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This thesis studies residents’ participation in urban park planning processes and planners’ interests in participation and involvement. The data used in the empirical part of the thesis is compiled by quantitative analysis of nine thematic planning authority interviews. The importance of green infrastructure has grown since urban areas are becoming increasingly built environments. The value of the green areas and the need for functional parks are growing in developing urban areas. People are increasingly interested in participating in the development of their own living environment. The current planning practice underlines residents’ opportunities to participate in the planning, but these opportunities to participate vary depending on the park planning case, and not even planners have an agreement in which case residents could and should be more involved. Participation process in park planning is influenced by legislation, previous course of actions and significance of the plan both in townscape and economically. The empirical part of this thesis offers views of other factors that have also affected the participation process in three urban park planning cases in Helsinki region. These factors are objectives set in previous phase of the planning and zoning process, affordances of the plan, resources and timetable, approaches and collaboration between the participants, and the attractiveness of the participatory method. Four different ways to see the purposes and benefits of the participation process by authorities and planners are presented. In the first view planners see participation as a method directed by legislation, where the most important actions are the conveyance of information to the residents and decision justification. In the second view the objectives in participation are in bringing residents’ experimental knowledge into the plan and improving the quality of the plan. In the third view, participation interests are in communicative learning, opening planning policy, and increasing residents’ own action-taking. In the fourth view direct participation is seen as a key part of the democratic system of society. According to interviewees challenges in participation are related to organizing participation, reconciliation of interests, fragmentation of the governance, and uncertainty of the meaning of participation itself. Participatory methods in urban park planning often aim solely to inform residents about the plan. Furthermore, participatory park planning can also achieve stronger sense of community among residents and increase the trust between residents and municipality governance. Participatory park planning requires mutual understanding of the purposes in the participation, an inspirational method, and adequate resources.

My master’s thesis addresses the status of participants in urban infill aiming projects of local detailed planning and framework planning. Urban infill (complementary building) is emphasized in Finnish urban planning while the practices of participatory planning have been developed. However, ambiguous Land Use and Building Act causes ambiguity also for the definition of participants and for public participation. Therefore, it is reasonable to study which issues affect to the definition of participants’ status based on the practical planning cases. My research questions are how the status of participants is defined in the planning projects and by which ways practices to define the status of participants differ between the processes of local detailed planning and framework planning. I examine the phenomenon based on expert interviews and the documents related to public participation phase. The aim of my thesis is to perceive factors and practices affecting to defining the status of participants. In addition to increased meaning of participatory planning, urban planning related decision making is decentralized to more parties meanwhile growth is being pursued in urban regions as part of the world of global competition. Thus, many stakeholders with their own interests are involved to plans, which can be seen by the practices to do urban planning. I examine my research questions through the four planning theories: rationalistic, incremental, communicative-collaborative and agonistic. Planning theories form frameworks whose realization I reflect based on the data gathered of the local detailed plan of Länsi-Herttoniemi and the framework plan of Tikkurila. My qualitative thesis is a case study based cross-sectional study in which I have gathered the data by semi-structured expert interviews and document analyses. The analyses of the data consist of the three themes: the defining the participants, the choosing and using of participatory methods, and the defining the status of participants. Regarding the analysis of expert interview data, I also examine the meaning of the contextual nature of projects related to the defining the status of participants. Document analyses reflect the public perspective on the status of participants transmitted by urban planners which I compare to the findings of expert interview analysis. My thesis reveals that in practice, the concept of participant can be used to refer to separately defined project related parties defined in the public participation plans (PPP) or to all participating parties in the planning process. As conclusions, I propose that in the context of the chosen planning projects, the status of participants has been defined in practice based on 1) the definitions of the public participation plan by affecting to knowledge brokering, 2) differences between the participants, 3) participation at the early phase of the planning process, and 4) in accordance with comment valuation practices of participants’ comments. To fulfill democratic values of urban planning, there is a need for more unambiguous definitions for both, the principles of participative actions, and the status of the participants.

Tässä tutkimuksessa perehdyin osallistumista tukevien internetpohjaisten karttakyselyiden ja erityisesti uuden Harava-kyselypalvelun hyödyntämiseen ympäristövaikutusten arvioinnin (YVA)yhteydessä. Karttapohjainen Harava-järjestelmä on osa Sähköisen asioinnin ja demokratian vauhdittamisohjelmaa (SADe-ohjelma) ja se on otettu käyttöön vuonna 2013. Viime aikoina Haravan käyttöä on kokeiltu useissa pilottihankkeissa. Tämä tutkimus on tehty osana Suomen ympäristökeskuksen IMPERIA-hanketta, joka on yksi Haravan piloteista. Tässä työssä Haravaa testattiin käytännössä Piiparinmäki-Lammaslamminkankaan tuulipuistohankkeen YVA-menettelyssä. Kaikille avoin Harava-kysely oli avoinna vastaajille vajaan kolmen viikon ajan lokakuussa 2013. Lisäksi tarkastelin aihepiiriä esimerkiksi kirjallisuuskatsauksen, joidenkin aikaisempien YVA-selostusten ja asiantuntijahaastatteluiden perusteella. Työn yhteydessä kehittelin Haravalle soveltuvat kysymyssarjat tuulipuisto-, kaivos-, jätteenpolttolaitos- ja väylähankkeiden YVA-menettelyjä varten. Piiparinmäki-Lammaslamminkankaan Harava-kyselyllä onnistuttiin keräämään vain vähäinen määrä asukasvastauksia. Sen sijaan tuulipuiston hankealueen ympäristöön asukkaille lähetetyllä perinteisellä postikyselyllä tavoitettiin huomattavasti suurempi määrä osallisia. Syitä sähköisten vastausten vähäisyyteen saattaa olla useita. Ne saattavat liittyä esimerkiksi kyseiseen tuulivoimahankkeseen, hankealueen ympäristön luonteeseen tai itse Harava-kyselyjärjestelmään. Vaikka tämän työn yhteydessä sähköisiä vastauksia onnistuttiin keräämään vain vähän, voi karttapohjainen kysely olla erittäin toimiva työväline asukastiedon keräämiseen monissa YVA-menettelyissä. Tuulivoimahankkeiden lisäksi internetpohjainen karttakysely voi olla erityisen toimiva menetelmä esimerkiksi alueellisesti laajoille tai maastossa pitkiä matkoja kulkeville YVA-hankkeille kuten voimajohto- tai ratahankkeille. Internetpohjainen järjestelmä on etuna esimerkiksi tiheään asutuilla seuduilla, jolloin on tarpeen tavoittaa suuri määrä asukkaita. Tutkimuksen perusteella Harava ja muut osallistumista tukevat paikkatietojärjestelmät edistävät YVA-lain tavoitetta kansalaisten osallistumismahdollisuuksien lisäämisestä. Järjestelmät edistävät YVAn demokraattista puolta eli pyrkimystä avoimeen suunnittelu- ja päätöksentekojärjestelmään. Erityisesti järjestelmät edistävät kansalaisten suoraa osallistumista ja verkkodemokratiaa. Osallistuvien paikkatietojärjestelmien avulla on mahdollista tukea myös YVAn integroivaa funktiota tuomalla yhteen eri osapuolten näkökulmia. Kun osallistuminen on tarpeeksi helppoa, voi se houkuttaa mukaan myös osallisia, jotka eivät ole perinteisesti osallistuneet YVA-menettelyihin. Osallistuvien paikkatietojärjestelmien avulla ei kuitenkaan todennäköisesti tavoiteta kaikkia osallisryhmiä, kuten esimerkiksi vanhuksia. Lisäksi Harava tai muut osallistuvat karttasovellukset eivät takaa sitä, että osallistumisella päästäisiin varsinaisesti vaikuttamaan YVA-menettelyyn tai päätöksentekoon. Haravan päätarkoitus ja suurin etu on yhden palautejärjestelmän yhtenäinen hyödyntäminen. Jos käytössä olisi laajemmin yksi kyselyjärjstelmä, tottuisivat osalliset käyttämään sitä. Tämä voisi osaltaan madaltaa kyselyiden vastaamiskynnystä ja näin jopa kasvattaa YVAn osallistujamääriä. Myös YVA-menettelyiden kyselyn laatijat saisivat käyttöönsä yhdenmukaisempaa ja vertailukelpoisempaa aineistoa, kun järjestelmän toimintaperiaate olisi kaikissa kyselyissä sama ja kyselyissä voitaisiin osin hyödyntää Haravan valmiita YVAlle räätälöityjä kyselypohjia. Haravan tarjoamat tekniset toiminnot on kuitenkin edelleen mahdollista toteuttaa myös monilla muilla vastaavilla osallistumista tukevilla paikkatietojärjestelmillä.

High-quality address data is an essential part of a functioning society and its services. However, shortcomings have been identified in the quality of national address data that can, at worst, slow access to vital help in an emergency. Partly for this reason, National Land Survey of Finland (NLS) is developing a new national address information system (OTJ), which in the coming years will serve as the main database for Finland’s national address data. The OTJ's quality management methods are still under development. Currently, the incoming address data of the OTJ is planned to pass through a quality control service called Laatuvahti, which takes care of logical consistency of the incoming data by using quality rules. Preliminary quality rules of address data have been designed for the Laatuvahti service. However, the adequacy of the quality rules and the functionalities of Laatuvahti service to the quality management of address data has not yet been studied extensively. It has also not been clarified how well the quality management methods fit the needs of the users of the address data. In this master’s thesis the quality needs of significant address data users are discovered, the suitability of the OTJ's current quality management methods to the quality needs are examined, and it is determined how the quality management methods should be developed in the future. In addition, the quality needs are used in determining what does quality in address data mean. The address data users’ experiences on the quality of the address data were investigated through expert interviews. A total of seven interviews were conducted. The interviewees were selected to represent socially significant users of address data that use the data for different purposes. Interviewees were the Emergency Response Center Agency, the safety and rescue authorities, a navigation company, a telecommunications company, an energy company, a transport company and the Statistics Finland. The suitability of the OTJ's quality management methods was assessed by comparing the users’ quality needs with the existing address data quality rules and the functionalities and possibilities of Laatuvahti service. The suitability of Laatuvahti for quality needs was further verified by a service expert (from NLS). Most of the quality needs that the address data users raised in the interviews were related to thematic correctness of the address data (i.e. the correctness of the address name and number), positional accuracy and ensuring completeness and currency of the data. In addition, some of the needs were related to the address data structure, uniqueness and methods of reporting the quality level of address data. Based on the quality needs, the quality of address data can be defined simply to mean that the address data points and directs accurately to the intended location based on both its location information and the address name and number spelling. The results suggest that the OTJ's quality rules and the functionalities of Laatuvahti service only partially meets the needs of the users. The quality management methods are not suitable enough for managing the completeness and currency of the data. Some good efforts had been made to ensure thematic correctness through the quality rules, but the methods could be developed further. Positional accuracy was poorly ensured by the quality rules, but the methods could be developed to ensure the accuracy of location information better in relation to the user needs. In addition, the uniqueness of the address could also be ensured in a more versatile way. According to the results, new quality checks should be developed for the OTJ's quality management to ensure, among other things, the positional accuracy and the uniqueness of the address. In addition, recommendations for the structure and content of address names and numbers should be clarified and the quality of reference datasets used in the quality control should be ensured. In the future, it should also be clarified how the completeness and currency of address data can be monitored and should the quality results be reported in a feature level with some sort of a quality indicator value.

This research examines Sri Lanka's recent settlement policies and the outcomes of housing reconstruction that has taken place as a part of tsunami response. Post-tsunami housing reconstruction in Sri Lanka imposed a change towards more compact settlements, where a high number of people live closer to each other when compared to traditional villages. The objectives of the research are two-fold: firstly, to map out and scrutinize the factors and processes that have resulted in the post-tsunami settlement patterns characterized by high-density housing and apartment housing, and secondly, to find out how apartment housing that is an outcome of donor-driven development caters for the ways of life of the inhabitants. The research also evaluates the success of donor-driven housing development in meeting its development objectives. The analysis of the structural forces and mechanisms behind the post-tsunami settlement patterns is based on literary review that includes critical observation of relevant policy papers, national regulations and international agreements and guidelines. The examination of the implications of the change in housing form on the residents is carried out through a case study of a selected apartment housing scheme in Kalmunai, Eastern Sri Lanka. The primary data was collected during a field trip in November 2010. As the study is about understanding and interpreting social realities, qualitative methods that comprise of individual semi-structured interviews and various participatory methods were found most conducive. The total sample size is 51 individuals, mostly comprising of community members, including women and men in all age groups, as well as relevant local government authorities and civil society representatives. The research findings show that there are major gaps between the socio-cultural values and behavior and economic needs of the inhabitants on one hand, and the type of habitat apartment housing provides on the other hand. The housing programme has been successful in fulfilling the passive function of a house - provision of shelter. Improved living conditions and modern facilities bring stability to life and ease women's workload, especially. However, the flight of residents out of the scheme manifests that provision of physical shelter is not enough to meet the housing needs. From the economic point of view, it is evident that space limitations imposed by the apartment housing, such as lack of land for gardening, farming and animal husbandry and unavailability of space for home based businesses or cottage industries, have had a detrimental effect on the income levels and food security of the residents. Such restrictions have resulted in increasing the vulnerabilities of the residents already living on the verge of survival. From the social perspective, apartment housing schemes can provide a conducive environment for social interactions and formation of social capital, given that there is sufficient allocation for social spaces within the scheme. However, the section of population that forms a 'minority' within the scheme do face difficulties in fitting in to the local community. The research findings bring into light some of the main weaknesses of the donor driven housing/development. Donor driven development provides limited space for community consultation and participation in the implementation of the project. Subsequently the development processes do not support local ownership or building of social capital. This can have devastating effects on the sustainability of the project outputs, as shown in the case study. It also undermines the role of the community and social networks in supporting (or disabling) people's bonding with places and the formation of sense of place.

Temat för den här pro gradu-avhandlingen är skapandet av ett e-läromedel för särbegåvade niondeklassister i matematik. Mycket forskning visar på att särbegåvade elever finner skolgången tråkig och att den ger för få utmaningar. Detta i sin tur leder till att en del särbegåvade elever till och med underpresterar trots deras särbegåvning. För att motverka denna trend skapades ett e-läromaterial som är riktat till särbegåvade elever. E-läromaterialet är utformat för att vara utmanande och annorlunda för att motivera de särbegåvade eleverna. Temat för e-läromaterialet är kryptografi i samband med detta tema tangeras bland annat primtal, modulär aritmetik och RSA-kryptering. Förutom själva e-läromaterialet så behandlar avhandlingen också definitionen av särbegåvade elever och på vilka olika sätt elever kan vara särbegåvade. I samband med detta undersöks också hur lärare beaktar elevernas särbegåvning, samt lärarnas förmåga att stöda och identifiera särbegåvade elever. Denna aspekt undersöks både sett från deras möjligheter att göra så tidsmässigt, samt deras skyldighet att göra så utgående från läroplanen. I avhandlingen undersöks också definitionen e-läromaterial, samt jämförs e-läromaterialet om kryptografi med riktlinjer för goda e-läromaterial, vilka getts av Utbildningsstyrelsen. Som sammanfattning på avhandlingen förklaras de matematiska termerna och koncepten som finns i e-läromaterialet.

In the late 2010’s classical games of Go, Chess and Shogi have been considered ’solved’ by deep reinforcement learning AI agents. Competitive online video games may offer a new, more challenging environment for deep reinforcement learning and serve as a stepping stone in a path to real world applications. This thesis aims to give a short introduction to the concepts of reinforcement learning, deep networks and deep reinforcement learning. Then the thesis proceeds to look into few popular competitive online video games and to the general problems of AI development in these types of games. Deep reinforcement learning algorithms, techniques and architectures used in the development of highly competitive AI agents in Starcraft 2, Dota 2 and Quake 3 are overviewed. Finally, the results are looked into and discussed.

Deposition is the main removal process of ground-level ozone. In some boreal areas, lakes accounts for up to 30% of the areas. However, there have been only few studies on ozone deposition over lake water in the past forty years. So far only one study has measured the ozone deposition velocity over lake (vd) with the eddy covariance techniques. The 42-day campaign described in this thesis was held in August and September in 2012 in the Lake Kuivajärvi at SMEAR II station in Hyytiälä, Finland. The results showed a mean vd of 0.88±0.05 mm s–1, which was one-fifth of that over forest. vd performed a weak diurnal cycle over lake which had a peak during the nighttime, while the forest showed the opposite. The lake data was classified into daytime and nighttime by a threshold of solar elevation angle (–2°). The two sets of data differed statistically by Mann-Whitney U test. A further analysis showed the higher vd at night might be attributed to the more unstable atmospheric condition. Although, there is no evidence supporting a correlation of vd with stability of the mixing layer in the lake, the dominance of mechanically-induced turbulence appeared to suppress vd. By comparing with previous studies, elevated wind did not facilitate the rate of ozone deposition as expected.

Retail location analysis has been a widely researched topic during the last decades, and models able to estimate consumer and purchasing power flows are valuable to retailers and investors. As the retail market is getting increasingly competitive and consumer habits are changing, the demand for sophisticated modeling techniques remains high. Spatial interaction models (SIMs) have been proven effective for simulating consumer behavior and estimating store revenues in a high degree of accuracy. This master’s thesis examines the suitability of spatial interaction models for simulating the grocery market in Helsinki metropolitan area (HMA). Three iteratively calibrated SIMs are developed, and generated revenue estimates are compared to each other and actual revenue figures of HMA grocery stores. Based on the modeling results, factors preventing more accurate results are identified and suggestions are given for future model development. The study focuses on year 2019, and main datasets used are Nielsen grocery store register and Statistics Finland’s Grid Database. Travel times between supply and demand zones of the model are based on Helsinki Travel Time Matrix 2018 by Digital Geography Lab. The developed models can forecast revenues of the 323 studied stores quite accurately, and in the best case over half of the revenues are forecasted within a 25% error margin. A high coefficient of determination is achieved even with a simple model, and the disaggregated versions further improve the results. The models estimate the revenues of large hypermarkets the best, while there is more variance in the estimates for smaller stores. The results indicate that a spatial interaction model suits well for modeling the grocery market in the study area. The lack of empirical consumer flow data did not prevent the calibration of the model, and passable results were achieved with the iterative calibration approach. However, the developed models remain theoretical due to the lack of empirical datas. This, in addition to other results of the study, underline the importance of empirical calibration data when developing robust modeling solutions. If suitable empirical data was available, combining it with highly granular demographic data such as Grid Database, might enable very accurate modeling of consumer flows. Models able to consider current changes in the grocery sector, such as e-commerce and the refurbishments, could be valuable to both scholars and commercial operators in the retail sector.