Browsing by department "Maantieteen laitos"

In this study the aim of active citizenship was examined in the context of geography teaching in Finnish comprehensive school (grades 7–9). As the background of the study were official and unofficial discourses related to active citizenship: the cross-curricular themes in the curriculum, citizenship education programs and literature on youth, citizenship and civil society. For geography, the background included obligations of the comprehensive school curriculum to pay attention to active citizenship in geography teaching and (mainly British) literature in which shared interests were seen between citizenship education/active citizenship and geography. The purpose of this study was to clarify what active citizenship is in 7–9th grades' geography teaching and to find out how geography teachers feel about their tasks of educating young citizens and being social agents. For this study thematic interviews were made and six comprehensive school geography teachers were interviewed. An attempt was made to find as active teachers as possible. A content analysis was used and the aim was to describe the phenomenon. Based on the interviews, in comprehensive school geography teaching physical geography contents are emphasised more than human geography contents. Contents important to active citizenship, such as the environmental planning and development process and the ways to take part in it, and studying home town or local issues, are paid little attention or not included in the teaching at all. Active citizenship in geography teaching is mainly sharing of information, practising thinking skills and forming opinions, and teaching to be environmentally responsible citizen. Teaching approaches which are central from the point of view of active citizenship are also used, but their use varies. The teachers interviewed don't show much ownership of the cross-curricular themes of the curriculum. For the teachers, educating active citizens is not among the most important tasks of the schools either, however some teachers think that they are social agents as teachers. In teachers definitions the aim of citizenship education, the good citizen, is not a very active or political one. The interviews contain different views in relation to young people as citizens and to activity: On the other hand, young people are not interested in social matters and they are not even expected to be. On the other hand, the base for educating active citizens is good, and active citizenship is represented as small issues in local environments and as belief in joint action. Based on the interviews a conclusion was made that, apart from the environmental education stance of some teachers, active citizenship is not fully realised aim in 7–9th grades' georaphy teaching.

This study examines the interaction between inhabitants and urban planning. In addition to traditional methods of participation there can be seen an increasing need to find new channels and means to influence on one's environment. Hearing of inhabitants during planning is hoped to decrease the amount of claims and this way to speed up the planning process. Discussion that emphasizes competitiveness and innovativeness in planning has brought out the role of inhabitants as selective consumers and end users. This extension of civil perspective completes the thought of participation in city planning and adds the pressure on developing the interaction and user orientation. The aim of the study is to point out the present situation of inhabitant's participation and influencing in Helsinki. Helsinki City Planning Department opened a new information and exhibition hall called Laituri in 2008. Laituri provides the latest information about planning projects in Helsinki and temporary exhibitions as well as it operates as communication channel and information point for the department. In this study Laituri is examined as a case study of interaction between citizen and planner. The study is divided into two principal themes. The aim is to research action and interactivity at Laituri from the inhabitants' and planners 'point of view. The qualitative study has inquiries, interview surveys and observation as research methods. Empirical data of the study consists of three parts which complement each other: Laituri operational reseach, inquiry directed to the members of Laituri team and interviews of three experts. The aim is to find answers to questions like, does Laituri reach the citizens and will the opportunities to participate improve along Laituri. The study examines also how the local knowledge of inhabitants will come across to planners and further to planning. The study combines discussions of inhabitants' influencing in Finnish society and science community. Cornerstones of the study are inhabitant participation, interaction and local knowledge in urban planning. The theory behind the study is communicative planning theory. In addition the theory consists of key concepts. The study introduces a concept of Inhabitant's Helsinki, which reflects the inhabitant as customer-citizen who is an active product developer in participative urban planning. According to the research results the experts of Laituri and majority of inhabitants in Helsinki experience that the inhabitant's possibilities to participate will improve along Laituri. However half of the citizens in Helsinki believe that local knowledge and ideas will only have minor impact on the final plan. According to city dwellers the present practise used by Helsinki City Planning Department supports only partially adequate interaction. The experts of Laituri experience that the role of Laituri is first of all forum of communication and discussion channel instead of effective local data collector. Based on the results the study introduces a model of inhabitant's participation field. According to the model Laituri can be seen as phenomenom in Helsinki urban planning which has the elements of network municipality. The planner is more like diplomatic trend-setter and visionary. The inhabitant of Helsinki is an expert in city living and participative producer of local knowledge. Participation methods are increasingly segmented and tailored in every plan and project. The study argues that Inhabitant's Helsinki is a pluralistic milieu in constant pressure for change. Therefore reaching the everyday life experiencies of inhabintants should be at higher degree in Helsinki City Planning Department's operations.

Madagascar is one of the megadiversity countries of the world and its highly endemic flora and fauna is under threat from a rapidly growing population. Over the past few years many conservation projects have combined development goals with conservation, thus supporting the conservation goal by attempting to ease human pressure on the protected area. The objective of this study is to investigate the views and opinions of local people with regard to Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. This study examines the changes the park has brought to peoples’ lives, general attitudes towards the environment and conservation as well as opinions about the park management. The main information presented in this study was obtained from 121 interviews completed in six villages. Three of them are situated close to the park and they have received intentional development interventions from the authorities. Another three lie further away and have no official connections with the park. The study will investigate how distance and interventions affect peoples views and opinions. The information obtained represents independent opinions from a random sample of the resident population. All the schools of each village were visited and over 400 pupils responded to a questionnaire about the environment. In addition to this the NGO's, local authorities, health centres, churches and a family planning clinic, were consulted in order to gain a thorough picture of the communities views. People in the villages closest to the park have obtained employment through tourism and research. Other positive effects include assistance with new farming methods, the introduction of alternative livelihoods and environmental education. Villagers further away from the park mentioned the slowing down of environmental degradation as the major achievement of the park. The major negative effect is restrictions on usage of the natural resources people depend on. Adequate alternatives are not available and direct compensation for economic losses has not been offered. This study presents people’s suggestions on improving education, management of the park, livelihoods and environment. More efficient development projects that geographically reach further would help the park to achieve its development goals and through that the conservation objectives. The results of this study emphasise the importance of education, which increases people’s awareness of the environmental processes. This enables them to understand the consequences of human activities and gives them an awareness of the consequences of continuing unsustainable use of resources. Decreasing poverty near protected areas is also essential in order to reduce pressure on the environment. A third important issue is the slowing down of population growth. Successful combination of conservation and development requires constant reassessment and responses to changing situations. The survival of Madagascar’s rain forests is a global concern so responsibility and costs must be borne globally, too.

The urban development of Helsinki Region is characterized by both centralization and decentralization. Concern has recently been expressed in political debate regarding the effects of urban decentralization. Current housing policy has lead to a situation where single-family houses – which are also preferred by wealthy taxpayers – are mainly built in the surrounding municipalities. The growth on the periphery of the region is shaping the city toward a more decentralized, multi-nuclei form. Community structure is organized in region composed of functionally differentiated spaces that are no longer extensions of the traditional city. A functionally differentiated city is suggested to be a new form of urban morphology. These polynucleated areas are not dominated by any central city. Traditional core-periphery relations are replaced by periphery-periphery connections. It has been stated that this emergence of new postsuburban areas has also created a new postsuburban way of life. This research studies urban transformation processes at the periphery of the Helsinki Region. Transformation of urban space is studied through the locations where local residents work, go shopping, make social contacts and concentrate on their hobbies. The study areas are newly built single-family house neighbourhoods Sundsberg in Kirkkonummi and Landbo in Sipoo. The chosen areas are similar for their locational factors but different in their characteristics and thus ideal for a comparative study. The main information presented in this study was obtained from interviews completed in study areas. The data is analysed using quantifying qualitative analysis and presented as maps. Residents’ travel paths seem to follow postsuburban lifestyle patterns closely in both areas, which can be related to urban decentralization. According to this study, if postsuburban neighbourhoods described above become more common, citizens’ moving patterns will change accordingly. Policy on controlling urban decentralization will greatly affect the future of Helsinki Region.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the skilled migrants' satisfaction with the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The examination is executed on three scales: housing, neighbourhoods and the city region. Specific focus is on the built environment and how it meets the needs of the migrants. The empirical data is formed of 25 semi-structured interviews with skilled migrants and additionally 5 expert interviews. Skilled and educated workforce is an increasingly important resource in the new economy, and cities are competing globally for talented workers. With aging population and a need to develop its innovational structure, the Helsinki Metropolitan Area needs migrant workforce. It has been stated that quality of place is a central factor for skilled migrants when choosing where to settle, and from this perspective their satisfaction with the region is significant. In housing, the skilled migrants found the price-quality ratio and the general sizes of apartments inadequate. The housing market is difficult for the migrants to approach, since they often do not speak Finnish and there are prejudices towards foreigners. The general quality of housing was rated well. On the neighbourhood level, the skilled migrants had settled in residential areas which are also preferred by the Finnish skilled workers. While the migrants showed suburban orientation in their settlement patterns, they were not concentrated in the suburban areas which host large shares of traditional immigrant groups. Migrants were usually satisfied with their neighbourhoods; however, part of the suburban dwellers were unsatisfied with the services and social life in their neighbourhoods. Considering the level of the city region, the most challenging feature for the skilled migrants was the social life. The migrants felt that the social environment is homogeneous and difficult to approach. The physical environment was generally rated well, the most appreciated features being public transportation, human scale of the Metropolitan Helsinki, cleanliness, and the urban nature. Urban culture and services were seen good for the city region's size, but lacking in international comparison.

Tämä työ on talousmaantieteellinen tutkimus, joka käsittelee Itävallan ja Slovakian raja-alueen keskuksia Wieniä ja Bratislavaa. Toisen maailmansodan jälkeen Itä- ja Länsi-Euroopan välille muodostui raja, joka jakoi Euroopan poliittisesti kahtia. 1990-luvun alussa raja murtui. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää kuinka yli 40 vuotta kestänyt poliittinen kahtiajako idän ja lännen välillä on vaikuttanut raja-alueen infrastruktuuriin, valtioiden väliseen ulkomaankauppaan, ja kuinka paikalliset asukkaat kokevat nykyisen tilanteen. Ulkomaankaupan rakenteen vertailussa aineistona on Tšekkoslovakian ja EU:n ulkomaankauppatilastoja. Raja-alueen infrastruktuuria tutkitaan vanhojen ja uusien karttojen avulla. Muuta aineistoa ovat tieteelliset tekstit ja tutkimukset sekä paikallisten asukkaiden ja asiantuntijoiden haastattelut. Valtioiden rajalla kohtaavat kaksi erilaista taloutta: Itävallan länsimainen markkinatalous ja Slovakian itäinen siirtymätalous. Talouksien erot aiheuttavat jännitteitä, jotka pyrkivät tasaantumaan niin, että rajan yli virtaa pääomaa toiseen ja työvoimaa vastakkaiseen suuntaan. Bratislava on Slovakian taloudellinen keskus ja painopistealue. Wien on Itävallan taloudellinen keskus, mutta Itävallan taloudellinen painopistealue sijaitsee Länsi-Itävallassa. Rajan pinnassa sijaitsevat alueet ovat syrjäistä maatalousseutua, koska suljettu raja periferisoi aluetta. Rajan madalluttua itäisen Itävallan tilanne kohentuu ja koko Itävallan talousrakenne tasapainottuu. Slovakiassa tilanne kehittyy päinvastaiseen suuntaan. Bratislava imee kaiken kasvun ja vaurauden itselleen ja kasvaa muiden alueiden kustannuksella: Slovakian talous- ja aluerakenne vääristyy entisestään. Valtioiden välisen ulkomaankaupan vertailussa kävi ilmi, että Itävallan tuonti Slovakiasta on monipuolistunut niin, että nyt tuonti ei nojaa enää vain kahteen suureen tuoteryhmään. Raaka-aineiden ja polttoaineiden osuus Slovakiasta Itävaltaan kulkevasta tavarasta on vähentynyt ja koneiden ja kuljetuslaitteiden osuus noussut. Itävallasta Slovakiaan kulkee vähemmän kemikaaleja ja niihin liittyviä tuotteita kuin ennen. Nämä muutokset kertovat siitä, että Slovakian oma tuotanto on kehittynyt eikä maa ole vain raaka-ainevarasto Itävallan kehittyneemmälle tuotannolle. Raja-alueen rakenteessa näkyy selvästi kylmän sodan aikainen eristyneisyys. Rajanylityspaikat ovat vähentyneet ja rautatieverkko kaupunkien välillä on harventunut. Kaupungeista lähtevät moottoritiet suuntautuvat pääasiallisesti rajalta poispäin. Vaikka infrastruktuuriverkko on harventunut raja-alueella, kaupunkien välinen tavara- ja matkustajaliikenne kasvaa koko ajan. Wien ja Bratislava ovat maiden välisen ulkomaankaupan sillanpääasemia, koska ne sijaitsevat aivan rajan tuntumassa ja käytännössä kaikki tavarat rajan yli kulkevat kaupunkien kautta. Koska liikenne lisääntyy, infrastruktuurin erot rajan eri puolilla vaikeuttavat ulkomaankauppaa. Slovakian puolen vähemmän kehittynyt verkko ei pysty tyydyttämään lisääntyvää kuljetuskysyntää. Ohjaamalla varoja infrastruktuurin parantamiseen Slovakian taloudellinen asema voi parantua ja maa voi siirtyä relatiivisesti lähemmäs länttä. Matkustaminen kaupungista toiseen rajan yli on yleistä. Rajan rooli on muuttunut väljemmäksi verrattuna poliittisen kahtiajaon aikaan, mutta Itävallan EU-jäsenyys on kiristänyt rajamuodollisuuksia.

In recent years urban hydrology and individual urban streams have been in focus and subjects to research also in Helsinki. However, until now there has been lack of research covering simultaneously the whole area of the city of Helsinki. The aim of this study was to find out the general state of water quality in small urban streams in the city of Helsinki. 21 streams were studied: Mätäjoki, Korppaanoja, Mätäpuro, Näsinoja-Tuomarinkylänoja, Tuomarinkartanonpuro, Kumpulanpuro, Tapaninkylänpuro, Tapaninvainionpuro, Puistolanpuro, Longinoja, Säynäslahdenpuro, Viikinoja, Porolahdenpuro, Mustapuro, Marjaniemenpuro, Mellunkylänpuro, Vuosaarenpuro, Rastilanpuro, Ramsinkannaksenpuro, Skatanpuro and Yliskylänpuro. Water samples were collected from 48 sampling points, each stream having at least one point. Four water samples were collected from each point, sampling periods being 9.-11.2., 26.-28.4., 29.6.-1.7. and 25.-27.10.2004. Field measurements associated with water sampling included water temperature, oxygen concentration, pH and electrical conductivity. Water samples were analysed in the Laboratory of Physical Geography in the University of Helsinki and in the Environmental Laboratory of the City of Helsinki Environment Centre for following properties: suspended solids, dissolved substances, alkalinity, principal anions and cations (Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, F-, Cl-, NO3-, PO43- and SO42-), colour, turbidity, biological and chemical oxygen demand (BOD7 and CODMn-values), nutrient concentrations and bacterial indicators of hygienic quality. The main water quality issues found in this study were low oxygen levels in many streams and poor hygienic quality at least occasionally. E.g. in summer oxygen levels were under 60 % in every stream. Amount of total dissolved substances and nutrients were high in some of the streams studied. Compared to other Finnish streams the values of alkalinity and pH were higher. Although these problems were common, the variation between different streams and sampling points was significant. This was probably due to local conditions. Best overall water quality was found in Mätäpuro and Tuomarinkartanonpuro streams. Seasonal variation was evident in almost all water quality properties. For example the total amount of dissolved substances was largest in winter and decreased during the year. Colour and turbidity were smallest in winter and increased towards the end of the year. The same was true for suspended solids, which had smallest concentration in winter and greatest in autumn. It must be kept in mind that the spring samples were collected after the spring flood otherwise the largest suspended solid concentrations would have been expected in spring. Finnish general water quality classification was used to assess the quality of urban stream waters. Its suitability for small urban streams is not, however, completely trouble-free. This classification does not take into account the quick changes in such small streams but evaluates only the yearly mean values. This can oversimplify the picture of the water quality situation in the streams. Also in order to better reflect the urban environment the analysed water quality properties should also include total dissolved substances and e.g. concentrations of chloride and sodium.

Families with children have traditionally moved to suburbs. In the last 20 years a modest counter process has however been recognized. Families with an urban lifestyle stay in the city centres. This study looks at the phenomenon through two cases, Stockholm and Helsinki. In the first case it has already been observed that the city centre has grown in popularity among families with children. Therefore it serves as a basis for the study and as well as a point of comparison. Stockholm's city centre is expanding as new neighbourhoods have been built and are being planned. In the city centre of Helsinki the building of two large neighbourhoods for 30 000 inhabitants will start in a few years. The first aim of the study is to look closer at what has really happened in the city centre of Stockholm, why families choose to live there with their children and how the City of Stockholm has reacted to the change. The main sources of information are secondary sources, statistics and interviews with planners, politicians and experts in the field. The main object is to look at the situation in the city centre of Helsinki. Can a preference for urban residential environments be observed in Helsinki? What are the reasons for a family to choose the city centre as a living place? How does the everyday life of a family in the city centre appear? How are these families taken into account in the planning of the city? The main sources of information here are statistics, interviews with dwellers in the neighbourhood Kruununhaka and interviews with planners. In Stockholm the birth rate has grown constantly during the 2000s and is highest in the city centre. Some of the families still move elsewhere, but many of them do not. One of the most important reasons for living in the city centre is short working distances which give working parents more time with their children. Another reason is a preference of an urban, active lifestyle. Families prefer to live close to everything, childcare, schools, shops and entertainments. The popularity of the city centre among families with children has taken politicians and planners by surprise. Helsinki has not experienced a baby boom like Stockholm. However the negative changes in the birth rate have been more modest in the central areas than in the suburbs. Statistics show, that many families move away from the city centre as the children grow. Families who stay in the city centre especially appreciate closeness to public and private services and good public transportation which means that they are not dependent on using the car. Further they find that the city centre has a tolerant climate and is a safe and beautiful place to live in. The families enjoy the social life of the neighbourhood and feel that it makes a good climate to raise children in. However they are concerned with traffic safety and the lack of stimulus in the playgrounds of the neighbourhood parks. Two large neighbourhoods with homes for about 30 000 inhabitants are now planned in the former Port Districts in the city centre of Helsinki. The other one, Jätkäsaari has been planned to become an attractive alternative for families with children. Traffic safety has been one of the main objects for the planning. The other, Kalasatama, has been planned to attract all groups in society.

Road transport and infrastructure has a fundamental meaning for the developing world. Poor quality and inadequate coverage of roads, lack of maintenance operations and outdated road maps continue to hinder economic and social development in the developing countries. This thesis focuses on studying the present state of road infrastructure and its mapping in the Taita Hills, south-east Kenya. The study is included as a part of the TAITA-project by the Department of Geography, University of Helsinki. The road infrastructure of the study area is studied by remote sensing and GIS based methodology. As the principal dataset, true colour airborne digital camera data from 2004, was used to generate an aerial image mosaic of the study area. Auxiliary data includes SPOT satellite imagery from 2003, field spectrometry data of road surfaces and relevant literature. Road infrastructure characteristics are interpreted from three test sites using pixel-based supervised classification, object-oriented supervised classifications and visual interpretation. Road infrastructure of the test sites is interpreted visually from a SPOT image. Road centrelines are then extracted from the object-oriented classification results with an automatic vectorisation process. The road infrastructure of the entire image mosaic is mapped by applying the most appropriate assessed data and techniques. The spectral characteristics and reflectance of various road surfaces are considered with the acquired field spectra and relevant literature. The results are compared with the experimented road mapping methods. This study concludes that classification and extraction of roads remains a difficult task, and that the accuracy of the results is inadequate regardless of the high spatial resolution of the image mosaic used in this thesis. Visual interpretation, out of all the experimented methods in this thesis is the most straightforward, accurate and valid technique for road mapping. Certain road surfaces have similar spectral characteristics and reflectance values with other land cover and land use. This has a great influence for digital analysis techniques in particular. Road mapping is made even more complicated by rich vegetation and tree canopy, clouds, shadows, low contrast between roads and surroundings and the width of narrow roads in relation to the spatial resolution of the imagery used. The results of this thesis may be applied to road infrastructure mapping in developing countries on a more general context, although with certain limits. In particular, unclassified rural roads require updated road mapping schemas to intensify road transport possibilities and to assist in the development of the developing world.