http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/06/ ... _capi.htmlAnd the city with the best quality of life is … Helsinki!
At least, that’s what British magazine Monocle declared after taking a look at a number of urban centers around the globe. The magazine bases its annual top-25 list on a variety of factors, aiming to find the city that is the best to call home.
Helsinki moved up four spots from last year’s rankings, beating out Zurich (no. 2) and Copenhagen (no. 3) for the top spot. The full list will be published later this summer.
Helsinki has only about 600,000 residents, allowing for a tight community and a certain “Finnish way to do things” that remains intact despite highly influential global trends. Helsinki is also spared some the problem of suburban sprawl that many other cities do, allowing for easy escape to one of the many islands off Finland’s coast.
Finnish design also had a lot to do with the selection, as would be expected from an international news and design magazine. “An unorthodox but well-deserving champion, the Finnish capital stands out for its fundamental courage to rethink its urban ambitions, and for possessing the talent, ideas and guts to pull it off,” the magazine writes.
Monocle claims that its rankings are based on firsthand visits, statistics and other factors. “In the end the cities that make the cut are not just OK, but places that are benchmarks for urban renaissance and rigorous reinvention in everything from environmental policy to transport,” claims the magazine.
