Nordic Welfare Cities: Negotiating Urban Citizenship since 1850, 2024
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, cities played a crucial role in shaping mod... more In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, cities played a crucial role in shaping modern citizenship in the Nordic countries. Significant investments, both public and private, were made in infrastructure and services, leading to economic growth and an improved quality of life for city residents. The availability of utility networks such as water, gas and electricity, along with critical welfare services like primary education and healthcare, became increasingly associated with the life of modern urban citizens. Despite this progress, not all urban residents had equal access to these services. This chapter focuses on Helsinki and explores how municipal infrastructure and other services were closely tied to broader urban changes and the processes of inclusion and exclusion. The study examines the groups that were considered full members of the urban community with complete access to essential services, those that were gradually integrated, and those that remained excluded from the urban community even in the early twentieth century.
Viipuri – Historiallinen kaupunkikartasto / Vyborg – Historic Towns Atlas. Ed. by Kimmo Katajala, Marjatta Hietala, Marjaana Niemi, Pirjo Uino, Martti Helminen, Antti Härkönen ja Helena Hirvonen. Scandinavian Atlas of Historic Towns. New Series, No 3, Suomi-Finland., 2020
Constructing a town is reconciling the past and the future. The built urban environment generally... more Constructing a town is reconciling the past and the future. The built urban environment generally changes slowly, even when ruptures shake the urban economy and social relations. Thus the townspeople of nineteenth-century Vyborg, although more and more of their living came from commerce and industry, still inhabited an urban space created to further military goals. They could dream of modern city life on linden-lined boulevards and parks, but they walked in old, narrow lanes waiting for the fortress walls to be dismantled and new streets to be built. The task of urban planners is to look to the future, but they too are often strongly attached to their own time. Considering the future of Vyborg in the mid-nineteenth century, they could not envision the towns’ future needs or pace of its growth. When planning and construction failed to keep pace with growth and change, the townspeople created the urban space to meet their own needs. While they were waiting for the ramparts to be dismantled, the townspeople grazed their cows on the walls. When there were not enough low-cost plots available for them inside the town, poorer people built their own suburbs outside its administrative borders. This chapter discusses the planning of urban space and how the town eventually developed from the mid-1800s to the 1930s. Which plans were realized, how and how quickly, and what other plans remained on paper forever? How did the townspeople live in the planned urban space, how did they adapt it to their own needs, and how did they live outside its borders?
The second half of the 1980s was decisive for the development and growth of urban history researc... more The second half of the 1980s was decisive for the development and growth of urban history research in Europe. There was a burgeoning interest in the field and the volume of research increased in many countries. But the research was fragmented and often carried out by relatively isolated research groups with limited integration. Very little comparative or transnational work was done on cities, and research was often markedly conditioned by national and local agendas. The European Association for Urban History (EAUH) was founded in 1989 specifically to remedy these shortcomings: To increase connectivity, build networks and encourage multidisciplinary and comparative research. Today – 30 years later – this challenge persists to a degree, not least because of the current pressure in many parts of Europe and the wider world to “renationalise” historical research, to emphasise national perspectives on the past. However, one might argue with equal justification that much has been achieved during the last three decades. This short article will begin by providing a brief overview of the early years of the EAUH in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The second part will discuss the role of the EAUH in integrating multidisciplinary, comparative and transnational approaches into urban history research. The final part of the article will focus on the ways in which the EAUH has, on the one hand, enhanced our understanding of the diversity of urban development and the urban experience within and beyond Europe and, on the other hand, integrated these different developments and experiences into scholarship.
Urbanizing Nature Actors and Agency (Dis)Connecting Cities and Nature Since 1500, 2019
The rural-urban fringe has often been conceived as a zone in transition: a space torn between its... more The rural-urban fringe has often been conceived as a zone in transition: a space torn between its rural past and its urban future—a ‘phase’ rather than a place. Spatial planning has played an important part in consolidating this perception. An essential feature of planning has been to create single-purpose spaces, and therefore the fringe with its fragmented urban and rural characteristics has come to be seen as a transient stage, corresponding to what Marc Augé has identified as ‘non-places’. In recent years, scholars working in the fields of landscape studies, planning and geography have taken an intense interest in questions concerning the rural-urban fringe. Most of the scholars working on the theme have examined the fringe in the present-day context, and those few who have chosen a historical approach have usually focused on the last 60–70 years. However, the rural-urban fringe is not a new phenomenon. By using Helsinki as a case, this chapter examines the inner urban fringe as both a phase and a place from the early nineteenth century to the present day. The first aim of the chapter is to look at how the inner urban fringe was defined and redefined when Helsinki underwent urbanization, industrialization and de-industrialisation. In periods of urban growth, the urban fringe has always been subject to ambitious development projects, but in many cases these plans have been delayed, and many fringe areas have been left in a ‘state of waiting’ for years, even decades. The second key question of this chapter concerns what was happening in the inner urban fringe while awaiting such redevelopment, how its perception and meaning were continuously redefined and renegotiated, and how these developments ‘in the meantime’ influenced the later development of the fringe.
Capital cities play a significant role in interpreting a country’s past and charting its future. ... more Capital cities play a significant role in interpreting a country’s past and charting its future. In the aftermath of the First World War nine new European states, Finland and Ireland among them, were confronted with the question of how to create a capital city befitting their new status and national identity. Instead of designing and constructing an entirely new capital city which would have marked a clean break from the past, all these states chose an existing city as the capital. This article will examine processes through which two capitals, Helsinki and Dublin, were renewed physically and symbolically to make the political change ‘real’ to people, but also to reinterpret the past and create a ‘teleology for the present’. The aim is to discuss the ways in which the changes, planned and implemented, both reflected and reinforced new interpretations of the history of the city and the nation, and the continuities and discontinuities the changes created between the past and the prese...
Capital cities play a significant role in interpreting a country’s past and charting its future. ... more Capital cities play a significant role in interpreting a country’s past and charting its future. In the aftermath of the First World War nine new European states, Finland and Ireland among them, were confronted with the question of how to create a capital city befitting their new status and national identity. Instead of designing and constructing an entirely new capital city which would have marked a clean break from the past, all these states chose an existing city as the capital. This article will examine processes through which two capitals, Helsinki and Dublin, were renewed physically and symbolically to make the political change ‘real’ to people, but also to reinterpret the past and create a ‘teleology for the present’. The aim is to discuss the ways in which the changes, planned and implemented, both reflected and reinforced new interpretations of the history of the city and the nation, and the continuities and discontinuities the changes created between the past and the present. Some elements and versions of the past were chosen over others, preserved and reinvented in the cityscape, while others were ignored, hidden or denied.
Öppet Fall: Finlands historia som möjligheter och alternativ. Red. Nils Erik Villstrand & Petri Karonen, 2017
Hur såg finländarna på sin samtid och sin framtid då allt fler bodde i städer, då ett fjärran kri... more Hur såg finländarna på sin samtid och sin framtid då allt fler bodde i städer, då ett fjärran krig och en något mindre fjärran revolution påverkade vardagen där hemma, då Finland fortfarande var ett storfurstendöme och då det ryska imperiet fortfarande existerade? Svaren på dessa frågor söker från dagböcker, memoarer och samtida publikationer samt med hjälp av forskningslitteratur.
Kulkemattomattomat polut: Mahdollinen Suomen historia. Edited by Nils Erik Villstrand & Petri Karonen, 2017
Artikkelissa tarkastellaan vuoden 1917 Suomea kaupungistuvana yhteiskuntana, arkeen ja rutiineihi... more Artikkelissa tarkastellaan vuoden 1917 Suomea kaupungistuvana yhteiskuntana, arkeen ja rutiineihin tarttuvina yhteisöinä, ja itseään ja paikkaansa etsivänä ”kansakuntana” maailmassa, jossa vanha kansainvälinen maailmanjärjestys murtuu mutta uusi ei ole vielä syntynyt. Minkälaisena suomalaiset näkivät nykyisyytensä ja tulevaisuutensa, kun yhä useamman koti oli kaupungissa, kun jossain kaukana käyty sota ja vähän lähempänä syttynyt vallankumous vaikuttivat jokapäiväiseen elämään ja kun Suomi oli vielä suuriruhtinaskunta ja Venäjän imperiumi jaloillaan? Kysymyksiä pohdin päiväkirjojen, muistelmien ja aikalaisjulkaisujen pohjalta ja tutkimuskirjallisuutta hyödyntäen.
Green Landscapes in the European City, 1750 - 2010, 2017
This volume, like its two predecessors, has shown that transnational is all around us: monumental... more This volume, like its two predecessors, has shown that transnational is all around us: monumental parks that resemble each other, tree-lined streets that look alike, neighbourhood parks that share a similar feel and features, and -in the middle of hectic urban surroundings - green wastelands that have been left in a "state of waiting" for years or decades. Even cursory comparisons of different cities reveal that planning, creating, maintaining and even abandoning of urban green spaces has been, in many respects, a transnational endeavour. The exchange of ideas across national and cultural boundaries has been essential in shaping our views of how green spaces could and should be integrated with the built environment and the everyday practices of city dwellers. What has enhanced the flow and impact of the 'transnational' ideas and innovations is the fact that they have been - or could have been made - compatible with a variety of local and national aims.
Usko, tiede ja historiankirjoitus – Suomalaisia maailmankuvia keskiajalta 1900-luvulle, 2016
Suomalaiset kaupunkisuunnittelija-arkkitehdit luovivat ristiriitaisten odotusten ja vaatimusten k... more Suomalaiset kaupunkisuunnittelija-arkkitehdit luovivat ristiriitaisten odotusten ja vaatimusten kentässä Suomen kulkiessa venäläistämiskausien, ensimmäisen maailmansodan ja sisällissodan kautta itsenäisyyteen. He suunnittelivat kansallisesti tärkeätä keskusta; pääkaupunkia, joka näyttäytyisi katsojille suomalaisena mutta jossa samalla olisi modernin länsieurooppalaisen pääkaupungin tuntua. He loivat uudenlaista järjestynyttä kaupunkitilaa, joka takaisi edellytykset talouden kehitykselle mutta samalla kutoisi yhteen kielitaistelujen ja sisällissodan rikkomaa yhteiskuntaa. Kaupunkisuunnittelijoiden navigointia poliittisissa myrskyissä ja tyvenissä helpotti heidän kansallisen identiteetin rinnalle rakentamansa transnationaali ammatti-identiteetti. Olennainen osa tämän identiteetin rakentamista oli se, että kaupunkisuunnittelijat etäännyttivät omaa työtään kansallisesta ja paikallisesta politiikasta. Kaupunkisuunnittelijoiden ammattikuntaan kuuluminen tarkoitti toimimista ’yli kansallisten rajojen’ vaikka suuri osa suunnittelijoista työskentelikin vain omassa maassaan. He ammensivat ideoita ja inspiraatiota ulkomaanmatkoiltaan ja valtioiden rajat ylittävästä ammattiyhteisöstään, he legitimoivat työnsä paitsi taiteellisella luovuudellaan myös ’universaalilla’ tieteellisellä tiedollaan, ja he näkivät koko maailman (mahdollisena) työmaanaan. He olivat samaan aikaan suomalaisia ja kansakunnista riippumattomia taiteilijoita ja puolueettomia asiantuntijoita, joiden työvälineet toimivat kaikkialla ja joiden työmaa saattoi olla missä tahansa. He tekivät kansallista ja paikallista politiikkaa, mutta onnistuivat samalla pysyttelemään sen yläpuolella. Pohdin näitä kysymyksiä analysoimalla arkkitehti-kaupunkisuunnittelija Eliel Saarisen (1873–1950) ja muutamien hänen kollegoidensa toimintaa ja työuria. Miten Saarinen kollegoineen suunnitteli kaupunkikuvaa ja kaupunkitilaa, jotka vastasivat ajan moniin – osittain ristiriitaisiin – tavoitteisiin ja odotuksiin, ja miten hän samalla rakensi ja ylläpiti kaupunkisuunnittelijoiden transnationaalia ammatti-identiteettiä. Saarisen toiminnan ja suunnitelmien lisäksi on välttämätöntä ottaa mukaan analyysiin myös arkkitehtuurista ja kaupunkisuunnittelusta 1900-luvun alussa käytyä yleisempää keskustelua, koska ammattiryhmän identiteetti rakentui aina vuorovaikutuksessa muihin ryhmiin. Identiteettejä rakennettiin aina sisältä- ja ulkopäin. Tarkastelun pääpaino tässä luvussa on kollektiivisessa ammatti-identiteetissä ja sen rakentamisessa, mutta keskustelussa tulee esiin myös ammatti-identiteetti ryhmäkuntaisuuden muokkaamana yksilön itseytenä.
Viherrakenne ja Kaupunkisuunnittelu. Tutkimuskatsauksia 2018:1. Inkeri Vähä-Piikkiö (toim.)., 2018
Kulttuurisessa arvomaailmassamme asuinalueen "luonnonläheisyys" on korkeassa kurssissa. Kun asuka... more Kulttuurisessa arvomaailmassamme asuinalueen "luonnonläheisyys" on korkeassa kurssissa. Kun asukaskyselyissä kaupunkilaiset pohtivat asuinalueensa vahvuuksia, suuri osa vastaajista mainitsee juuri luonnonläheisyyden. Niin Helsingin tiiviissä kantakaupungissa kuin väljemmin rakennetuissa lähiöissä asukkaat ovat erityisen tyytyväisiä siihen, että juuri heidän asuinalueellaan luonto on läsnä (Bäcklund 1998). Koska luonnonläheisyys on niin korkeassa arvossa ja niin vaikeasti määriteltävissä, siitä on tullut yksi käytetyimpiä argumentteja puolustettaessa tai vastustettaessa kaupunkitilassa tehtäviä muutoksia. Kun Helsingissä 1960-luvulla suunniteltiin Puu-Käpylän purkamista, sekä uudistuksen vastustajat että kannattajat vannoivat luonnonläheisen puutarhaesikaupungin nimeen. Vastustajat vaativat vanhan puutarhakaupungin muodon vaalimista, uudistajien puheenvuoroissa taas korostettiin sen hengen säilyttämistä. Vuosaaren uusia asuinalueita suunniteltaessa 1990-luvun alussa sekä kannattajat että vastustajat puhuivat taas luonnonläheisyydestä. Tiivistä rakentamista puoltavissa puheenvuoroissa korostui kaupunkiluonnon laatu, kun taas vastustajat puhuivat enemmän määrästä.
Public health policies had a profound impact on urban life in the late nineteenth and early twent... more Public health policies had a profound impact on urban life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, yet relatively few people took an active interest in the formulation of these policies. In this book Marjaana Niemi examines the impact of different political aims and pressures on 'scientific' health policies through the analysis of public health programmes in two case studies, one in Birmingham and the other in Gothenburg. By examining early twentieth-century campaigns concerned with infant welfare and the prevention of tuberculosis, the book provides illuminating insights into the relationship between public health and the regulation of urban life. Not only does the book analyse the processes whereby different political aims became embedded in these 'apolitical' health campaigns, but it also highlights the important part that the campaigns played in urban politics and governance. The political aims which public health campaigns advanced are explored by comparing health policies in Britain and Sweden, where officials were part of one public health community, enjoying close links, attending the same conferences and contributing to the same journals. The problems they dealt with were often similar and in both countries health authorities claimed scientific grounds for their programmes. Yet the policies they pursued were often strikingly different. Through examination of two different national approaches, the book does justice to the full complexity of the policy-making process and illuminates the wide range of factors that affected municipal policies.
Nordic Welfare Cities: Negotiating Urban Citizenship since 1850, 2024
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, cities played a crucial role in shaping mod... more In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, cities played a crucial role in shaping modern citizenship in the Nordic countries. Significant investments, both public and private, were made in infrastructure and services, leading to economic growth and an improved quality of life for city residents. The availability of utility networks such as water, gas and electricity, along with critical welfare services like primary education and healthcare, became increasingly associated with the life of modern urban citizens. Despite this progress, not all urban residents had equal access to these services. This chapter focuses on Helsinki and explores how municipal infrastructure and other services were closely tied to broader urban changes and the processes of inclusion and exclusion. The study examines the groups that were considered full members of the urban community with complete access to essential services, those that were gradually integrated, and those that remained excluded from the urban community even in the early twentieth century.
Viipuri – Historiallinen kaupunkikartasto / Vyborg – Historic Towns Atlas. Ed. by Kimmo Katajala, Marjatta Hietala, Marjaana Niemi, Pirjo Uino, Martti Helminen, Antti Härkönen ja Helena Hirvonen. Scandinavian Atlas of Historic Towns. New Series, No 3, Suomi-Finland., 2020
Constructing a town is reconciling the past and the future. The built urban environment generally... more Constructing a town is reconciling the past and the future. The built urban environment generally changes slowly, even when ruptures shake the urban economy and social relations. Thus the townspeople of nineteenth-century Vyborg, although more and more of their living came from commerce and industry, still inhabited an urban space created to further military goals. They could dream of modern city life on linden-lined boulevards and parks, but they walked in old, narrow lanes waiting for the fortress walls to be dismantled and new streets to be built. The task of urban planners is to look to the future, but they too are often strongly attached to their own time. Considering the future of Vyborg in the mid-nineteenth century, they could not envision the towns’ future needs or pace of its growth. When planning and construction failed to keep pace with growth and change, the townspeople created the urban space to meet their own needs. While they were waiting for the ramparts to be dismantled, the townspeople grazed their cows on the walls. When there were not enough low-cost plots available for them inside the town, poorer people built their own suburbs outside its administrative borders. This chapter discusses the planning of urban space and how the town eventually developed from the mid-1800s to the 1930s. Which plans were realized, how and how quickly, and what other plans remained on paper forever? How did the townspeople live in the planned urban space, how did they adapt it to their own needs, and how did they live outside its borders?
The second half of the 1980s was decisive for the development and growth of urban history researc... more The second half of the 1980s was decisive for the development and growth of urban history research in Europe. There was a burgeoning interest in the field and the volume of research increased in many countries. But the research was fragmented and often carried out by relatively isolated research groups with limited integration. Very little comparative or transnational work was done on cities, and research was often markedly conditioned by national and local agendas. The European Association for Urban History (EAUH) was founded in 1989 specifically to remedy these shortcomings: To increase connectivity, build networks and encourage multidisciplinary and comparative research. Today – 30 years later – this challenge persists to a degree, not least because of the current pressure in many parts of Europe and the wider world to “renationalise” historical research, to emphasise national perspectives on the past. However, one might argue with equal justification that much has been achieved during the last three decades. This short article will begin by providing a brief overview of the early years of the EAUH in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The second part will discuss the role of the EAUH in integrating multidisciplinary, comparative and transnational approaches into urban history research. The final part of the article will focus on the ways in which the EAUH has, on the one hand, enhanced our understanding of the diversity of urban development and the urban experience within and beyond Europe and, on the other hand, integrated these different developments and experiences into scholarship.
Urbanizing Nature Actors and Agency (Dis)Connecting Cities and Nature Since 1500, 2019
The rural-urban fringe has often been conceived as a zone in transition: a space torn between its... more The rural-urban fringe has often been conceived as a zone in transition: a space torn between its rural past and its urban future—a ‘phase’ rather than a place. Spatial planning has played an important part in consolidating this perception. An essential feature of planning has been to create single-purpose spaces, and therefore the fringe with its fragmented urban and rural characteristics has come to be seen as a transient stage, corresponding to what Marc Augé has identified as ‘non-places’. In recent years, scholars working in the fields of landscape studies, planning and geography have taken an intense interest in questions concerning the rural-urban fringe. Most of the scholars working on the theme have examined the fringe in the present-day context, and those few who have chosen a historical approach have usually focused on the last 60–70 years. However, the rural-urban fringe is not a new phenomenon. By using Helsinki as a case, this chapter examines the inner urban fringe as both a phase and a place from the early nineteenth century to the present day. The first aim of the chapter is to look at how the inner urban fringe was defined and redefined when Helsinki underwent urbanization, industrialization and de-industrialisation. In periods of urban growth, the urban fringe has always been subject to ambitious development projects, but in many cases these plans have been delayed, and many fringe areas have been left in a ‘state of waiting’ for years, even decades. The second key question of this chapter concerns what was happening in the inner urban fringe while awaiting such redevelopment, how its perception and meaning were continuously redefined and renegotiated, and how these developments ‘in the meantime’ influenced the later development of the fringe.
Capital cities play a significant role in interpreting a country’s past and charting its future. ... more Capital cities play a significant role in interpreting a country’s past and charting its future. In the aftermath of the First World War nine new European states, Finland and Ireland among them, were confronted with the question of how to create a capital city befitting their new status and national identity. Instead of designing and constructing an entirely new capital city which would have marked a clean break from the past, all these states chose an existing city as the capital. This article will examine processes through which two capitals, Helsinki and Dublin, were renewed physically and symbolically to make the political change ‘real’ to people, but also to reinterpret the past and create a ‘teleology for the present’. The aim is to discuss the ways in which the changes, planned and implemented, both reflected and reinforced new interpretations of the history of the city and the nation, and the continuities and discontinuities the changes created between the past and the prese...
Capital cities play a significant role in interpreting a country’s past and charting its future. ... more Capital cities play a significant role in interpreting a country’s past and charting its future. In the aftermath of the First World War nine new European states, Finland and Ireland among them, were confronted with the question of how to create a capital city befitting their new status and national identity. Instead of designing and constructing an entirely new capital city which would have marked a clean break from the past, all these states chose an existing city as the capital. This article will examine processes through which two capitals, Helsinki and Dublin, were renewed physically and symbolically to make the political change ‘real’ to people, but also to reinterpret the past and create a ‘teleology for the present’. The aim is to discuss the ways in which the changes, planned and implemented, both reflected and reinforced new interpretations of the history of the city and the nation, and the continuities and discontinuities the changes created between the past and the present. Some elements and versions of the past were chosen over others, preserved and reinvented in the cityscape, while others were ignored, hidden or denied.
Öppet Fall: Finlands historia som möjligheter och alternativ. Red. Nils Erik Villstrand & Petri Karonen, 2017
Hur såg finländarna på sin samtid och sin framtid då allt fler bodde i städer, då ett fjärran kri... more Hur såg finländarna på sin samtid och sin framtid då allt fler bodde i städer, då ett fjärran krig och en något mindre fjärran revolution påverkade vardagen där hemma, då Finland fortfarande var ett storfurstendöme och då det ryska imperiet fortfarande existerade? Svaren på dessa frågor söker från dagböcker, memoarer och samtida publikationer samt med hjälp av forskningslitteratur.
Kulkemattomattomat polut: Mahdollinen Suomen historia. Edited by Nils Erik Villstrand & Petri Karonen, 2017
Artikkelissa tarkastellaan vuoden 1917 Suomea kaupungistuvana yhteiskuntana, arkeen ja rutiineihi... more Artikkelissa tarkastellaan vuoden 1917 Suomea kaupungistuvana yhteiskuntana, arkeen ja rutiineihin tarttuvina yhteisöinä, ja itseään ja paikkaansa etsivänä ”kansakuntana” maailmassa, jossa vanha kansainvälinen maailmanjärjestys murtuu mutta uusi ei ole vielä syntynyt. Minkälaisena suomalaiset näkivät nykyisyytensä ja tulevaisuutensa, kun yhä useamman koti oli kaupungissa, kun jossain kaukana käyty sota ja vähän lähempänä syttynyt vallankumous vaikuttivat jokapäiväiseen elämään ja kun Suomi oli vielä suuriruhtinaskunta ja Venäjän imperiumi jaloillaan? Kysymyksiä pohdin päiväkirjojen, muistelmien ja aikalaisjulkaisujen pohjalta ja tutkimuskirjallisuutta hyödyntäen.
Green Landscapes in the European City, 1750 - 2010, 2017
This volume, like its two predecessors, has shown that transnational is all around us: monumental... more This volume, like its two predecessors, has shown that transnational is all around us: monumental parks that resemble each other, tree-lined streets that look alike, neighbourhood parks that share a similar feel and features, and -in the middle of hectic urban surroundings - green wastelands that have been left in a "state of waiting" for years or decades. Even cursory comparisons of different cities reveal that planning, creating, maintaining and even abandoning of urban green spaces has been, in many respects, a transnational endeavour. The exchange of ideas across national and cultural boundaries has been essential in shaping our views of how green spaces could and should be integrated with the built environment and the everyday practices of city dwellers. What has enhanced the flow and impact of the 'transnational' ideas and innovations is the fact that they have been - or could have been made - compatible with a variety of local and national aims.
Usko, tiede ja historiankirjoitus – Suomalaisia maailmankuvia keskiajalta 1900-luvulle, 2016
Suomalaiset kaupunkisuunnittelija-arkkitehdit luovivat ristiriitaisten odotusten ja vaatimusten k... more Suomalaiset kaupunkisuunnittelija-arkkitehdit luovivat ristiriitaisten odotusten ja vaatimusten kentässä Suomen kulkiessa venäläistämiskausien, ensimmäisen maailmansodan ja sisällissodan kautta itsenäisyyteen. He suunnittelivat kansallisesti tärkeätä keskusta; pääkaupunkia, joka näyttäytyisi katsojille suomalaisena mutta jossa samalla olisi modernin länsieurooppalaisen pääkaupungin tuntua. He loivat uudenlaista järjestynyttä kaupunkitilaa, joka takaisi edellytykset talouden kehitykselle mutta samalla kutoisi yhteen kielitaistelujen ja sisällissodan rikkomaa yhteiskuntaa. Kaupunkisuunnittelijoiden navigointia poliittisissa myrskyissä ja tyvenissä helpotti heidän kansallisen identiteetin rinnalle rakentamansa transnationaali ammatti-identiteetti. Olennainen osa tämän identiteetin rakentamista oli se, että kaupunkisuunnittelijat etäännyttivät omaa työtään kansallisesta ja paikallisesta politiikasta. Kaupunkisuunnittelijoiden ammattikuntaan kuuluminen tarkoitti toimimista ’yli kansallisten rajojen’ vaikka suuri osa suunnittelijoista työskentelikin vain omassa maassaan. He ammensivat ideoita ja inspiraatiota ulkomaanmatkoiltaan ja valtioiden rajat ylittävästä ammattiyhteisöstään, he legitimoivat työnsä paitsi taiteellisella luovuudellaan myös ’universaalilla’ tieteellisellä tiedollaan, ja he näkivät koko maailman (mahdollisena) työmaanaan. He olivat samaan aikaan suomalaisia ja kansakunnista riippumattomia taiteilijoita ja puolueettomia asiantuntijoita, joiden työvälineet toimivat kaikkialla ja joiden työmaa saattoi olla missä tahansa. He tekivät kansallista ja paikallista politiikkaa, mutta onnistuivat samalla pysyttelemään sen yläpuolella. Pohdin näitä kysymyksiä analysoimalla arkkitehti-kaupunkisuunnittelija Eliel Saarisen (1873–1950) ja muutamien hänen kollegoidensa toimintaa ja työuria. Miten Saarinen kollegoineen suunnitteli kaupunkikuvaa ja kaupunkitilaa, jotka vastasivat ajan moniin – osittain ristiriitaisiin – tavoitteisiin ja odotuksiin, ja miten hän samalla rakensi ja ylläpiti kaupunkisuunnittelijoiden transnationaalia ammatti-identiteettiä. Saarisen toiminnan ja suunnitelmien lisäksi on välttämätöntä ottaa mukaan analyysiin myös arkkitehtuurista ja kaupunkisuunnittelusta 1900-luvun alussa käytyä yleisempää keskustelua, koska ammattiryhmän identiteetti rakentui aina vuorovaikutuksessa muihin ryhmiin. Identiteettejä rakennettiin aina sisältä- ja ulkopäin. Tarkastelun pääpaino tässä luvussa on kollektiivisessa ammatti-identiteetissä ja sen rakentamisessa, mutta keskustelussa tulee esiin myös ammatti-identiteetti ryhmäkuntaisuuden muokkaamana yksilön itseytenä.
Viherrakenne ja Kaupunkisuunnittelu. Tutkimuskatsauksia 2018:1. Inkeri Vähä-Piikkiö (toim.)., 2018
Kulttuurisessa arvomaailmassamme asuinalueen "luonnonläheisyys" on korkeassa kurssissa. Kun asuka... more Kulttuurisessa arvomaailmassamme asuinalueen "luonnonläheisyys" on korkeassa kurssissa. Kun asukaskyselyissä kaupunkilaiset pohtivat asuinalueensa vahvuuksia, suuri osa vastaajista mainitsee juuri luonnonläheisyyden. Niin Helsingin tiiviissä kantakaupungissa kuin väljemmin rakennetuissa lähiöissä asukkaat ovat erityisen tyytyväisiä siihen, että juuri heidän asuinalueellaan luonto on läsnä (Bäcklund 1998). Koska luonnonläheisyys on niin korkeassa arvossa ja niin vaikeasti määriteltävissä, siitä on tullut yksi käytetyimpiä argumentteja puolustettaessa tai vastustettaessa kaupunkitilassa tehtäviä muutoksia. Kun Helsingissä 1960-luvulla suunniteltiin Puu-Käpylän purkamista, sekä uudistuksen vastustajat että kannattajat vannoivat luonnonläheisen puutarhaesikaupungin nimeen. Vastustajat vaativat vanhan puutarhakaupungin muodon vaalimista, uudistajien puheenvuoroissa taas korostettiin sen hengen säilyttämistä. Vuosaaren uusia asuinalueita suunniteltaessa 1990-luvun alussa sekä kannattajat että vastustajat puhuivat taas luonnonläheisyydestä. Tiivistä rakentamista puoltavissa puheenvuoroissa korostui kaupunkiluonnon laatu, kun taas vastustajat puhuivat enemmän määrästä.
Public health policies had a profound impact on urban life in the late nineteenth and early twent... more Public health policies had a profound impact on urban life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, yet relatively few people took an active interest in the formulation of these policies. In this book Marjaana Niemi examines the impact of different political aims and pressures on 'scientific' health policies through the analysis of public health programmes in two case studies, one in Birmingham and the other in Gothenburg. By examining early twentieth-century campaigns concerned with infant welfare and the prevention of tuberculosis, the book provides illuminating insights into the relationship between public health and the regulation of urban life. Not only does the book analyse the processes whereby different political aims became embedded in these 'apolitical' health campaigns, but it also highlights the important part that the campaigns played in urban politics and governance. The political aims which public health campaigns advanced are explored by comparing health policies in Britain and Sweden, where officials were part of one public health community, enjoying close links, attending the same conferences and contributing to the same journals. The problems they dealt with were often similar and in both countries health authorities claimed scientific grounds for their programmes. Yet the policies they pursued were often strikingly different. Through examination of two different national approaches, the book does justice to the full complexity of the policy-making process and illuminates the wide range of factors that affected municipal policies.
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