Because of international mobility, Helsinki, the capital of Finland, has become increasingly multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. Therefore, the integration of immigrants and their descendants has also grown in importance. While Finnish integration policy has been lauded as one of the best in its class, in actual life it is rarely what it looks like on paper.

The Helsinki City Strategy stresses the importance of reducing population differentiation at the neighbourhood level. This framing is consistent with most discussions on urban segregation, concerned largely with the static distribution of different population groups in residential space. However, if one of the goals in preventing segregation is to promote integration, and ensure equity of access and outcome between population groups, then only considering where people live is far too limited an approach.

Employment is often considered an important indicator for immigrant integration. Entering the labour market has great significance for people moving to Finland, but also for the Finnish society and, at local level, for the municipality.

The number of residents speaking a foreign mother tongue has increased rapidly in Helsinki over the past few years, as has their proportion of the total population. The rise is set to continue, but the impact of the recent inflows of asylum applicants on Helsinki's foreign-language population is expected to remain limited.

In Finland and in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, immigrants live in owner-occupied housing far less frequently than the native population. A corresponding mismatch can also be seen in many other countries, particularly with regard to immigrants who have been in the country for a short period of time.

Foreign languages have been spoken in the streets of Helsinki throughout the past 450 years. The first migrants came mainly from present-day Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden, while the 19th century saw the arrival of a large number of Russian traders and entrepreneurs.

A scarcity of capital, a limited customer base and gaps in entrepreneur skills hinder the growth of Somali-owned enterprises in Finland. Potential keys to future success include the exploitation of international Somali networks and the possibilities opened up if second-generation Somalis pool their resources with native Finns.

The Helsinki Metropolitan Area hosts growing numbers of foreign professionals who are vital for the competitiveness of the city region. Besides working, the migrants also establish their everyday lives within the built environment of the city. What are their housing experiences, and does the local offer of housing support their settling into the city region?

As with other urban centres, it has been typical for Helsinki that the people moving into the city are young people with relatively low income, while those moving out are older and have often established themselves in employment. This has been seen as a threat for the city's tax revenue. But is the reality more complex?

Helsinki is one of the fastest growing metropolises in Europe. New areas for living and business are rising especially in areas formerly occupied by logistical and industrial functions.