Laakso ( sv, Dal) is a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; American and British English spelling differences, see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Its borders are defined by the streets of

Mannerheimintie Mannerheimintie ( sv, Mannerheimvägen), named after the Finnish military leader and statesman Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, is the main street and boulevard of Helsinki, Finland. It was originally named Heikinkatu ( sv, Henriksgatan), after Rob ...

and Nordenskiöldinkatu and the Helsinki Central Park. The neighbourhood is bordered by

Töölö Töölö (; sv, Tölö, formerly spelled ''Thölö'') is the collective name for the neighbourhoods Etu-Töölö ( sv, Främre Tölö, lit=Front Töölö, links=no) and Taka-Töölö ( sv, Bortre Tölö, lit=Rear Töölö, links=no) in Helsink ...

in the south, Meilahti in the southwest, Ruskeasuo in the north and

Länsi-Pasila Länsi-Pasila ( sv, Västra Böle) is a subdivision of Pasila, Helsinki, Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden ...

in the east. The neighbourhood has an area of 0.74 km², a population of 1781 and 1583 jobs (December 31, 2003). Laakso is neighbourhood #18 in the official neighbourhood numbering of Helsinki, and belongs to the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

of Reijola. The population in Laakso is mainly concentrated in multiple-floor

apartment building An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

s on Mannerheimintie. The neighbourhood also includes a hospital, a riding field, a traffic playground, and a large part of the southern Central Park. For the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

, the neighborhood hosted the

Eventing Eventing (also known as three day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combine and compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This ...

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

riding competitions.

References

1952 Summer Olympics official report.
p. 58.
Helsinki by districts (2005), district Reijola

Keskuspuisto blog
a blog about the history of the neighbourhood
Laakso from a satellite view.
Google Maps. Venues of the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic equestrian venues Neighbourhoods of Helsinki {{Summer-Olympic-venue-stub