Resi­den­tial districts

Oulu is divi­ded into 23 main districts that are furt­her divi­ded into city districts and even furt­her into neigh­bour­hoods that com­pe­te in att­rac­ti­ve­ness and appeal. Many of them also have an acti­ve neigh­bour­hood socie­ty.

The varie­ty of areas and natu­re in Oulu is char­ming, and you will never get bored explo­ring the city. The munici­pa­li­ties of Hau­ki­pu­das, Kii­min­ki, Oulun­sa­lo, and Yli-Ii mer­ged into the City of Oulu in 2013, making the city even more exci­ting than befo­re. The varie­ty of neigh­bour­hoods is almost end­less, cate­ring for many tas­tes.

The­re is also a won­der­ful varie­ty of place names in Oulu, most of which have to do with the his­to­ry or natu­re of the res­pec­ti­ve district. They all sha­re their part of the sto­ry of Oulu with a hig­her gra­de of appeal.

Neigh­bour­hoods in the beat of the city cent­re

Enjoy the beat of the city or a laid-back sea­si­de atmosp­he­re near you – disco­ver them in Oulu city cent­re and the popu­la­tion cent­res right around it. Vaa­ra and Pok­ki­nen insi­de the city cent­re grid plan hold the best of ser­vices and arc­hi­tec­tu­re from art nou­veau to 2020s engi­nee­ring. The idyl­lic and beau­ti­ful Hol­li­ha­ka and Leve­ri offer won­der­ful views and mari­ti­me ambience. Not far from the cent­re, you will also find Myl­ly­tul­li in an old industrial neigh­bour­hood, Intiö with its old woo­den mili­ta­ry bar­racks, and Van­ha­tul­li, which is a com­bi­na­tion of the old and the new.

Just a stone’s throw away is Rak­si­la with its enc­han­ting woo­den district and a cent­re for many sports and fit­ness acti­vi­ties. Sur­roun­ded by ser­vices is also Limin­gan­tul­li with plen­ty of new apart­ments. The Limin­gan­tul­li district used to house a cus­toms office whe­re goods from the count­ry­si­de were ins­pec­ted befo­re being allowed in the town for tra­ding. Hence the name – Limin­gan­tul­li means ”Limin­ka Cus­toms” in English!

Lush and idyl­lic areas to call home

Just one kilo­met­re from the city cent­re you will enter a who­le new world if you set your cour­se for the small house neigh­bour­hood of Kar­ja­sil­ta, for example. Once selec­ted as the best resi­den­tial district in Fin­land, Kar­ja­sil­ta is not only dot­ted with love­ly, colour­ful woo­den houses but also old apart­ment buil­dings – all equal­ly char­ming! You will see and feel the clo­se­ness of natu­re also in Höyh­tyä, Noke­la, Lin­tu­la, and Män­ty­lä. The Sel­vaag houses in Höyh­tyä, the woods and ponds in Lin­tu­la, and the peace­ful streets and parks in Noke­la and Män­ty­la all exu­de the unique Oulu housing cul­tu­re.

Whi­le the pre­vious areas repre­sent the sout­hern side of Oulu, in the north you will encoun­ter the enc­han­ting districts of Väli­vai­nio, Isko, and Pyy­kös­jär­vi. All three have plen­ty of detac­hed housing, and Väli­vai­nio will beco­me part of the inner city over the natu­ral cour­se of futu­re city deve­lop­ment.

The banks of Oulu River will lead you to the atmosp­he­ric and vibrant neigh­bour­hoods of Hint­ta, Myl­ly­oja, Haa­pa­leh­to, Kirk­ko­kan­gas, and Kyn­si­leh­to. Main­ly con­sis­ting of detac­hed and row housing, the­se are excel­lent areas for sports and other acti­vi­ties from jog­ging trails to ska­te parks.

Urban housing to suit many tas­tes

Are you loo­king for an edgy, urban lifes­ty­le? Look no furt­her! Selec­ted as the neigh­bour­hood of the year, Tui­ra is the epi­to­me of ver­sa­ti­li­ty and mul­tiplici­ty, for example when it comes to cul­tu­re and events. The river­si­de part of Tui­ra is one of the most beau­ti­ful areas in Oulu, with the beach and the trails along the river cate­ring for acti­ve yet relaxing moments.

Right next door to Tui­ra is Kos­ki­kes­kus with a gene­ral plan desig­ned by Alvar Aal­to, the most famous Fin­nish arc­hi­tect by inter­na­tio­nal stan­dards. The atmosp­he­re between the 1950s apart­ment buil­dings is insu­pe­rable! The Oulu River estua­ry is pac­ked with small islands. Clo­sest to the city cent­re is Piki­saa­ri Island, a pic­tu­resque neigh­bour­hood known par­ticu­lar­ly as the home of artists and arti­sans.

Sen­se the sea near home

The sea wind blows in Oulu, and the­re are seve­ral sea­si­de resi­den­tial loca­tions to choo­se from, too. On the sho­res of Hie­ta­saa­ri Island, you can find Nal­li­ka­ri Beach, also known as the Rivie­ra of the North, along with seve­ral har­bours and other places for acti­vi­ties such as hob­bies and rec­rea­tion. Hie­ta­saa­ri is easi­ly acces­sible from Top­pi­lan­saa­ri and Top­pi­lan­sal­mi next to it – both of which also offer some of the most won­der­ful water­si­de sce­ne­ry in Oulu. The sta­te­ly and his­to­ric har­bour sto­re­houses nowa­days offer unique housing alter­na­ti­ves. What is more, this is clo­se to the district of Oulu Housing Fair, which is under con­struc­tion to hap­pen in 2025.

Fol­low the sho­re­li­ne south or north to find fresh and cosy areas one after the other. In the north, you will come across Kel­lo and Mar­tin­nie­mi for char­ming homes­teads, whi­le in the south you can disco­ver the various love­ly neigh­bour­hoods of Oulun­sa­lo.

Also situa­ted by the sea is Äimä­rau­tio, a unique district in Oulu because it has no per­ma­nent resi­dents at all. Ins­tead, it houses the ado­rable Äimä­rau­tio com­mu­ni­ty gar­den with allot­ments and huts that are sought-after spots for spen­ding the sum­mer in Oulu.

Peace­ful and spacious housing

Oulu has plen­ty of peace­ful areas whe­re fami­lies and single people live in hap­py har­mo­ny. North of the city cent­re are the neigh­bour­hoods of Kos­ke­la and Tas­ki­la, whe­re the atmosp­he­re is tranquil and most of the buil­ding stock con­sists of row houses or detac­hed housing. Ver­dancy and small houses can also be found in Kui­vas­jär­vi, Raja­ky­lä, Pate­nie­mi, and Heruk­ka, for example.

Moving north, the­re are also the neigh­bour­hoods of Jää­li which are popu­lar for fami­lies and con­tain detac­hed houses and row houses from seve­ral periods. More recent­ly built neigh­bour­hoods inclu­de Saa­re­la and Tal­vi­kan­gas, both of which are very acces­sible concer­ning children’s day care and schools.

Per­fect for an acti­ve life

Are you a stu­dent or lead an acti­ve life otherwi­se? The­re is a pad in Oulu for you, too! The most ideal areas for stu­dents are the Kai­jon­har­ju and Lin­nan­maa neigh­bour­hoods near the Lin­nan­maa cam­pus. The­se are also cle­ver choices for people wor­king in the Lin­nan­maa tech­no­lo­gy vil­la­ge. Get­ting around is easy also from homes near the Kon­tin­kan­gas cam­pus and Oulu Uni­ver­si­ty Hos­pi­tal, in Pel­to­la, for example.

Loca­ted next to good public trans­port rou­te and the acces­sible, excel­lent Oulu cycling network are the neigh­bour­hoods of Alp­pi­la, Top­pi­la, Kau­ko­vai­nio, and Puo­li­vä­lin­kan­gas. The buil­ding stock in the­se areas con­sists main­ly of apart­ment buil­dings – some char­mingly older, reno­va­ted ones, and others more recent­ly built. Along the Oulu River the­re is the district of Laa­ni­la from whe­re the city cent­re, Lin­nan­maa, and Kon­tin­kan­gas are easi­ly and quickly reac­hable.

Pic­tu­resque neigh­bour­hoods along the river

One of the most well-known land­marks in the sce­ne­ry of Oulu is the Oulu River, with postcard-like resi­den­tial districts built on both sides along it. Clo­sest to the city cent­re is Värt­tö, with love­ly sce­ne­ry, beau­ti­ful parks, and a beach with a mari­na brin­ging life to the neigh­bour­hood. Near the concent­ra­tion of workplaces and schools in Kon­tin­kan­gas and the ser­vices in Rak­si­la is the Oulun­suu district with a ver­sa­ti­le selec­tion of old and new housing avai­lable.

The Maik­ku­la and Knuu­ti­la districts have a lot of detac­hed and row housing along with ado­rable small apart­ment buil­dings here and the­re. The natu­re is tan­gible in the neigh­bour­hoods on a pine wood rid­ge along the river. Slight­ly furt­her on is Made­kos­ki with a vil­la­ge-type atmosp­he­re right next door to Tur­kan­saa­ri Open-Air Museum. On the other side of the river is San­gin­suu, loca­ted whe­re Oulu River and its tri­bu­ta­ry San­gin­jo­ki meet.

Plen­ty of ser­vices around

Welco­me to an abun­dance of ser­vices! It is not always in your inte­rests to shop or sun errands in the city cent­re, in which case good ser­vices near your place of resi­dence are gol­den. For example, the new district of Rita­har­ju is right next to the Idea­park shop­ping cent­re. All the other ser­vices in the area are unbea­table, too. On the other side of town, the Kaak­ku­ri cent­re has a concent­ra­tion of groce­ry sto­res and more specia­li­sed shops. The hyper­mar­ket of Rus­ko and other ser­vices near it are won­der­ful­ly reac­hable for the resi­dents of Rus­ko, Hei­kin­har­ju, and Kor­ven­suo­ra neigh­bour­hoods.

Approxi­ma­te­ly 20 kilo­met­res nort­heast from the city cent­re is the resi­den­tial district of Kii­min­ki, whe­re the essen­tial ser­vices can be found in the vil­la­ge cent­re, Kir­kon­ky­lä. At the core of the Hau­ki­pu­das main district is the Hau­ki­pu­das resi­den­tial district with a plen­ti­ful selec­tion of ser­vices for eve­ry­day living.

Clo­se to the natu­re

If you are not into urban life in the conc­re­te jungle but are more of a natu­re per­son, check out this sec­tion. Even though Oulu is famous for its natu­re that will fol­low you right into the city cent­re, the neigh­bour­hoods set wit­hin natu­re itself have a who­le dif­fe­rent atmosp­he­re. Head out to Iinat­ti, for example: this easi­ly reac­hable district has a network of run­ning trails and a fit­ness track whe­re you can enjoy the lush green natu­re around you whi­le exerci­sing. The Hiuk­ka­vaa­ra neigh­bour­hood built around the old army bar­racks of Oulu offers idyl­lic sur­roun­dings com­bi­ned with modern housing and ser­vices.

The big­gest main district in Oulu (and the who­le of Fin­land) is Yli­kii­min­ki. This area is paricu­lar­ly cha­rac­te­ri­sed by waterways, with seve­ral lakes and the beau­ti­ful Kii­min­ki­jo­ki River sha­ping the landsca­pe.

Along the banks of Iijo­ki River is the main district of Yli-Ii with mag­ni­ficent boreal forests set­ting the sce­ne­ry. This area has a lot of his­to­ry dating back to the Sto­ne Age, showca­sed in the arc­haeo­lo­gical exhi­bi­tions of Kie­rik­ki Sto­ne Age Cent­re.