Browsing by master's degree program "Master's Programme in Urban Studies and Planning"
Now showing items 1-20 of 21
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(2021)Tiivistelmä – Referat – Abstract With rising income inequalities and increasing immigration in many European cities, residential segregation remains a key focus for city planners and policy makers. As changes in the socio-spatial configuration of cities result from the residential mobility of its residents, the basis on which this mobility occurs is an important factor in segregation dynamics. There are many macro conditions which can constrain residential choice and facilitate segregation, such as the structure and supply of housing, competition in real estate markets and legal and institutional forms of housing discrimination. However, segregation has also been shown to occur from the bottom-up, through the self-organisation of individual households who make decisions about where to live. Using simple theoretical models, Thomas Schelling demonstrated how individual residential choices can lead to unanticipated and unexpected segregation in a city, even when this is not explicitly desired by any households. Schelling’s models are based upon theories of social homophily, or social distance dynamics, whereby individuals are thought to cluster in social and physical space on the basis of shared social traits. Understanding this process poses challenges for traditional research methods as segregation dynamics exhibit many complex behaviours including interdependency, emergence and nonlinearity. In recent years, simulation has been turned to as one possible method of analysis. Despite this increased interest in simulation as a tool for segregation research, there have been few attempts to operationalise a geospatial model, using empirical data for a real urban area. This thesis contributes to research on the simulation of social phenomena by developing a geospatial agent-based model (ABM) of residential segregation from empirical population data for the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (HMA). The urban structure, population composition, density and socio-spatial distribution of the HMA is represented within the modelling environment. Whilst the operational parameters of the model remain highly simplified in order to make processes more transparent, it permits exploration of possible system behaviour by placing it in a manipulative form. Specifically, this study uses simulation to test whether individual preferences, based on social homophily, are capable of producing segregation in a theoretical system which is absent of discrimination and other factors which may constrain residential choice. Three different scenarios were conducted, corresponding to different preference structures and demands for co-group neighbours. Each scenario was simulated for three different potential sorting variables derived from the literature; socio-economic status (income), cultural capital (education level) and language groups (mother tongue). Segregation increases in all of the simulations, however there are considerable behavioural differences between the different scenarios and grouping variables. The results broadly support the idea that individual residential choices by households are capable of producing and maintaining segregation under the right theoretical conditions. As a relatively novel approach to segregation research, the components, processes, and parameters of the developed model are described in detail for transparency. Limitations of such an approach are addressed at length, and attention is given to methods of measuring and reporting on the evolution and results of the simulations. The potential and limitations of using simulation in segregation research is highlighted through this work.
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(2020)Urban spatial planning is a cooperative mechanism in ethics which seeks to regulate how land is used, modified and arranged in order to sustain quasi-stable coexistences of dense populations with varied needs and values. Perhaps no needs and values are more varied than those of the many nonhuman animals which live alongside humans in urban spaces. Communicative planning theory (CPT) has emerged over the last 30 years to improve planning’s ethical content by navigating fuller and more diverse multi-interest, multi-stakeholder discourses. The perceived or real absence of significant human-nonhuman animal communications presents a problem for incorporating animals into communicative planning’s anthroponormative frameworks. This thesis adopts a socioecologically hybridized perspective to explore why and how animals may be conceived of as stakeholders in communicative planning, what values and practices produce human-nonhuman animal relationships, and how these translate to outcomes in spatial planning. Using theories which question the viability of the human-animal binary, especially actor network theory (ANT) and Callon’s sociology of translation, I develop my own relational perspective of urban communicative and spatial planning practice that may include nonhuman animals as part of urban spatial planning’s ‘decision-making spaces’. I use this approach in analysis of a spatial planning problem involving three species of nonhuman animals, the Jokeri Light Rail of Helsinki, Finland. From the case study I draw conclusions about how nonhuman animals relate, communicate and negotiate within spatial planning systems in fundamentally distinct ways requiring the development of new communicative apparatus and stakeholder engagement tools. In conclusion, I discuss the ways in which the animal-as-stakeholder concept might be affirmatively used by professional planners to achieve better outcomes for multi-species communities. This means conceiving of urban development not as a battle of human progress against biodiversity conservation, but a multivariable negotiation to reach ‘good enough’ outcomes for a multitude of organisms. I conclude that contemporary spatial planning’s ethical aims of creating quasi-stable urban coexistences demands developing deliberative processes of decision-making with and in a multispecies community.
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(2023)The outsourced emissions, particularly from transport and construction, pose a challenge for cities like Helsinki in achieving carbon neutrality. Helsinki, epitomizing this struggle, unveiled the 'Carbon-neutral Helsinki 2035 Action Plan' in 2018, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. However, this plan, primarily employing a production-based emissions accounting method, neglects the crucial aspect of outsourced emissions. This thesis undertakes a focused examination of the outsourced emissions in Helsinki's transport sector, utilizing a consumption-based emissions accounting method, with a particular focus on emissions originating from car traffic. To ensure a comprehensive evaluation of emissions, this study employs a fleet-based life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, providing a holistic perspective encompassing the entire life cycle of vehicles. This approach diverges from conventional product-centric LCAs, incorporating the dynamic interplay between production, usage, and disposal. The study's outcomes are contrasting against the City of Helsinki's Business-As-Usual scenario, emphasizing electrification and technological advancements to reduce emission intensity. Key research questions include uncovering disparities between consumption-based and production-based methodologies, assessing the feasibility of Helsinki's emission reduction goals, and exploring differences between fleet-based and traditional LCA approaches. The thesis is organized into eight chapters, delineating the analytical framework, City of Helsinki's emission mitigation efforts, methodology, data, results, and concluding insights. The consumption-based methodology illuminates substantial disparities in emissions compared to the production-based approach, posing formidable challenges for Helsinki's emission reduction aspirations. The study emphasizes the imperative of actively curtailing the number of vehicles and promoting alternative modes of transportation to achieve meaningful reductions. The fleet-based LCA methodology not only provides a nuanced understanding of emissions but also highlights the necessity of considering evolving technologies and lifecycles. To make significant strides in emissions reduction, Helsinki must adopt a comprehensive and transparent approach, surpassing mere reporting standards and actively contributing to global climate efforts. The study underscores the urgency for cities to transcend greenwashing tactics, aligning policies with public sentiment, and committing to tangible actions for a sustainable future.
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(2019)Cities are facing pressure to overcome critical challenges that force us to rethink our unsustainable mobility patterns. Therefore, the transportation sector is going through major changes. Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is one of the innovations trying to change how we travel, a concept that originates from Finland. MaaS is a concept that brings all the transport providers and modes into one platform. A distinctive feature of MaaS is the possibility to buy tickets for the entire journey, removing the need to go through multiple websites and ticket schemes. However, MaaS is still an emerging concept and therefore it lacks official definition. Finland has been in the forefront of this transportation reform with new legislation that supports the creation of MaaS. The public sector has traditionally had a central role in the provision of transport services where regulation and subsidies are needed. However, the new legislation strongly advocates market-based services, and thus the public sector needs to reconsider their position. Therefore, it is important to understand how the Finnish public sector and the parties actually executing the law sees MaaS, its impacts and their role in MaaS. The thesis is qualitative in nature and 20 public sector representatives were interviewed from 17 different organizations. The organizations consist of governmental organizations, interest groups, regional organizations and cities that vary in size. The interview analysis has been guided by concept of emerging technology. Emerging technology is characterized of being technology that can change multiply sectors at the same time but simultaneously has not yet demonstrated its value. The results showed that there is big variety how public sector representatives define MaaS. Additionally, the respondents felt there is a lot of challenges related to MaaS, such as working business model, lack of services, technical challenges, area of demand among others. Positive side was if MaaS would make transport more efficient and provide savings for the public sector. User wise it was clear that MaaS needs to be effortless for the user in order to compete with private cars. Overall the respondents saw more opportunities for MaaS than possible negative effects, but the lack of widespread MaaS scheme makes it hard to evaluate any effects. However, MaaS raised also suspicions among some respondents. As for the legislation, it did not gather any positive feedback outside of government officials, especially the openness of the drafting process received criticism. The results also showed that there is contradicting view on the roles among the different groups of representatives. In conclusion it should be taken into consideration how future policies are formed as now the experienced exclusion of drafting the legislation might have hindered the cooperation and created suspicion towards the whole concept. Additionally, it is clear there is insecurities inside the public sector caused by uncertainties related to MaaS. Implementation has been slow since public sector feels the government has told them to do something, they do not have ability to do. Nevertheless, generally the public sector is still welcoming MaaS. Especially cities hoped that MaaS would enable them to cut their service in low dense areas. However, there is still no will to financially support MaaS, it seen that it is a job for private sector to take the risks.
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(2023)Tavoitteet. Työn tavoitteena oli selvittää, mitä Vantaan Kivistön julkisilta kaupunkitiloilta haluttiin ja miten näitä tavoitteita ilmaistiin vision laadinnan aikana. Tähän sisältyi perehtyminen siihen, mitä suunnittelijat olivat ajatelleet kaupunkitiloissa tapahtuvasta ihmisten välisestä vuorovaikutuksesta ja miten näitä ajatuksia tuotiin mukaan fyysiseen suunnitteluun. (visio) Tavoitteena oli myös selvittää, mihin nämä ajatukset pohjautuvat ja miten niitä on nostettu esiin visiotasolla sekä kuinka visiotason ajatuksia konkretisoitiin tarkemmassa suunnittelussa ja lopulta toteuttamisessa. Olivatko suunnittelun tavoitteet selkeitä vai oliko löydettävissä keskinäisiä ristiriitoja? (jalkauttaminen) Lopuksi tavoitteena oli tutkia, miltä Kivistössä jo toteutuneet kaupunkitilat loppukäyttäjän eli kadulla oleskelevan tai liikkuvan ihmisen näkökulmasta konkreettisesti vaikuttavat, tuntuvat ja näyttävät, ja täyttävätkö julkiset tilat niille visiossa asetetut ja jalkautuksen aikana muokkautuneet tavoitteet. (todellisuus) Menetelmät. Kyseessä oli tapaustutkimus. Kivistö valikoitui tutkimuksen kohteeksi alueen poikkeuksellisuuden takia: alue on rautatieasemien ympärille rakentuva uusi muusta kaupunkirakenteesta varsin erillinen kaupunkisaareke, joka rakentuu nykyiselle metsä- ja peltoalueelle. Siksi kaupunkirakenne on täytynyt luoda lähes tyhjästä, ja suunnitteluvalinnoilla ja taustalla vaikuttavilla suunnittelijoiden ajatuksilla on suuri merkitys: kaikki rakennettu alueella on lähtöisin pienen suunnittelijajoukon työpöydiltä. Tämän takia oli mahdollista luoda kokonaiskuva alueen suunnitteluun vaikuttaneista ajatuksista ja kasata niitä yksiin kansiin. Työ aloitettiin dokumenttianalyysillä, jossa tutustuttiin saatavilla oleviin suunnittelumateriaaleihin noin viimeisen 20 vuoden ajalta. Tämän jälkeen haastateltiin kaksitoista asiantuntijaa Vantaan kaupungilta. Haastattelut olivat puolistrukturoituja. Seuraavaksi selvitettiin, miten visioita on jalkautettu todellisuuteen havainnoimalla tiloja ja niiden reunuksia, rakennuksia ja kivijalkakerroksia, paikan päällä. Tässä yhteydessä pohdittiin, miten aiemmat tavoitteet kaupunkitilasta olivat toteutuneet. Lopuksi pohdittiin vision ja toteutuksen tavoitteet suhteutuvat nykypäivän suunnittelutietoon siitä, miten julkisesta kaupunkitilasta voi tehdä fyysisin keinoin sosiaalista elämää tukevaa. Tämä johtuu siitä, että asiantuntijahaastatteluissa kävi selväksi, että ajatustasolla oleskeltava, nautittava, miellyttävä kaupunki oli usein tavoitteena. Tulokset ja johtopäätökset. Kaupunkisuunnittelun visioita on haasteellista määritellä, koska niissä pyritään kiteyttämään monimutkaisia ja toisinaan ristiriitaisiakin tavoitteita. Toisaalta visioiden laatiminen on välttämätöntä, jotta ainakin teoriassa tavoite alueen kehittämiselle voidaan sanoittaa ja siitä voidaan sopia. Ilman visiointia voi suunnittelu herkästi tapahtua aina kuten ennenkin (business as usual) ja uusien ajatusmallien ja suunnitteluratkaisujen löytäminen käy hankalaksi. Kivistön vuoden 2010 visio sisälsi voimakkaan näkemyksen kaupungin rakentamisesta, mutta tätä kaupunkia tai muutakaan termistöä ei osattu määritellä tarkemmin. Lisäksi tavoitteita lisättiin prosessin aikana ja tällöin niiden välillä oli huomattaviakin ristiriitoja ja vision kokonaisuus jäi epäselväksi. Kaupunkitilojen sosiaalisen elämän ajateltiin syntyvän itsestään, ilman, että fyysisellä kaupunkirakenteella olisi siihen merkittävää vaikutusta. Kun visiossa oli epäselvyyttä, oli suunnittelussa mahdollista perustella monenlaisia ratkaisuja visioon viitaten. Yhdelle kävelijän suosiminen oli esimerkiksi suoria ja tasaisia, toiselle mielenkiintoisia ja aktiivisia katutiloja. Pääsääntöisesti nähtävissä oli kaksi eri blokkia, joiden käsitys hyvästä kaupunkielämästä tai julkisen tilan roolista olivat ristiriidassa. Toteutussuunnittelussa ja toteutuksessa haasteeksi koituvat usein prosessiin liittyvät konfliktit. Viestikapulan antaminen seuraavalle on haastavaa: hiljainen tieto tai edellisen suunnittelijan ajatukset eivät kokonaisuudessaan välity seuraavalle, ja usein päätöksiä lopulta tekee yksittäinen ihminen, jolla on aina omat näkemyksensä. Syynä ongelmiin voivat olla kaupunkisuunnittelun monimutkaisuus tai erilaiset käsitykset siitä, mikä on julkisen tilan rooli: onko kadun tarkoitus välittää mahdollisimman paljon liikennettä, vai luoda siitä mielenkiintoinen kävelijälle. Jälkimmäinen, kaupunkielämään positiivisesti suhtautuva näkemys on saanut viimeisen vuosikymmenen aikana enemmän jalansijaa Vantaankin suunnittelussa.
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(2021)This master’s thesis is an ethnographic study about everyday urban encounters and social interaction. It explores how residents in the suburban housing estate of Kontula in East Helsinki negotiate social and cultural difference in their everyday lives. The study focuses on the semi-public spaces of the local shopping centre and examines residents’ capacity to live with difference. The study contributes to a multi-vocal and historically informed understanding of the processes that shape the social landscapes of a socially mixed and multi-ethnic neighbourhood. The study is based on fieldwork carried out in two phases between August 2019 and February 2020. The study applies anthropological methods of participant observation and qualitative interviews. The eleven research participants are adults between the ages of 30 and 71 who live in the neighbourhood and have extensive personal experience of the shopping centre. Although the interviews were a crucial aspect of the meaning-making process, the study relies primarily on participant observation in constructing an interpretation and analysis of social interaction at an intimate scale. In order to contextualise everyday encounters at the shopping centre, this thesis assesses how Kontula, as a stigmatised territory in the urban margins, encapsulates a complex interplay between moral claims of a “good” and “bad” neighbourhood. While some residents confirm negative stereotypes about the shopping centre and bring attention to local social problems and issues of unsafety, others downplay these problems and instead emphasise how tolerant and sociable the shopping centre is. Observations of stigmatised territories reveal how the participation of marginalised individuals and ethnic minorities at the shopping centre challenges the processes and discourses that constitute them as objects of fear and nuisance. The concepts of conviviality and cosmopolitan canopies are used to analyse local social interactions. The analysis suggests that the capacity to live with difference is enabled by ordinary meeting places, such as pubs and cafés, where residents come into regular social contact and engage with diverse individuals and groups. While the maintenance of ethnic boundaries remains salient in the way residents negotiate the social landscapes, these ordinary spaces of encounter situationally reconfigure categories of “us” and “them” and thus expand local meanings of who belongs. The analysis concludes that the contested meanings of belonging and the everyday negotiation of difference are attributes of an open multi-ethnic society coming to terms with difference and change. The analysis suggests that an equal right to participate and interact in shared urban spaces, rather than community consensus, is the hallmark of a society’s capacity to live with difference.
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(2020)Violence against women causes serious health and psychological impacts and is pervasive in society. This is partly due to gender and social norms. These have been addressed through educational campaigns, aiming to overcome pluralistic ignorance - when people wrongly believe that they feel differently from their peers, even though they are behaving in the same way. Pluralistic ignorance can prevent people intervening or reporting gender-based violence. This project proposes that public space can also play a role in overcoming pluralistic ignorance, through the medium of street political messages, such as stickers and graffiti. To show that this is possible, fieldwork exploring the existing feminist street messaging in Kallio and interviews based on this data were conducted. The interviews asked what role street media can play in spreading feminist messages, what the advantages and disadvantages of street media are and whether the existing street messaging in the Kallio district can help with overcoming pluralistic ignorance around gender-based violence issues. Four key aspects of theory are used in the thesis. Firstly, an exploration of gender-based violence literature found that domestic violence is a difficult topic to get people to engage with and that using outreach tools can spark important conversations. Secondly, a sociological study of pluralistic ignorance found that educational campaigns are the main route taken to address gender-based violence issues and that there is a gap in studies of pluralistic ignorance when considering the role of everyday public life in addressing these issues. Thirdly, public space is explored, determining that it can play a key role in feminist activism because it provides an open forum and an anonymity which prevents the activist from being verbally abused or silenced. Finally, street media were explored. This found that the eye-catching and unexpected nature of the media can catch people’s attention. In the fieldwork, seventy feminist street messages were found in Kallio, with a variety of agendas. The majority were in sticker form and located on posts on the streets of Kallio. Interviews conducted with activists and a community group determined the importance of stickers in spreading feminist messages. Street messaging had advantages of being easy to spread, having high outreach, anonymity and as conversation starters. Identified disadvantages included illegality, the potential to provoke people or trigger trauma, limited space for text and that messages can often be too niche for a general audience. The study concludes that street messaging can help overcome pluralistic ignorance by acting as a conversation starter and as a confidence boost to people. However, the results indicate that street media alone will not be enough to address pluralistic ignorance and that wider conversation is needed to have a real impact.
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(2021)Around the world, cities are using branding as a discursive and strategic practice to adjust to intensified, ongoing competition of tourists, investments, events and skilled labour. Simultaneously, in the era of the societal turning point, sustainability issues have become a global topic, and cities have begun to brand themselves as ‘pioneer’ in sustainability. Gradually, place branding’s potential as a strategic instrument of urban development and change has been understood, and therefore, it is increasingly applied in urban governance. This thesis focuses on this change in place branding and explores the relationship between place branding and sustainable development in the context of Helsinki’s branding. More specifically, I study how place branding can be harnessed as a transformative and strategic tool to further sustainable urban development. The theoretical foundation is built on place branding literature that takes into consideration the diverse and transformative role of place branding. I reinforce the place branding theory with the concept of imaginary, which are visions of the future utilised to steer decision-making and further policies. The imaginaries can act as technologies of governance, through which cities delegate responsibility for the citizens to guide them towards a specific aim, for instance, ‘Sustainable Helsinki’. My research data consists of strategies and a website produced by the City of Helsinki. The material addresses sustainable development and the City’s branding cuts through all content. I analyse the content through frame analysis to find how Helsinki frames itself in terms of sustainable development and if any imaginaries attempt to steer the citizens to take responsibility for their sustainability actions. My research findings confirm the increasingly common perception in place brand research according to which place branding can be used as a comprehensive strategic tool in urban development. In Helsinki, place branding has moved over from mere city marketing towards a governance strategy whose objective is to both manage perceptions about places and shape the place according to the city strategies or policies. Also, what stood out was the emphasis on economic sustainability, which was visible even in sections that addressed the other two dimensions – environmental or social. This finding highlights how Helsinki’s branding is heavily influenced by the common narratives of economic success and international competition. Central findings in my research were that Helsinki uses competitive and cooperative ways of portraying itself in sustainable development and succeeding in global competition. In both of these frames, Helsinki uses imaginaries of ‘Sustainable Helsinki’, but in different ways. In the competitive tone of voice, the delegation of responsibility is more implying and indirect since the focus is on the objective, not the process. In cooperative framing, the imaginaries are more straightforwardly asserting responsibility to people and businesses. My research shows that there are several ways to guide people through place branding, but in Helsinki’s case, the city is appealing to the freedom and independence of its locals.
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(2021)Liikennehankkeiden suunnittelussa on 1960-luvulta lähtien hyödynnetty kustannus-hyötyanalyysiin perustuvaa vaikutusten arviointia, jonka käytännöt ovat merkittävästi ohjanneet sitä, millaisia väyliä ja millainen liikennejärjestelmä Suomeen on rakennettu. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on tutkia, miten kustannus-hyötyanalyysi omaksuttiin liikennesuunnittelun lähtökohdaksi sekä miten vaikutusten arvioinnin käytännöt ovat vuosikymmenten aikana muuttuneet. Suomalainen yhteiskunta on 2020-luvulla hyvin erilainen kuin 60 vuotta sitten, mutta tuolloin omaksuttu kannattavuuslaskenta on edelleen väylähankkeiden suunnittelun keskeisin työkalu. Tutkimuksessa selvitetäänkin, miksi kustannus-hyötyanalyysin asema on pysynyt näin vakaana yhteiskunnan kehittyessä. Metodiikaltaan kyseessä on historiallinen tutkimus, jonka aineisto koostuu liikenneviranomaisten tuottamista alkuperäislähteistä, kustannus-hyötyanalyysia käsittelevästä aikalaiskirjallisuudesta ja liikenteen kysymyksiin pureutuvista lehtijulkaisuista. Kirjallisuus muodostuu niin suomalaisen liikennesuunnittelun kuin yhteiskunnankin kehitysvaiheita selvittäneistä teoksista sekä tarkemmin vaikutusten arviointiin pureutuvista tutkimuksista. Historiallista otetta tarkennetaan teoreettisen viitekehyksen avulla. Historiallinen institutionalismi ja siihen kytkeytyvä polkuriippuvuusteoria auttavat ymmärtämään yhteiskunnallisten ilmiöiden pysyvyyden ja muutosten välistä suhdetta. Nykymuotoinen liikennesuunnittelu syntyi sotien jälkeisinä vuosikymmeninä, jolloin Suomen yhteiskuntarakennetta uudistettiin voimakkaasti. Uudenlaisen yhteiskunnan lähtökohdaksi otettiin kaiken toiminnan tehokkuus. Vanhoihin suunnittelukäytäntöihin tyytymättömät tieviranomaiset omaksuivat vaikutusten arvioinnin lähtökohdaksi tehokkuusajattelua puhtaimmillaan edustavan kustannus-hyötyanalyysin, johon sisällytetyt arvotukset ovat siitä lähtien määrittäneet sujuvuuden liikenteen keskeisimmäksi tavoitteeksi. Sittemmin merkittävimmin liikenteeseen kytkeytyviä yhteiskunnallisia teemoja ovat olleet liikenneturvallisuus ja ympäristö. Turvallisuustavoitteet onnistuttiin yhdistämään sujuvuutta painottaneeseen suunnitteluun jo 1970-luvulla, mutta ympäristökysymykset ovat vaikuttaneet suunnittelukäytäntöihin hyvin hitaasti vasta 1990-luvulta alkaen. Liikenneviranomaiset kehittivät sotien jälkeen uudenlaisen suunnittelujärjestelmän, joka saavutti nopeasti vakaan aseman sujuvuuteen tähtäävän liikenteen rakentajana. Vastaava ministeriö on läpi vuosikymmenten priorisoinut liikenteen taloudellisuuteen ja tehokkuuteen liittyvät tavoitteet muiden vaikutusten edelle. Vaikutusten arvioinnista ministeriö on rakentanut vahvan instituution, jota merkittävätkään yhteiskunnalliset ilmiöt eivät ole kyenneet juuri muuttamaan. Etenkin julkisen keskustelun keskiöön 2000-luvulle tultaessa nousseet ympäristötavoitteet on ministeriössä ja sen alaisuudessa toimivissa virastoissa jätetty liikenneväylien ja -järjestelmän käytännön suunnittelussa toistaiseksi sivuosaan.
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(2024)Innovaatio- ja tietotalouteen perustuvassa globaalissa maailmassa kansainväliset korkeakouluopiskelijat ovat nousseet merkittäväksi ryhmäksi sekä kaupunkien kilpailukyvyn että globaalisen liikkuvuuden näkökulmasta. Myös Suomessa kansainvälisyyttä on pyritty edistämään niin poliittisin kuin taloudellisin keinoin. Pelkkä opiskelijoiden houkutteleminen ja opiskelupaikkojen tarjoaminen ei kuitenkaan riitä ulkomailta tulevien opiskelijoiden sitouttamiseksi ja täällä pitämiseksi. Kansainvälisten opiskelijoiden kaupunkiin kiinnittäminen ja paikalliseen elinkeinoelämään integroituminen vaatisikin kokonaisvaltaisempaa lähestymistapaa, jossa otettaisiin paremmin huomioon ihmisen elämän eri osa-alueet. Asuminen on olennainen osa kaupunkiin muuttavan ihmisen arkea. Yhtenä elämän perusasiana se vaikuttaa muun muassa ihmisen sosiaalisten suhteiden muotoutumiseen ja sitä kautta paikkaan kiinnittymiseen. Samalla se tarjoaa myös puitteet kodille, jonka kautta kaupunkia eletään ja aistitaan. Kansainvälisten opiskelijoiden kohdalla kodin rakentuminen ja muokkautuminen uuden ympäristön pohjalta korostuu, vaikuttaen olennaisesti halukkuuteen kiinnittyä uuteen paikkaan. Tämä tutkielma kysyykin, miten kansainväliset tutkinto-opiskelijat rakentavat ja kokevat kotia Helsingissä asuessaan. Kodin kokemista ja rakentumista tarkastellaan teoreettisen viitekehyksen kautta, jossa yhdistyvät sekä humanistisen maantieteen käsitys kodin kolmesta perusulottuvuudesta, että Kochanin (2016) kolmiosainen kodin konsepti. Tässä yhdistelmässä kodin kolme pääulottuvuutta ja kolme alaulottuvuutta asettuvat vuorovaikutukselliseen suhteeseen toisiinsa nähden siten, että pääulottuvuudet (fyysinen, psyykkinen ja sosiaalinen) muodostavat toisensa lävistävän pohjan, johon alaulottuvuudet (kaupunkikoti, materiaalinen koti ja peritty koti) asettuvat. Tutkielman aineisto on kerätty puolistrukturoidulla haastattelumenetelmällä haastattelemalla seitsemää Helsingissä asuvaa tutkintoon tähtäävää kansainvälistä yliopisto-opiskelijaa. Tulosten perusteella kansainväliselle opiskelijalle kodin rakentuminen ja kodin kokeminen Helsingissä kiteytyvät kolmeen toisiaan täydentävään tekijään: tärkeät sosiaaliset suhteet, kodin materiaalinen ulottuvuus sekä kodin ja yhteiskunnan välinen vuorovaikutteinen suhde. Tutkielma valottaa kansainvälisten opiskelijoiden kodin monitasoista luonnetta, jossa niin subjektiivinen yksilötaso, normatiivinen kaupunkitaso kuin yleinen valtiotaso yhdistyvät. Kansainvälisen opiskelijan koti on siten yhtä aikaa sekä yksilölleen tärkeä tunteiden täyttämä paikka että ulkopuolelta tulevien muutosvoimien muovaama dynaaminen ilmiö. Tutkielma alleviivaa sekä yksilön että yhteiskunnan roolia kansainvälisen opiskelijan paikkaan kiinnittymisessä ja kodin tunteen syntymisessä.
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(2021)Kaupungeissa on tunnistettu uudenlaista kansalaistoimintaa harjoittavia toimijoita, jotka eivät järjestäydy perinteisten yhdistysten tai järjestöjen kautta, vaan vapaamuotoisemmin neljännellä sektorilla. Tämä ilmiö ei ole käynnissä vain Suomessa, vaan samaan muutokseen on havahduttu myös kansainvälisesti. Kansainvälisessä kontekstissa ilmiö liitetään usein oikeus kaupunkiin – keskusteluun Henri Lefebvren innoittamana ja Suomessa ilmiöön liitetään yleensä keskustelut osallisuudesta. Kaupunkitapahtumat ovat yksi tämän ilmiön ilmentymismuodoista, ja tässä tutkielmassa keskitytäänkin niiden tutkimiseen. Tapaustutkimuksen kohteeksi on valittu viisi Helsingissä järjestettävää tapahtumaa: Ravintolapäivä, Siivouspäivä, Kallio Block Party, Arabian Katufestarit ja Mätäjokifestarit. Ravintolapäivä ja Siivouspäivä järjestetään myös muissa kaupungeissa, jopa ulkomailla asti, mutta tässä työssä keskitytään Helsingin tapaukseen. Tutkimuskohteeksi valittiin nämä viisi tapahtumaa, koska osa niistä edustaa kaupunkiaktivismin uutta aaltoa, kun taas osa on perinteisempiä tapahtumia. Tutkielmassa analysoidaan näitä ja vertaillaan niitä keskenään, sekä keskustellaan sen pohjalta neljännen sektorin käsitteestä. Tutkielma perustuu tapahtumien järjestäjien haastatteluihin ja on siis luonteeltaan laadullinen. Anthony Giddensin rakenteistumisteoriaa käytetään linssinä ymmärtää sitä, kuinka tapahtumat muotoutuvat ja kuinka niiden kautta on mahdollista kytkeytyä yhteiskuntaan. Tutkielmassa huomataan analyysin pohjalta, että tutkitut tapahtumat eroavat toisistaan monin tavoin. Niiden toiminta- ja organisoitumistavat sekä niihin liittyvän omistajuuden hajaumassa huomataan suuria eroja. Ravintolapäivä ja Siivouspäivä määritellään eräänlaiseksi osallistumisen alustaksi, jonka puitteissa osallistuvat kykenevät edistämään omia henkilökohtaiseen elämäänsä liittyviä pyrintöjä muilla elämänaloilla, esimerkiksi järjestöissä. Kallio Block Party ja Arabian Katufestarit määritellään fasilitoiduiksi tapahtumiksi, joissa tapahtumaorganisaatio näyttäytyy jykevämpänä, mutta joissa toiminta ei kuitenkaan jäsenny ensisijaisesti organisaation kautta. Mätäjokifestari on tapahtumista organisaatiokeskeisin, sen sijaitessa toimintatapojensa ja organisaatiomallinsa puolesta tukevasti kolmannella sektorilla. Tapahtuma määritettiin työssä keskusohjatuksi. Näiden tyypittelyiden lisäksi sovellettiin Giddensin rakenteistumisteoriaa sen ymmärtämisessä minkälaisissa prosesseissa tapahtumat rakenteistuvat. Tapahtumien luonteen muotoutumiseen näyttäisikin vaikuttavan sääntöjä ja resursseja, joita aineistosta tunnistetaan, jotka vaikuttavat siihen miten tapahtumien kanssa ollaan vuorovaikutuksessa. Giddensin rakenteistumisteoria tarjoaa myös näkökulman osallisuuteen, kun huomataan kuinka eri tapahtumien puitteissa toteutettu toiminta tulee tulkituksi myös laajemmin yhteiskunnassa. Giddensin rakenteistumisteorian avulla valotetaan myös sitä logiikkaa, jolla uudenlainen, laajemmin ymmärretty osallisuus ymmärretään neljännen sektorin kontekstissa. Keskeinen kontribuutio aikaisemmalle tutkimukselle on tarkentava havainto neljännellä sektorilla, instituutioiden välillä liikkuvien kansalaisten sosiaalisiin positioihin nojaavasta instituutioihin paikantuvien resurssien realisoinnista vapaamuotoisessa yhteistoiminnassa.
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(2020)This Master’s thesis examines the prerequisites of successful integration services. In my thesis I examine the Kotoklubi Kaneli integration service organized by the city of Helsinki as part of the integration of immigrant women. The purpose of Kotoklubi Kaneli is to offer experiential learning of the Finnish language for adults and children in the playgrounds and family houses of Helsinki. In my thesis I study the significance of playground services for the integration of immigrant women through the perspective of participants as well as employees (instructors). My research question is: What prerequisites of successful integration services are there in the City of Helsinki’s playground services? Finnish integration politics have reached a turning point and are considered to need reform. According to remarks given to the state of Finland, Finnish integration politics should focus more on better integrating women and children. Discussions and decision making concerning integration often occurs without the participation of target groups. This renders decision making dynamics discriminatory and leads to an imbalance of power. Therefore, my research examines the service through the experiences of its participants. The purpose is to provide information in order to improve the integration services specifically in Helsinki and Finland, but also elsewhere. This thesis represents the field of urban sociology and pioneer research, since research on the integration processes and the significance of social networks for immigrant women is scarce. This thesis also represents a piece of feminist research, as it is research conducted by a woman about women (a predominantly female clientele) and for women (to improve their integration processes). The research data consists of interviews with participants and instructors (n=15). The focus on women is based on the fact that a large proportion of the participants are women, as are all of the interviewed participants in this study. The data has been analysed through content analysis and is based on grounded theory. The analysis groups excerpts from the interviews as significations and entities of significations that describe the studied phenomenon. The theoretical framework that supports the analysis is based mainly on the theories of Mark Granovetter (1973) on weak ties, Judith Lynam’s (1985) research on support networks of immigrant women and the model of different forms of social capital (BR, BO+ and BO–) by Nannestad et al. (2008). The theoretical framework also discusses Otherness, resocialisation and the structure of integration services. The core finding emerging from research is that the prerequisite of successful integration services is the successful realization of an unofficial integration process that is connected to social interaction, wherein a participant or user of a service feels that they are met and accepted without prejudice as their true self. This creates a crucially important atmosphere suitable for learning and integration through the social interaction that is based on trust. Immigrant people are just like anyone who finds themselves in a new environment and whose need for help is ample, but specifically concerns social interaction amidst a lack of relations in a strange environment. My results complement those of earlier studies on the significance of social networks in the integration processes. If the realised quality of the service corresponds with the needs of its target group, people will wish to participate. These participants in turn enable a successful service together with its executors, that is, the employees. The flexibility of the employees is significant in enabling the service, but their work seems to suffer if the service is governed and measured with disregard to the expertise of the employees. The results can be applied in improving integration processes and services for early support.
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(2021)Collisions and near accidents between pedestrians and cyclists can result in serious injuries and death but have received limited academic attention. Using an online survey, this thesis aimed to increase knowledge of such events, assess the sense of safety of pedestrians and cyclists in traffic as well as identify safety-related constraints to the uptake of walking and cycling with practice theory. Practice theory considers human behaviour to be guided via participation in established social practices constituted by interconnected elements of meaning, material and competence. As such, this thesis contributes to debates concerning barriers to walking and cycling from a safety perspective. The survey was directed to Finnish cities with over 100,000 population and asked frequent pedestrians and cyclists to report details of collisions and near accidents between pedestrians and cyclists that they had experienced in the previous three years. Additionally, the survey asked questions concerning respondents’ sense of safety in traffic when walking or cycling. Survey data was analysed with chi-square tests of independence and ordinal logistic regression. Constraints to the uptake of cycling and walking and ways to overcome them were identified with a practice theory analysis. This involved examining the implications of survey results for the elements constituting the practices, their interrelations and how the practices influenced each other. According to the results, near accidents are roughly 50 times more frequent than collisions. Only 16 respondents had experienced a collision, whereas roughly a third had experienced at least one near accident. Additionally, shared paths were associated with more collisions and near accidents compared to separated spaces, and respondents felt less safe and less willing to travel on them compared to separated paths. The most common type of collision and near accident involved both road users travelling in the same direction. Constraints to cycling and walking were found to surface from meanings of danger associated particularly with shared infrastructure, a material element of the practices. These issues are evidenced by a high near accident frequency, low sense of safety and low willingness to travel on shared spaces. In addition, these issues were exacerbated by a lack of competences concerning space sharing, resulting in poor rapport and respect between pedestrians and cyclists. Significant effects regarding sense of safety were detected between pedestrians and cyclists and across age and genders with ordinal logistic regression, suggesting variance in how different groups experience meanings of danger. Intervening in the material element of the practices by preferring the provision of spatially separated infrastructure was considered to have potential to help overcome these constraints due to their associated safety benefits and respondents’ more favourable position toward them. In addition, working to develop a shared code of conduct for travel on shared environments could further mitigate constraints. Overcoming these constraints could assist the promotion of active travel and help improve the sustainability of transport while improving traffic safety and increasing physical activity.
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(2020)Tässä tutkielmassa tarkastellaan vantaalaisista asuinalueista vallitsevia mielikuvia verkkokeskusteluissa. Työssä kysytään, millaisia mielikuvia yhdeksään vantaalaiseen asuinalueeseen keskusteluissa liitetään ja mitä sisällöllisiä teemoja sekä laadullisia sävyjä niihin tyypillisimmin sisältyy. Lisäksi verrataan, miten mielikuvien sisältö ja laatu vertautuvat alueiden sosioekonomisissa taustatekijöissä esiintyviin eroihin. Tarkoituksena on tarkastella mielikuvien ja alueiden sosioekonomisten taustojen mahdollista yhteyttä, joka voisi kiihdyttää asuinalueiden sosioekonomista eriytymistä toisistaan. Mielikuvan käsitteellä tarkoitetaan yksilön mieleensä jostakin kohteesta muodostamaa tietorakennetta, joka ohjaa hänen käyttäytymistään. Kun kohde on maantieteellinen paikka, puhutaan paikkamielikuvista. Mielikuvista voi sosiaalisessa vuorovaikutuksessa muodostua maineita, jotka ovat kulttuurisesti jaettuja ja uusinnettuja käsityksiä kohteestaan. Asuinalueiden maineilla on huomattu olevan vaikutusta siihen, miten yksilöt suuntaavat muuttopäätöksiään kaupunkiseuduilla. Tämä voi kiihdyttää alueellista eriytymistä, joka edetessään voi aiheuttaa negatiivisia vaikutuksia sosioekonomisesti huono-osaisilla asuinalueilla asuvien hyvinvointiin, elämänkulkuun ja toimintamahdollisuuksiin. Työn tutkimusalueiksi valittiin yhdeksän sosioekonomisesti erilaista asuinaluetta Vantaalta. Niitä käsitteleviä keskusteluketjuja kerättiin Vauva.fi-keskustelufoorumilta 91 kappaletta, joista analysoitiin alueisiin liitettyjä viestejä ja niiden ilmauksia sisällön ja sävyn mukaan. Sisällönanalyysin pohjalta kävi ilmi, että sosioekonomisesti kaikkein hyväosaisimpiin asuinalueisiin (Hämevaara, Vaarala ja Ylästö) liitettiin kaikkein eniten positiivisia mielikuvia ja sosioekonomisesti huono-osaisimpiin asuinalueisiin (Hakunila, Koivukylä) eniten negatiivisia mielikuvia. Poikkeustapauksiakin löytyi: sosioekonomisilta taustoiltaan keskiarvoinen Tikkurila nähtiin varsin positiivisena erityisesti liikenneyhteyksien ja palvelujen osalta. Samoin Korso nähtiin yleisellä tasolla enemmän positiivisesti kuin negatiivisesti. Sosioekonomisesti huono-osaisemman Myyrmäen alueen palvelut ja liikenneyhteydet nähtiin hyvin positiivisesti, mutta rauhallisuus ja väestö negatiivisesti. Sosioekonomisesti hyväosaiseen Kivistöön taas liitettiin paljon negatiivisia mielikuvia sen uuden keskusta-alueen suhteen. Alueella ei nähdä olevan niitä palveluja ja asuinmahdollisuuksia, joita siltä on odotettu. Tuloksien pohjalta näyttää siltä, että asuinalueiden sosioekonomisen taustan ja niistä johdettujen mielikuvien välillä on tiettyä yhteyttä, mutta se ei ole automaattinen. Alueesta voidaan johtaa sosioekonomista taustaansa positiivisempia mielikuvia sekä päinvastoin, jos alueista tulkitaan niitä vahvistavia merkkejä. Alueellisen eriytymisen ehkäisemisen kannalta olisikin tärkeää, että huono-osaisia asuinalueita kehitettäessä myös mielikuva- ja mainetyöhön panostettaisiin kokonaisuuden onnistumiseksi.
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(2020)This Master’s thesis studies the mechanisms connected to negative changes in educational outcomes in upper comprehensive schools in Helsinki. What are the factors associated with negative changes in educational outcomes of individual students during the transition from 7th to 9th grade? There is an increased socioeconomic and ethnic segregation in Helsinki Metropolitan Area, and the differences between schools’ levels of success have also been growing throughout the 21st century. There is little research on combining schools and city development in Finland. The aim is to examine is there an association between decreasing individual educational outcomes and socio-spatial or school segregation, and to look at what is the role of individual factors and social context in decreased educational outcomes. Studying pupils and schools is a good way to capture local processes of differentiation and neighbourhood effect, because children and youth are especially prone to neighbourhood and school effects due to their ongoing process of socialization, localized lives in their neighbourhood and shared institutions, such as school. This study is conducted quantitatively, and the main method in this study is hierarchical linear regression. The data is from Metropolitan Longitudinal Finland research, which studies the success and wellbeing of pupils in upper comprehensive schools in the Helsinki Metropolitan area. The study was conducted during the Fall of 2011 and the Spring of 2014 tracking the same cohort when the pupils were in their 7th and 9th grades. The results suggest that there are no differences found between schools, but some of the qualities describing neighborhoods indicate that some neighbourhood effect might be found. There are indications that pupils with decreased educational outcomes are more likely to study in schools that are located in low income areas than higher income areas. Also, for pupils with decreased educational outcomes, attending a school that is located in Northern or Southeastern Great districts is more likely than attending a school in Eastern Great district. Based on the results, pupils with negative change in educational outcomes are more likely to spend time with friends of own area than with school friends. Boys have a bigger risk for a negative change in educational outcomes than girls, and the change of school is connected to decreased educational outcomes. Mother’s education and immigration background was not found to have connection with decreased educational outcomes. Decreased educational outcomes have a connection with a low parents’ pedagogical ethos, but no connection with peers’ pedagogical ethos was found. The results are significant from the perspective of urban and educational politics and planning. The indications that the educational outcomes in upper comprehensive schools in Helsinki are differentiated in neighborhood level for example between Great districts, and in individual level between genders, challenge the goals of equal educational opportunities. Also, urban planning should be targeted to prevent socio-spatial differentiation of neighborhoods, in order to combat differentiation in schools’ composition of pupils. In future research, the starting level of educational success could be studied more closely- does decrease in educational outcomes implicate different educational paths for pupils that start with high starting level than pupils that have lower starting level in the beginning? This study provided information that there are no differences between schools found currently, but the processes of differentiation are not stable, so the processes should be observed continuously.
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(2021)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.
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(2019)In current city policies, cultural events take part in urban, social and economic development contributing in place making and city branding. This master thesis examines the role of the forthcoming Helsinki contemporary art biennial within the city strategies to fulfill social, economic and environmentally sustainable development. The vision of the city of Helsinki is to be the world’s most functional city, creating the best conditions for residents and visitors as well as an attractive knowledge hub for companies and individuals. The potential of achieving some of the strategies’ objectives through the contemporary art biennial is analyzed through interviews with experts of Helsinki Art Museum and benchmarking the city of Helsinki with other long-term biennial cities, specifically, Venice, Berlin and Liverpool. For the benchmarking, it has been used data provided by the European Commission’s on line platform “Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor”. Helsinki biennial takes part in the place-making, city branding as well as in the strategic plan for the city. Overall, the event is efficiently related to most of the objectives of the city strategies, of which the maritime strategy, the project for youth social inclusion, exercise and mobility, health and welfare promotion. The convergent outputs of the analysis of Helsinki provided positive scenarios on the creation of new jobs within the creative economy and revealed that human capital and education sectors might undertake a significant increase. Yet, a broad overview on the strategies for the city of Helsinki 2017-2021 revealed contrasting aspects within the sustainable development principles. The new jobs created through the maritime strategy seem not completely fulfill the ambitious aims of the city strategies to create new captivating jobs through new companies and startups. Furthermore, in order to avoid the worst effects of climate change, environmentally sustainable alternatives for the Biennial in the island of Vallisaari should be carefully considered.
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(2019)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.
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(2020)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.
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(2021)The Master´s thesis examines the conceived value patterns the city officials use in the context of land-use regulation of small forest fragments. As a theoretical framework, the study utilises Boltanski and Thévenot´s theory on the common worlds with complementary literature, such as Thévenot’s cognitive formats and engagements. In light of extensive scientific research, urban greenspaces have multiple positive impacts to both urban structure and wellbeing of the residents. Small greenspaces, so-called forest fragments with no appointed recreational activities are, nevertheless, often presented as potential sites for infill construction. This appears especially in cities where strong population growth causes pressure for urban development. This Master´s thesis complements existing research in this regard by revealing the diversity of valuation that form the basis to differing interests, perspectives and decisions that direct urban land-use policy in these forest fragments. The empirical phase has been conducted among city officials in the City of Espoo (FI), who represent different operative units and positions. The analysis was conducted through an exploratory and semiquantitative Q methodology. In the study, the respondents (N=27) validated statements (Q=35) related to planning decisions on small forest fragments. The factor extraction was conducted by principal component analysis. The seven analysed factors form consistent value patterns, which may be used when describing and interpreting the justification of urban planning regulation in forest fragments. In each individual value pattern, either valuation of the local landscape, public good or personal advantage is emphasised. From the common worlds, argumentation based on the industrial or the market worlds highlight personal affinity, whereas, for instance, the civic or the domestic world form a basis for argumentation on social values and the common good. Human-centred biophilia is the most explanatory of the value patterns. Based on the valuation, forest fragments are seen as an integral part of the urban structure especially due to their cultural ecosystem services, such as recreational possibilities, effect on residents´ environmental consciousness and stability of the local landscape.
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