A wonderfully progressive city renowned for its community development and sustainability, what other reason do you need to move to Copenhagen other than it being the happiest city in the world? With an enviable work life balance and a high standard of living, you could certainly do far worse than moving to a city famous for its generous working benefits and unique independent culture.

Co-housing developments

Copenhagen has a very forward thinking approach when it comes to housing. The city was the first in the world to develop the idea of co-housing. The concept is based around a community of residents who live in their own homes but come together to share activities such as eating together, maintaining the grounds and socialising. The first Danish co-housing project was built in Copenhagen in 1964 by Danish architect Jan Gudmand-Hoyer, and since its construction, Copenhagen has now fully embraced the concept. The Danish co-housing movement aims to combat alienation and isolation and encourage neighbourly support. Co-housing is now a well-established housing option in Copenhagen and new developments are being constructed all the time.

Bike to work (and just about everywhere else)

In this city, almost everyone rides a bike and the emergence of several bike rental schemes means that city residents can keep healthy and do their bit for the environment at the same time. Copenhagen is a world influencer when it comes to cycling and is renowned for its biking culture. Officially the first Bike City in the world, last year, Copenhagen was voted ‘the best city for cyclists’ and the ‘world’s most livable city’. Other cities all over the world are now following suit and adopting Copenhagen’s cycling trend. With 39% of people preferring to cycle around the city, it’s no surprise that Copenhagen has over 390 kilometres of designated bike lanes. Even in winter, city policy mandates that snow should be removed from cycle lanes before the main roads and in January, 80% of Copenhagen cyclists still choose to cycle over travelling by car.

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Working benefits

With more and more people searching for a healthy work life balance nowadays, Copenhagen is considered one of the best cities in the world for job satisfaction. Recently voted the ‘happiest city in the world’ by a UN survey, Copenhagen is at the top of the international equality league table with its high standards of living. The Danish welfare model offers flexible working conditions and excellent social support networks, including extended parental leave and great childcare facilities. In recent years, Copenhagen has attracted foreign workers over a wide range of industries and trends suggest that more and more people are catching on to Copenhagen’s excellent working benefits and relocating to the city from overseas.

Culture

In Copenhagen, the cafe and restaurant scenes are booming. There are now 14 restaurants in the city with Michelin stars and Copenhagen is one of the few cities in the world who have managed to hold on to their independent coffee shop cafes. For a relatively small city, Copenhagen shows an impressive entrepreneurial spirit with lots of small, independent boutiques and cafes on every street corner – you’ll be hard pushed to find a Starbucks or a Subway here. One reason that the city sees so many startups is its reasonable rent rates, which allow new companies to develop quickly. One street in particular, Jægersborggade is lined with fashion, furniture, art and artisan stores and well worth a visit.