About Helsinki
The City of Helsinki, located in northern Europe, is often ranked amongst the most liveable cities. The city has been working on cycling promotion since the 2000s and has published a plan for cycling in 2014. This plan outlines 25 steps to help Helsinki achieve its goal of becoming one of the best cycling cities in the world. Helsinki prioritises sustainable transport, which is highlighted by the city's modal split (walking 36%, cycling 11%, public transport 33%). The city's traffic and street planning sector has over 100 employees, four of which work full-time on cycling at a holistic level.
Main cycling challenges
Helsinki needs to be able to build its infrastructure faster and more efficiently. Despite many good advancements that have been made thus far with regards to cycling facilities, the cycling situation is still in an unfinished state. For example, the different types of cycling infrastructure are not intuitive and not the most natural paths for a cyclist to follow. In addition, the prevailing prioritisation of car traffic in Helsinki requires a cultural shift, which has, to date, been slow.
