Next year, the city will become World Design Capital. You see, it takes more than ice-cold water to scare this lot. The Finns are stoich bunch and Helsinki is the gutsy epicentre of the nation's verve. What other country would dare set itself the goal of making the water in al lof the lakes one day drinkable? What other city would dare move not one but two entire ports eastwards, freeing up almost an additional third of its centre?
Winning ways Helsinki's soft touches
(01) Minus 20 is barely a problem for Helsinki; the city is simply built for it. You will be colder in a Sydney home during the Aussie winter than a Helsinki apartment in February - guaranteed.
(02) Where else would you find everything from door handles and telegraph pylons to litter bins dreamed up by top-drawer designers such as Hannu Kahonen and Alvar Aalto.
(03) Within 20 minutes of leaving the city, you can find yourself alone, looking over the Baltic in your perfectly silent summer house. (04) The fact you can continue your night out the way home, in one of Helsinki's karaoke taxis, is quite simply one of the world's most pleasurable inventions.
(05) It's perfect place to raise children: daycare is inexpensive and high quality. And if you're pushing a pram, public transport is free. |
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Population: 588,54; greater metropolitan area, 1.35 million.
International Flights: flights to over 120 destinations; 12 of which intercontinental.
Crime: murders, 5;domestic break-ins, 382 (down from 684 the previous year).
State education: in Finland, private schools are not common. Education is free all the way to university. Finnish schools have repeatedly been rated the best in the world in the OECD's Pisa survey.
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Helsinki