Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2010 | Page 51
sustainable communities to be
formed along rail connections.
Thanks to the superb location, the logistics hubs are within easy reach of St. Petersburg.
Of course, it’s not only the
great connections which are firing up the engines in Lahti. The
city has been a key centre for
growth in Finland for a long
time and the improved connections only add to the appeal.
“Lahti is known for versatile services and pioneering efforts in both culture and sports.”
For companies, there is
something about Lahti that
makes networking and build-
ing business relationships pretty easy. Karppanen attributes
this to the entrepreneurial mindset of the citizens – Lahti has
launched many successful family businesses, for instance, to
the world. The phrase “Business City” summed up what
the community was all about in
the 1980’s, and business is still
very much in the DNA of the
people here.
Bayside Appeal
The experts at LAKES are quite
aware of the interest generated by their region. Karppanen
notes that Lahti is a solid option for companies both big and
small – and coming from various fields. There are a few industries, however, which are especially keen on Lahti.
Perhaps the most exciting sector right now is cleantech which is currently making
its international break-through.
Lahti Region is home to Finland’s second most important
centre for the environmental industry as approximately 10% of
Finland’s environmental trade is
located here.
In recent years, the cleantech cluster in Lahti has been
growing at an annual rate of
17%. The special environmental expertise found in the region
encompasses public water system maintenance, international
projects, soil treatment, waste
management, and recycling.
There are also first-class technology-intensive recycling and
waste management companies.
Lahti boasts an impressive
scientific roster in the field as
well: Department of Ecological and Environmental Sciences (Helsinki University Faculty
of Biosciences), Lahti University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki
University of Technology Lah-
LAHTI-INFO:
– 100 840 inhabitants
– 1 hour away from Helsinki
– less than 3 hours away from St. Petersburg
(by end of 2010)
– less than 1 hour away from the international
airport
– fast highway and train connections
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