Browsing by study line "USP Peoples"

Uudenlaiset sopimusperustaiset suunnittelun tavat ovat nousseet 2000-luvun aikana osaksi suomalaista hallinto- ja suunnittelutoimintaa. Uudet suunnittelun tavat ovat nostaneet esiin kysymyksiä sopimusperustaisen suunnittelun demokraattisesta legitimiteetistä eli kansanvallan mukaisesta hyväksyttävyydestä. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastelen sopimusperustaisen suunnittelun legitimiteetin ongelmia ja mahdollisuuksia strategisen kaupunkiseutusuunnittelun kontekstissa. Mistä riippuu se, onko uusissa toimintatavoissa demokraattisen legitimiteetin ongelmaa? Tutkimukseni tuottaa tietoa niistä tavoista, joilla relationaalinen legitimiteetti muodostuu uusien hallinnon toimintatapojen tapauksessa. Analyysini mahdollistaa esimerkiksi niiden päätöksenteon ja suunnittelun legitimiteettiä koskevien periaatteiden kriittisen tarkastelun, joihin nykyisenkaltaista sopimusperustaista kaupunkiseutusuunnittelua tehtäessä sitoudutaan. Valtion, kaupunkien ja kuntien välinen MAL-suunnittelutoiminta ja sitä ympäröivä keskustelu tarjoaa lähestymispisteen sopimusperustaisen suunnittelun legitimiteetin analyysille. Käsittelen sopimusperustaisen MALsuunnittelun legitimiteettiä tukeutuen teorioihin demokraattisuudesta ja osallistumisesta. Analyysini mukaan MAL-suunnittelu edustaa institutionaalisen kontrollin ja episteemisen realismin arvoja. Johtopäätöksenä esitän tulkintani legitimiteetin relationaalisesta muodostumisesta MAL-suunnittelussa. Uusien hallinnon innovaatioiden hyväksyttävyys ja tehokkuus riippuvat toimintatavan suhteesta muihin hallinnon osiin ja oikeuttavan yleisön arvoista. Jaettujen näkemisen tapojen kiinnittyminen osaksi instituutioiden käytäntöjä ja poliittista kulttuuria ovat keskeisessä osassa paremman legitimiteetin rakentumiselle sopimusperustaiselle suunnittelulle. MALsuunnittelun kannalta keskeinen imaginaari on toiminnallinen kaupunkiseutu suunnittelun, hallinnon, elämisen ja talouden tilallisena yksikkönä.

In the last couple of decades, Helsinki Metropolitan Area has been attracting more migrants; however, there is a need for city policies in terms of retaining newcomers and fostering pluralism. Public libraries, as diverse social spaces, play an important role in creating inclusion for segregated and marginalized groups, as well as new residents who would like to experience a community feeling. This master thesis aims to analyze the ways in which Helsinki city libraries serve as ‘multicultural safe spaces’ for the migrant women in the city. Following the theoretical framework of Jochumsen et al. (2012) and Grossman et al. (2021), the paper utilizes the “four spaces” categorization and explores, a) how migrants benefit from the libraries as spaces of learning, inspiration, meeting, and performativity and b) how they navigate “multiple belongings” (Pfaff-Czarnecka, 2013) that emerge between these spaces. Participant observation was conducted at Oodi, Itäkeskus, and Pasila libraries, combined with semi-structured interviews with 23 migrant women from Portuguese-Spanish-speaking countries. The paper’s premise is that libraries wherein the four spaces are more visible, such as Oodi, multiple belongings can rise organically and migrants navigate between these spaces electively choosing the ones that match their life situation. In smaller libraries, however, the learning space is the most used space amongst the other three, which interferes with the migrants’ development of sense of belonging to the local/neighborhood community. The research suggests re-planning of smaller libraries in a way that allows more room for more social interaction and support migrants’ in their longing for ‘finding home(s)’ in Helsinki.

This master’s thesis studies the residential mobility patterns of the “second generation”, i.e., the native-born descendants of immigrants, in Finnish cities. The focus of the study is on the first-time departures from the parental home, and especially on their timing and destination neighbourhood types, which will be reflected through the theoretical framework of spatial integration. The study aims to provide new empirical knowledge on the home-leaving second generation which will be used to reflect whether the classic theory of spatial assimilation manages to depict their residential mobility patterns in relation to the native-born Finns and first-generation immigrants. The study analyses the differences in the timing and destination neighbourhood types of the home-leaving event using register-based longitudinal data on individuals between ages 16 and 32 in Helsinki, Tampere and Turku regions over the period 1999–2015. The neighbourhoods are classified either as concentrations or non-concentrations based on their share of inhabitants with an immigrant background. The study employs mainly discrete-time event-history methods in analysis. The impacts of the demographic and socioeconomic attributes on the home-leaving patterns are evaluated with logistic regression analysis. The results suggest a general similarity of residential mobility patterns for the home-leaving second generation and their native-born Finnish peers while the first-generation immigrants remain a distinct group, especially by moving more often to concentrations compared to the two other groups. Among the second generation, the classic straight-line assimilation theory manages to depict the best the home-leaving patterns for the individuals with Western and West Asian and North African background. There is a small delay in the timing of the home-leaving for all individuals with an immigrant background compared to the native-born Finns which cannot be completely explained by the differences in their demographic and socioeconomic background. The parental neighbourhood type appears as a significant predictor for the destination neighbourhood type; having lived in a concentration as a child suggested increased odds of home-leaving to a concentration as well. One possible explanation for this is discrimination in the housing markets which is both impacting the possibilities for the young adults to pursue their independent housing careers and the neighbourhoods where they are growing up in. The remaining differences in the timing, after taking the differences in the demographic and socioeconomic background into account, is small but significant enough to be taken into account in further studies.

The themes of this thesis are alternative, informal, and uncommercial cultural spaces, the scenes using the spaces, and the individual scene participants. The study’s frame is Helsinki between 2000–2019. The study combines relevant theoretical discussion from subculture research tradition and urbanism. The key concepts of the thesis are ‘scenes,’ a cultural definition of ‘subculture,’ ‘alternative cultural spaces,’ ‘DIY culture’ (‘do it yourself’), and ‘enclaves.’ The thesis presents Helsinki’s ‘DIY landscape’ to consist of interconnected actors—scene participants—who are part of a network that revolves around making, performing and facilitating music in a specific urban infrastructure—the city, Helsinki—and in which the alternative cultural spaces create physical ‘hubs’ for the scene. The data has been collected online via a combination of oral history recollections and qualitative surveying. The data was collected in collaboration between Helsinki City Museum and Music Archive Finland in fall 2019. The data consist of 70 individual responses. The data is treated through the epistemology of qualitative research and oral history, and therefore is seen to include both ‘factual’ information and the informant’s subjective interpretations, their experience. On a practical level, the analysis has been conducted mainly via qualitative content analysis (QCA), but also geographic information system (GIS) has been used. The study aims to explicate a widely recognized but poorly known cultural phenomenon. The study’s key results are as follows. Four types of alternative cultural spaces have existed: dedicated buildings, rooms, outdoor venues, and even a ship. All of the study’s 34 spaces have hosted live music events and a variety of other cultural, political, and social activities. The spaces have been acquired for use by renting, squatting, and asking permission, and in two cases are owned by the facilitator. With some exceptions, they are located in the fringe areas of Helsinki’s city center, have a relatively short lifespan (maximum of five years in a set location) and share ‘aesthetics of necessity’ that roots meager or non-existent funding and the use of subcultural symbols and art. The spaces follow certain ‘DIY operating principles’ that aim to create an encouraging and inclusive atmosphere for DIY participation. The spaces, and their users, have faced a variety of challenges, setbacks, and problems. These are rooted in funding, the deficits of the buildings and their facilities, and to other citizens, the police, and the City of Helsinki. The City’s role emerges from the data as ambivalent—a constrainer and enabler. According to the responder’s experience, the City does not have a uniform policy towards the use of vacant urban space, and DIY culture overall is not recognized. For the scenes, the alternative cultural spaces function as platforms where cherish—often ‘marginal’—music and subcultures. Some of the participants connect political and societal ideals to the spaces and DIY activities. DIY activities emerged as—sometimes self-purposefully—social and communal by their nature. In the spaces between scene participants take place socio-cultural ‘cross-fertilization,’ which sometimes leads to new organizational groups and even scenes forming. These might relocate their practices elsewhere, and thus DIY culture spreads to new locations in the urban infrastructure. For the individual scene participants, crossing with the scene represents an important part of finding a social reference group. Some of the responders described going through a ‘DIY phase,’ which is a several yearlong period in their youth when life orientations and identity are intensively connected to DIY culture. The meaningfulness of scene participation lasts to later life, even if the participant’s active years are foregone. For some, the skills and knowledge acquired in the scene creates a basis for a more professional career in cultural production. As the reasons for the diminish or end of the DIY participation are given the closure of an alternative cultural space focal for the participant, challenges in activities, and major life events. In the discussion, the thesis suggests the concept of ‘urban DIY enclaves’ in the toolboxes of urban planners and designers. The DIY enclaves differentiate from the broader urban landscape by their condition, aesthetics, political messages, and subcultural symbols. Socially they have been constructed to advance DIY culture and cherish the creative lifestyle associated with it. The concept is suggested as a device for acknowledging the existence of DIY culture; in other words, its need for space, and its participants’ eagerness to participate in the construction of the urban and cultural landscape.

Social and urban scholars have long been concerned with questions of how unknown others encounter and relate to one another in the city. Stranger encounters can happen spontaneously and serendipitously, for example, at bus stops, in trains or on park benches, often viewed as “chance” encounters. Other stranger encounters are carefully planned, for example, by using digital technology including online social networks, websites, and digital platforms. Today, digital platforms are reshaping the way we relate with strangers, yet there is little research on how stranger encounters are reconfigured by practices mediated through digital platforms. Against this background, the thesis attempts to address this research gap: stranger encounters mediated by two location-based digital platforms for social networking in Helsinki. The thesis focuses on two Finnish digital platforms for social networking, Nappi Naapuri and Commu, which are based around neighbourhood and community interactions. Both platforms lower the threshold of communication between strangers which have the potential to help eliminate loneliness, stress, and promote a sense of community. The thesis analyses planned encounters when meeting with other platform users to better understand what types of stranger encounters are emerging from digital platforms. Rather than focusing on the figure of the stranger as ‘other,’ the thesis examines digitally mediated practices whereby stranger encounters are valued and actively pursued by platform users. Through fieldwork encounters with strangers in Helsinki, the thesis analyses six stranger encounter vignettes to argue that by practicing an open and generous attitude towards unknown others can allow for moments of sociable curiosity, escapism, and intimacy to emerge between strangers. Using multiple methodologies including, autoethnography, walking with participants, participant observation and interviews, the thesis aims to better understand the role digital platforms can play in increasing stranger encounters in the city and how they have the potential to bring different people together to learn from one another and work on manners of cohabitation.