Browsing by master's degree program "Master 's Programme in Urban Studies and Planning"

This research studies the environmental aesthetics of boredom in the light of post-soviet neighborhoods. While belonging to the grey zone in aesthetics, boredom is an integral part of mundane life that challenges us to notice the uniqueness of our everydayness. Even though mass housing provided an economically feasible solution for sheltering millions of people, it lacks the qualities that meet contemporary living and energy standards. Soviet mass housing architecture and microdistrict designs were led by the economic conditions in the first place. Mass housing was not meant to speak, whereas the residents should not be silenced because of it. We tend to preserve what we find aesthetically pleasing (Nassauer, 1997), yet, what is aesthetically pleasing and what about other values? In this project, preservation is essential for building a contemporary-oriented mindset that could lead to more sustainable and inclusive neighborhoods. The project aims to tackle the issue of Soviet districts through the eyes of its residents, contrasting the more often used top-down approach. Here I challenge the residents' perception of their neighborhood and create a moment for reflection. By offering this space, I amplify the voices of the real experts, the ones knowing their microdistrict inside out. Environmental aesthetics is a relatively new concept within the contemporary urban planning scholarship, giving a fresh take on subjective experiences of urban settings that unveil profoundly rooted and often disguised problems. The interdisciplinarity in the research is met by merging disciplines such as sociology, urban aesthetics, urban history, and philosophy. The term boredom belonging to positive or negative aesthetic values is questioned the same as the legacy of Soviet mass housing later in the research. The ideology behind Soviet blocks is discussed, creating a common ground for diverse readers. Inclusivity is brought with resident participation through the visual research method - photovoice. To avoid biased data, the resident experiences are supported with the city planner's point of view and secondary quantitative data. The findings include Laumas microdistrict resident photovoice analysis, putting the Laumas microdistrict residents as the primary information providers. Taking pictures of their everyday surroundings, residents are given space to show how they see their microdistrict, outlining the values they are proud of or giving perspective of what needs to be changed. Instead of one-sided creation, the curation is inclusive and more reflective of the urban environment's already existing residents' values of their neighborhood. Resident aesthetic preferences open broader discussion on the maintenance issues of microdistricts facing nowadays. Topics are various, but the primary outcomes discussed built environment aesthetics, renovation, communication, identity, resident initiative, automobile domination, and natural environment aesthetics. In the final part of the study, some possible directions for changing microdistrict are pointed out, and further research questions are presented. The project is incomplete until it reaches a broader audience and provides knowledge to politicians, city planners, and other residents.

In densely built areas, neighbourhood parks have a close relationship with the residents and are an integral part of their everyday activity. However, the presence of the park itself does not ensure its use. Some of the major factors that affect park use are park facilities, proximity, location, environment quality, and park design. Despite all, the extent to which the park is used can only be determined once the park comes to use. Therefore, this thesis aims to research the factors that affect the park use and park activities based on users’ activity and their experiences in the park environment by conducting a post-occupancy evaluation in Hyväntoivonpuisto Park in Jätkäsaari. By analysing the questionnaire data collected in Jätkäsaari, Helsinki, Finland in 2022, through the PPGIS method, this thesis aims to examine what kind of activities take place in Hyväntoivonpuisto park, and how do the park location and design facilitate these activities. The types of activities in the park will be discussed in terms of Jan Gehl’s categories of activities. Additionally, this thesis aims to research the relation between users’ aesthetic experiences, their perception of safety, and their activity in the Hyväntoivonpuisto park. Furthermore, it aims to reveal the collective public image of Hyväntoivonpuisto park by operationalising Kevin Lynch’s theory of ‘the city and its elements’. The data for this study was collected using the PPGIS (Public participation Geographical Information Systems) method using Maptionnaire. The PPGIS study website consisted of 11 pages, with mapping tasks, open-ended questions, and general nonspatial questions. The data collection for the study was conducted between 17th March and 12th April 2022. There were 218 survey participants, among which responses from 200 participants were suitable for analysis. The survey participants marked a total of 934 locations. The data analysis was done using QGIS (Quantum GIS) and Microsoft Excel. This thesis found that the location and the design of the park do influence the type of activities that take place in the Hyväntoivonpuisto park. The aesthetic value of the park has a stronger influence on park activity in park areas that are left open for spontaneous activities and has a smaller impact on park facilities with specified uses. When people's perceptions of their safety are positive, they had a beneficial impact on park use, but when they were negative, they had little impact on park activities. Additionally, the design features strongly influence the public image of the park, and especially nodes and landmarks strongly define the identity of the park.

Maisterintutkielmani on etnografinen tutkimus itäisessä Helsingissä sijaitsevassa Meri-Rastilassa, johon on uudessa asemakaavamuutoksessa suunniteltu purkavaa uusrakentamista. Purkaminen koskee pääasiassa 1990-luvulla rakennettuja asuintaloja, joiden tilalle suunnitellaan tiiviimpää asuinrakentamista. Tutkimusalueeni on kaksi purku-uhan alla olevaa taloyhtiötä, joista toinen on Helsingin kaupungin vuokrataloyhtiö ja toinen yksityisomisteinen taloyhtiö. Tarkastelen tutkimuksessani sitä, millaista on elää tällaisten kaupunkiuudistusten keskellä. Tutkin asukkaiden paikkakiintymystä ja sitä, onko tämä paikkakiintymys muuttunut purkusuunnitelmien myötä. Lisäksi tutkin, mikä on asukkaiden kokemus osallisuudesta purkamista koskevassa päätöksenteossa sekä toteutuuko prosessi sosiaalisesti kestävällä tavalla. Käytin tutkimusmenetelminä puolistrukturoituja haastatteluita asukkaiden kanssa sekä kuvaelisitaatiota, jossa pyysin asukkaita ottamaan kuvia arjestaan. Lisäksi olen tehnyt omia havaintojani alueelta. Tutkimusaineistonani toimivat tekemäni asukashaastattelut kahdeksan asukkaan kanssa sekä heidän ottamansa valokuvat. Analysoin aineistoni käyttämällä sisältöanalyysin menetelmää ja teemoittelemalla litteroitua aineistoa ja kuvia. Käsittelen aineistoani osallisuuden, sosiaalisen kestävyyden ja paikkakiintymyksen käsitteiden kautta. Osallisuudella tarkoitan erityisesti asukkaiden osallisuutta heitä koskevassa kaavoitustyössä ja päätöksenteossa. Sosiaalista kestävyyttä kaupunkisuunnittelussa voidaan tarkastella sekä suunnittelun kohteen, eli rakennetun ympäristön laadun kautta että suunnitteluprosessin kautta, eli sen, kuinka hyvin asukkaat ovat mukana päätöksenteossa. Omassa työssäni keskityn erityisesti suunnitteluprosessiin. Paikkakiintymyksen kautta kuvaan niitä siteitä, joita asukkaat ovat muodostaneet niin fyysiseen kuin sosiaaliseen asuinympäristöönsä. Tutkimukseni paljastaa pitkän kaavoitusprosessin negatiiviset vaikutukset asukkaisiin. Asukkaat elivät epätietoisuudessa siitä, tulisiko purkaminen todella tapahtumaan ja jos, niin koska ja minkälaisia vaikutuksia sillä olisi heidän elämäänsä. Lähes kaikki asukkaista vastustivat purkamista, useimmiten vedoten alueen pienimittakaavaisen ja luonnonläheisen identiteetin menettämiseen. Pitkä prosessi on jo nyt vaikuttanut negatiivisesti joidenkin asukkaiden paikkakiintymykseen ja erityisesti paikan sosiaaliseen ulottuvuuteen. Asukkaat eivät ole olleet osallisina omia kotejaan koskevassa päätöksenteossa ja sosiaalisen kestävyyden kannalta asukkaiden osallistamisessa olisi vielä kaupunkisuunnittelussa parannettavaa. Paikkakiintymyksen kannalta tärkeään asemaan nousi tutkimuksessani mikromiljöiden merkitys tiedonvaihdon ja merkitysten luonnin paikkoina. Esitän tutkimuksessani ratkaisuksi sosiaalisesti kestävään kaupunkisuunnitteluun kulttuurisuunnittelun menetelmiä. Kulttuurisuunnittelussa alueen paikalliset yhteisöt ja kulttuurit nähdään resursseina, ja paikallisyhteisöt otetaan mukaan suunnittelutyöhön yhteiskehittäjinä. Kääntämällä katse rakennuksista ihmisiin, myös kaavatyön sosiaaliset vaikutukset on helpompi tunnistaa ja huomioida.

Organized sports for children provide important health benefits continuing also later in life and are highly segregated based on gender. Having opportunities of organized physical activities within reasonable travel times has been shown to have an effect in participation of sports. In this thesis few of the most popular sports for each gender; dance, horse riding, floorball and football were chosen and the service level of the facilities providing organized sport activities in the age group of 7- to 12-year-olds were analysed in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. Special interest lied in how equally these services can be reached with different travel modes in reasonable travel times also in relation to spatial socioeconomic differences. As the research on the topic has been inconsistent and sparse, this thesis contributes to the research field with comprehensive outlook on equality considerations and a seldomly used perspective of children’s sports facility accessibility focused on provided services. The methods used included identifying locations used by children in the chosen sports, analysing travel times to these locations with the Helsinki Region Travel Time Matrix and comparing the resulting spatial accessibility conditions to a sum index of disadvantage calculated from a population grid database. This comparison was done through a Student’s t-test and testing of local bivariate relationships. Generally, the results indicated quite similar spatial patterns and good spatial accessibility conditions in floorball, football and dance when it comes to travel times to closest facilities. The horse riding facilities were located in more remote areas and were significantly fewer which resulted in longer travel times. Overall, most children reached their closest floorball, football or dance facilities within 15 minutes of biking, public transport or car travel times. Biking travel times were found to be shorter than public transportation travel times while private car provided the shortest travel times. The t-test revealed many statistically significant relationships indicating difference in travel times in the most and least disadvantaged quintile areas of the sum index of disadvantage. In these results, travel times especially in football were found to be shorter in more disadvantaged areas. This was the direction of the findings also in floorball and dance. Horse riding travel times were longer in most disadvantaged areas. The bivariate relationship tools revealed variation in the local relationships between the travel times and the sum index. In conclusion, due to travel times being of reasonable length considerable inequalities in the spatial accessibility conditions were not found, although horse riding facilities indicated some inequalities.

Maisteritutkielma käsittelee Helsingin kaupungin maa- ja sosiaalipoliittista ohjausta, sosiaalipoliittisia tavoitteita ja ohjatun gentrifikaation piirteitä asuinalueen uudistuksessa. Tutkielman tutkimuskohde on Itä-Helsingissä sijaitseva Meri-Rastila, johon Helsinki on suunnitellut aluetta merkittävästi muuttavan alueuudistuksen. Alueuudistus suunnitellaan toteutettavan ensisijaisesti purkavan täydentämisrakentamisen avulla, mutta myös laajentamalla asuinalueita nykyisille viheralueille. Meri-Rastilan alueuudistuksen tutkiminen voi antaa arvokasta tietoa siitä, miten Helsinki pyrkii kehittämään lähiöitään yleisesti. Helsinki pyrkii alueuudistuksella edistämään alueen sosioekonomista kehitystä, ehkäisemään segregaatiota ja parantamaan alueen vetovoimaisuutta. Helsinki näkee Meri-Rastilan sosioekonomisesti huono-osaisen väestön ja säännellyn vuokratalovaltaisuuden alueen sosiaalisia oloja ja imagoa heikentävinä tekijöinä. Helsinki pitää alueen asuntokannan ja väestörakenteen monipuolistamista keskeisenä keinona, joilla voidaan puuttua alueen ongelmiin ja kehittää sen vetovoimaisuutta. Asuntokannan ja väestörakenteen monipuolistamisella tavoitellaan markkinaehtoisen asuntokannan ja keskiluokkaisen väestön määrän lisäämistä alueella. Tutkielman ensimmäinen tutkimuskysymys tutkii, miten Helsinki pyrkii ohjaamaan Meri-Rastilan sosiaalista kehitystä maa- ja asuntopolitiikallaan. Urbaania maankorkoteoriaa hyödyntäen tutkielma tarkastelee kriittisesti missä määrin Helsinki hyödyntää maaomistuksiaan ja mahdollisuuksiaan vahvaan asuntopoliittiseen ohjaukseen ratkoakseen Meri-Rastilan sosiaalisia ongelmia ja missä määrin Helsinki on omaksunut uusliberaalit periaatteet ja metodit aluekehityksessä. Tutkielman toinen tutkimuskysymys tutkii, onko Helsingin Meri-Rastilaan kohdistamassa maa- ja asuntopoliittisessa ohjauksessa ohjatun gentrifikaation piirteitä. Ohjattu gentrifikaatio tarkoittaa julkisen toimijan, kuten valtion tai kunnan, ohjaamaa gentrifikaatiokehitystä. Länsimaisessa kontekstissa ohjattua gentrifikaatioteoriaa hyödynnetään usein tarkastelemalla kriittisesti uusliberalismin vaikutuksia julkisten toimijoiden tapoihin perustella gentrifikaatioon johtavia asuntopoliittisia muutoksia segregaation torjumisella tai sosiaalisten olosuhteiden parantamisella. Suomessa ohjatun gentrifikaation teoriaa ei ole sovellettu merkittävästi kaupunkitutkimuksessa, minkä vuoksi teorian testaaminen suomalaisessa kontekstissa on kiinnostavaa. Tutkielma on tutkimustyypiltään kvalitatiivinen tapaustutkimus. Tutkimuskysymyksiä on tutkittu analysoimalla Helsingin maa- ja asuntopolitiikkaa käsitteleviä julkaisuja sekä erityisesti Meri-Rastilan kaavasuunnitelmia. Aineistoa on analysoitu teorialähtöisen sisällönanalyysin avulla tutkien, minkälaisia tavoitteita, perusteita, uskomuksia ja käsityksiä Helsingin maa- ja asuntopoliittisen ohjauksen taustalla vaikuttaa. Analyysin avulla Helsingin toimintaa ohjaavista periaatteista ja tavoitteista ilmenee sekä julkilausuttuja että enemmän tulkinnanvaraisia piirteitä, jotka tarjoavat vastauksia tutkimuskysymyksiin. Tutkielman tulosten perusteella Helsinki on omaksunut merkittävissä määrin yrittäjämäisen julkisen kiinteistöpolitiikan piirteitä, mikä ilmenee sen tavassa siirtää alueen rakentamisvastuu markkinatoimijoille, tavassa pyrkiä maksimoimaan maan markkina-arvo ja tavassa pyrkiä ratkaisemaan alueen sosiaalisia ongelmia epäsuorilla markkinoille ulkoistetuilla keinoilla. Alueen sosioekonomisesti huono-osaisen väestön olosuhteiden kehittämiseen keskittymisen sijaan Helsinki pyrkii kehittämään aluetta tavalla, joka luo alueelle keskiluokalle paremmat puitteet. Meri-Rastilan alueuudistuksessa on havaittavissa ohjatun gentrifikaation piirteitä ja asuinalueen kehittämisen myönteinen vaikutus alueen huono-osaisen väestön osalta jää epäselväksi.

Kasvikatot ovat yleistyneet merkittävästi ympäri maailmaa viime vuosien aikana. Tämä sama ilmiö on käynnissä myös Suomessa, mutta kasvikattorakentaminen on kohdannut myös voimakasta vastustusta suomalaisella rakennetun ympäristön kentällä. Tämän tutkielman tavoite on perehtyä näihin haasteisiin sekä niiden mahdollisiin ratkaisuihin. Tämä maisterintutkielma ei käsittele kasvikattojen ekonomisia ominaisuuksia tai rahallista kannattavuutta, kuten rakennus- ja ylläpitokustannuksia. Tutkielman tarkoitus on vastata kysymykseen, minkälaisia kasvikattoja Suomessa on mahdollista toteuttaa, ei minkälaisia kasvikattoja olisi rahallisesti kannattavaa rakentaa. Tutkimusta lähestytään kirjallisuuskatsauksen kautta, jossa perehdytään kasvikattojen sekä muun kaupunkikasvillisuuden ominaisuuksiin kaupunkisuunnittelussa. Kirjallisuuskatsaus alkaa suunnitteluteoreettisella kehystyksellä, jossa käsitellään kaupunkitutkimuksen ja suunnittelun perusperiaatteita kaupunkisuunnittelun perusteiden, suunnittelutyön päätöksenteon, urbaanien toimijoiden sekä poliittisten vaikutustekijöiden näkökulmasta. Näiden tulosten kautta perehdytään myös kyseisten perusperiaatteiden ja kasvikattojen väliseen suhteeseen. Tästä edetään kaupunkikehitykselliseen kehystykseen, jossa perehdytään Suomen kaupunkikehityksen vaiheisiin, kaupunkirakenteen tiivistymisen ja urbaanin lähivihreän ominaisuuksiin, sekä käsitellään näiden suhdetta kasvikattorakentamiseen. Kirjallisuuskatsaus päätetään kasvikattojen ominaispiirteiden tutkimiseen kasvikattosuunnittelua ohjaavien ajureiden ja motivaatioiden kautta, sekä tutustutaan erilaisiin kasvikattotyyppeihin ja kattoympäristön mikroilmastollisiin eroihin ja olosuhteisiin. Tutkimusta varten on haastateltu kuutta kasvikattoihin ja kaupunkikasvillisuuteen perehtynyttä asiantuntijaa. Haastattelut on toteutettu yksilöhaastatteluina. Näiden haastattelujen sisältö kootaan ja saatua tietoa esitellään kasvikattojen haasteita ja nykytilannetta Suomessa käsittelevässä luvussa sekä mahdollisia tulevaisuuksia esittelevässä luvussa. Tämä aineisto tiivistetään haastattelutulosten yhteenvetoon. Tutkielma päätetään tutkielman ja tutkimustulosten pohdintaan. Kasvikattojen hyödyt, kuten hulevesien hallinta, biodiversiteetin vahvistaminen ja esteettisyys, nousevat tutkielmatyössä kiistattomiksi ja selkeästi mahdollisia haittoja suuremmiksi ominaisuuksiksi, erityisesti mikäli kasvikatto toteutetaan tiiviissä kaupunkiympäristössä. Kasvikattojen merkittävimpinä haasteina ilmenevät yleiset asenteet sekä poliittiset ja lainsäädännölliset taustatekijät. Varinaisten haasteiden lisäksi nousee esiin myös muita tekijöitä, jotka vaativat erityistä huomiota kasvikattojen toteutuksessa. Tällaisia ovat muun muassa kasvikattototeutuksen tarpeellisuuden arviointi tilannekohteisesti, kasvien ja kasvillisuuden kohdekohtainen valinta sekä vieraslajien välttäminen. Keskeiseksi johtopäätökseksi nousee tarve kasvikattoihin liittyvän tiedon ja tutkimuksen lisäämiseen, jolla pystyttäisiin vaikuttamaan yleisiin ennakkoluuloihin ja asenteisiin. Erityisesti helposti saavutettava ja helposti tulkittava tieto nousee avainasemaan kasvikattojen yleistymiseksi. Myös erilaisten poliittisten ja lainsäädännöllisten vaikutteiden helpottamisen ja kehittämisen koetaan olevan tärkeää kasvikattorakentamisen kannalta. Kasvikatot nähdään myös erityisesti tiivistyvässä kaupunkirakenteessa kokonaisvaltaisesti merkittävänä apuvälineenä. Tutkielman perusteella kasvikatot ovat hyvä työväline muun muassa menetettyjen ekosysteemipalveluiden korvaamisessa, hulevesien käsittelyssä ja urbaanin biodiversiteetin lisäämisessä. Ne eivät kuitenkaan voi korvata maanvaraista kasvillisuutta. Tutkimuksessa haastatellut asiantuntijat näkivät kasvikatot ja niistä tuotetun tiedon merkittävänä osana rakennetun ympäristön tulevaisuutta Suomessa.

My master's thesis examines the opportunities and challenges of introducing cultural planning. Cultural planning is a model of strategic urban development that has culture at its core, as well as cross-sectional work and participation. This is a commissioned work for the City of Oulu, which is also as a case study for my research. In Finland, cultural planning is a relatively new way of developing cities and little amount of research about the topic has been made. Culture planning has been used in mostly in medium-sized and small municipalities and cities. The city of Oulu has not utilized cultural planning before. My work aims to find out if cultural planning could work for the development of a larger city. There is no specific method for cultural planning, but each municipality or city that uses it must consider how to start doing it. Oulu has been chosen as the European Capital of Culture for 2026 and its theme is culture climate change. What does this change mean for the City of Oulu's own operations? Or what could it be? My research aims to clarify the current understanding of culture, as well as its position and developers in Oulu. In addition, it looks at the opportunities and challenges for the city to embark on cultural planning with its current city’s structure, as it has been seen as the greatest opportunity but also the challenge for cultural planning. My work gives voice to the views of the employees of the City of Oulu regarding the new method. Culture is a complex phenomenon, and it is challenging to define. The role of culture varies depending on who defines it. Culture has influenced cities both internally and externally through the ages. Over time, cities as organizations have also developed into very multi-level systems of their interests, networks, and practices. Thus, today, the city is not a single system with a single action culture. How do different internal action cultures affect the city's operations? I study my topic through a dual position, which consists of the role of a researcher and an employee of the City of Oulu. I conducted 11 semi-structured thematic interviews with experts from the City of Oulu. The interviews were both insider and expert type interviews. We first discussed culture with the interviewees and then the potential opportunities and challenges of cultural planning. I used coding and theme design to analyse my materials. My results were divided into two parts, such as my conversations with the interviewees. In the first part, I focused on cultural definitions and developers. Because culture is at the heart of cultural planning, I think it’s important to understand how interviewees perceive culture and its role and developers. In the second part, I focused on the opportunities and challenges of cultural planning through the main themes that emerged from the material. These themes are internal bottom-up work, mental and physical silos, interactions with residents in many different ways, resources (money, time, skills) and the use of digitalisation. Based on my observations, it seems that the responses of the interviewees do not differ significantly from the already existing information related to cultural planning. So, are the challenges related only to cultural planning or mainly to the current city structures and the action culture in the city? The larger the organization, the more different operating cultures may exist. Based on the research material and theory, I think the city of Oulu has a good opportunity to implement cultural planning as other cities, but in smaller places cultural planning can succeed more easily because they are hierarchically lower in structure and thus might have less different action cultures. As the best opportunity for cultural planning for the city of Oulu, I see that it could bring clarity and a common denominator to the new common making. On the other hand, prevailing operating cultures can be a brake on the success of cultural planning. Therefore, it is up to the management level to decide how to start working with cultural planning or whether to start at all. The initiation of cultural planning usually requires a review and change of the current way of doing, and so it does in Oulu. On the other hand, the title of European Capital of Culture is creating a favourable climate for discussion about the culture planning and what it could be for in the city of Oulu

This master’s thesis examines the practices and meanings of yard work, and considers how they can potentially affect the biodiversity of detached house gardens. The dissertation examines the practical activities of yard owners, the attitudes related to yard work, the criteria of a good yard and the relationship that the owners have with nature. The topic of the dissertation is topical due to the global biodiversity loss crisis, which is expected to affect the economy, food production and human health in the future. The topic of my thesis is not widely researched in Finland. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide more information on the level of biodiversity of private yards and, in particular, on the human choices that potentially affect the biodiversity of the yards. The research question of the dissertation is: How do the practices and meanings of yard work potentially affect the biodiversity of private gardens? The master's thesis is an interdisciplinary study that utilizes the concepts of ecology and sociology. The theory of the dissertation is strongly related to the theory of biodiversity and biodiversity conservation work. The dissertation deals with human activities from the point of view of practice and everyday life theory framework. The data of the dissertation has been collected via an online survey. The target group of the questionnaire was the owners of detached houses living in the great eastern subdivision of Helsinki. The questions in the survey are based on the theory of biodiversity conservation work and practices, as well as everyday life. The questionnaire contained quantitative and qualitative questions. Quantitative questions provided information on the green structure of the yards and the measures taken in the yard to support biodiversity. Qualitative questions provided information on the experiences and attitudes towards yard work and the choices made there. The data of the dissertation has been analyzed by the methods of content analysis. Five aspects emerged from the analysis of the data that could potentially affect the biodiversity of the yards of detached houses: the agency of yard work, yard owners relationship with yard work, the yard owners relationship with nature, and the human-oriented ways of yard work. Based on the analysis, it can be stated that the biodiversity of yards is affected by the intensity of yard work, the awareness that yard owners have about biodiversity, the aesthetic values ​​of yard owners and human-oriented choices made in the yard. The results of the dissertation can be considered from the perspectives of urban and landscape planning, as cities are thought to play an important role in solving the loss of biodiversity. The yards of detached houses in the eastern district are connected and an important part of the larger green areas of the city of Helsinki, and researchers emphasize that work to protect and support biodiversity must be done where people already live. The perspectives of my dissertation can be utilized in urban planning when one wants to know what kind of human practices and values ​​affect the biodiversity of yards.

This master’s thesis explores spatial and aesthetic experiences and placemaking in two public spaces in Malmi and Malminkartano in Helsinki. It focuses on two case studies through ethnographic fieldwork in order to evaluate the added value of placemaking in the urban planning practices of the City of Helsinki from the citizens’ perspective. The case studies shed light on the possibilities and risks of placemaking, especially in the context of Helsinki neighbourhoods that are subject to densification and suburban regeneration projects. This research was commissioned by the Strategic Urban Planning Department of the Urban Environment Division of the City of Helsinki. This thesis explores three research questions. It aims to understand how the observed placemaking projects affected the spatial and aesthetic experiences in the public spaces in question. It also examines what kind of attitudes arose among informants regarding public space, placemaking, densification and urban planning in the context of the studied neighbourhoods. Lastly, it assesses the potential of placemaking to improve the spatial and aesthetic experience of public spaces in neighbourhoods undergoing suburban regeneration projects. The theoretical framework of this research utilises theories and viewpoints of human geography and philosophy of urban aesthetics. Building on the study of place and space, it employs the concepts of spatial and aesthetic experience to examine sensory perceptions in public spaces. Additionally, it continues the culture and tradition of qualitative urban planning research. The data was gathered through ethnographic fieldwork during the span of the studied placemaking projects between July and October 2021. The fieldwork entailed participant observation, informal interviews and conversations with informants and autoethnographic observations of sensory, spatial and aesthetic experiences in public space. In addition to the ethnographic data, placemaking theory was utilised to formulate the analyses and results. Based on the data, the observed placemaking case studies had a moderate effect on the spatial and aesthetic experiences in the public spaces in question. However, they raised valuable discussions about local viewpoints and provided important place-based knowledge for urban planners. The ethnographic process revealed both accepting and antagonistic narratives within the local communities regarding densification and the urban planning practices of the City of Helsinki. The latter attitudes did not, however, seem to negatively affect the informants’ conceptions of the studied projects or placemaking generally. Instead, place-driven attempts at making public spaces greener, livelier and more engaging were almost unanimously accepted and welcomed. Consequently, placemaking is proposed here as a viable method to develop and improve the experience of public spaces among citizens in neighbourhoods undergoing suburban regeneration projects. Based on the gathered data and theoretical reasoning, this thesis argues that placemaking is an urban development approach, method and philosophy that can create added value to conventional urban planning practices in Helsinki. Placemaking can improve the experience of public space by vitalising its experiential and sensory qualities, and thus complement technocratic urban planning and construction processes. Placemaking can provide planners with place-based knowledge about local conditions and aspirations that is useful for long-term planning goals. Placemaking can be utilised as a participation method that gives citizens more agency and shows faster impact than other means of participation, further empowering them to reclaim public spaces for communal uses. Placemaking can make public spaces safer and more pluralistic by broadening their usership and increasing vulnerable groups’ presence. By engaging in community-driven placemaking, the City of Helsinki can improve its public spaces in multiple ways and develop its current participatory and urban design practices in alignment with its strategic goals of enhancing the quality of life for its citizens.

Many people consider housing estates unaesthetic and/or socio-economically problematic places. However, as Hess et. al. (2018) point out, a more differentiated approach is required as there are differences between housing estates, originating from their local contexts. The thesis adopts this viewpoint and aims to provide a differentiated analysis regarding socio-economic differences in three peripheral housing estates in the city of Várpalota (Hungary), while also attempting to identify the root causes of these differences. The thesis relies heavily on the use of primary sources. Census data are essential for the analysis of socio-economic conditions (e. g. unemployment, educational attainment), and are featured extensively in the research. In addition, urban development documents add important layers to the understanding of the local context and municipal attitudes towards the housing estates, both during and after the communist regime. Scientific literature in English and Hungarian is employed to create sufficient contextualization and to interpret the contents of primary sources. The research considers the location of the housing estate, the economic context, the quality of the built environment, and rehabilitation projects as the main potential root causes for socio-economic differences. All these factors are scrutinized in the thesis, and the analysis of the relationship between the conditions portrayed by census data and the rehabilitation projects outlined in urban development programmes (or their absence) is fundamental in the research. The thesis argues that the rehabilitation projects taking place in Várpalota, while consisting of some beneficial elements, have not offered all-encompassing solutions to the socio-economic issues in some locations, due to several factors (their length, the timing of the intervention, the contents of the project etc.). Even though the focus of the research is on the three peripheral housing estates in Várpalota, other broader themes are also touched upon. The thesis proposes the modification of the criteria for a location to be categorized as a ’housing estate’ in Hungary. Furthermore, broader considerations regarding contemporary Hungarian urban planning and transportation planning are also made in the thesis.