Helsingborg's vision is to become both the most attractive town in Sweden and to provide a comprehensive and good service throughout the life of each inhabitant. High quality in harmony with nature is the key concept. To reach this goal, Helsingborg strives to provide a good platform for trade and industry while strengthening its environmental profile and its identity as an attractive cultural and tourist town. Helsingborg has a population of close to 118,000 inhabitants and is thereby Sweden's 9th biggest community. About 85,000 people reside in the town itself. For many years Helsingborg was just a small town, but thanks to the railways and a new harbour a strong expansion took place around the middle of the 19th century. Helsingborg is situated at the narrowest part of the strait between Sweden and Denmark and the distance across the water to Helsingör in Denmark is not more than 4km. Helsingborg is a trading centre, the harbour is the second largest in the country and the European highways E4 and E6 cross one another just outside the town.