life in general.

Pioneering Spirit

Kangas will be a sandbox for new ideas and technologies, a Living Lab where everyday life can be quantified. Sensor data from the urban environment will be an information gold mine for service developers and researchers. Few projects have already been conducted with the University of Jyväskylä and selected high-tech companies.

% Culture

1% of building cost are allocated to culture in other words to art and events. There are several works of art in Kangas Area and tens of events organized during a year.

Find more about the City of Jyväskylä and doing business in Jyväskylä.

Contact

Kaisa Hirvaskoski-Leinonen
Project Manager, Kangas, City of Jyväskylä
+358 46 920 0971, kaisa.hirvaskoski-leinonen[at]jkl.fi

Address:
Porttirakennus
Kympinkatu 3
40100 Jyväskylä