Varissuo


Varissuo is a district and the largest suburb of the city of Turku, in Finland. It is located seven kilometres to the east of the city centre, and is the easternmost major suburb of Turku, bordering on the neighbouring city of Kaarina. Varissuo has 9,000 inhabitants, about 32 per cent of whom are foreign immigrants. It is thus the second largest district of Turku, after Runosmäki. The name consists of the words varis meaning crow and suo meaning marsh.
Varissuo's population is currently decreasing at an annual rate of 1.23%. 15.72% of the district's population are under 15 years old, while 12.56% are over 65. 48.4% of the population speaks an immigrant language, reflecting the suburb's wide cultural variety. 80% of first graders speak a mother tongue other than Finnish or Swedish, and more than half of schools consist of immigrants.
The suburb was constructed from scratch on an area of previously uninhabited wetland starting in the mid-1970s as migration from rural areas to the city increased heavily in volume. Since then, the city's policy of placing many refugees and unemployed people in certain few districts has led to Varissuo, together with Lauste and Halinen, attaining a somewhat bad reputation.
Varissuo has several schools, a library, an underground ice arena, a Lutheran church, a health centre, a post office and a social security office. In addition, the Itäkeskus shopping centre is located in Varissuo, as well as a University of Turku teacher training school and Turku International School. As many other parts of Turku, Varissuo has many public transport connections, with frequent bus links to the city centre as well as other nearby districts and cities.