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In the last two decades, new working spaces (NWS), such as co-working spaces, libraries and cafeterias have been increasingly used as temporary or permanent locations for work. Studies on their proliferation, types and location factors are rapidly appearing from multiple perspectives. However, several European cities still lack a clear overview of this phenomenon. In this context, a systematic spatial analysis of NWS within the urban structure should be carried out, considering the characteristics of the urban form, degree of accessibility and travel mode opportunities, as well as multi-functionality of the urban districts and location of jobs. Thus, the paper first presents a review of the current studies on location factors of NWS and then develops additional planning arguments on the multi-functionality, urban form. Next, the phenomenon is empirically analysed in Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The results show that the NWS are predominantly located in the most compact and/or multifunctional districts and pedestrian zones. Unlike in many other European cities, there are both free and paid NWS. This new knowledge is not yet embedded in the planning agendas, but it can support future strategies and practices for a more sustainable urban development including the location of workplaces.

Spatial planning – in both its ideas and practices – cannot directly adopt new concepts, but instead they must be embedded in the existing framework of professional concepts. This is challenging for planning discourses when determining the ways in which the urban green is conceptualized. This chapter argues that the basic dichotomy of recreational and preservation values has been able to resist the introduction of new concepts, such as green infrastructure and ecosystem services. This resistance can be understood through an ‘archaeological’ analysis of planning discourses, using Foucault’s analysis of the discourse formations of serious speakers. In addition to the usual dichotomies of urban growth versus green or the built environment versus nature, there is a deeper dualism between rationalized nature and the ‘bestiality’ of uncontrolled and uncommunicated nature, which is still needed for the legitimacy of planning. Current conceptual frameworks in the planning of the cities in Helsinki, Milan, and Montreal are analysed from this perspective.

As a developed welfare state, Finland has a long history of and continuing political support for housing policies, ranging from non-profit rental housing to owner-occupied housing supported by tax deductions. The current neoliberal critique, however, has questioned the efficiency and moral foundations of the established policies. This critique has taken as its target the difference between market rents and non-profit rents, citing this as an instance of ‘alternative costs’ for the city and, as such, as a form of subsidy that is unjustly distributed. However, the full picture of different housing subsidies – including those received by owner-occupiers – is not usually considered. The paper concludes that the current debate does not take into account the ways in which different subsidies interact in the approaches used to provide affordable housing in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. As such the critique becomes tacitly political, although it is represented in terms of rationality and justice.

Over the last decades, there has been a significant development towards new forms of multi-locality, particularly for job-related reasons. In addition to offices, many can work in multiple places (such as the home, co-working spaces, coffee shops and public libraries). In addition to workers in start-ups and small entrepreneurs, who are traditionally known to be more mobile, white-collar workers employed by organizations are increasingly becoming multi-local. However, little is known about the ways in which multi-locality is addressed within the urban regions. This phenomenon has been studied at Aalto and NMBU University within the BEMINE research project by analysing recent policy and planning documents, as well as organizations’ strategies within the Helsinki region. In addition to a literature review, a qualitative analysis of planning documents was conducted as well as semi- structured interviews with five organizations (both private and public) in Finland employing mobile white-collars. The findings reveal that while policy-makers and city planners have not yet addressed the complexity of multi-locality, both private and public organizations are focusing on more concrete multi-local strategies and working practices. More dialogue is needed amongst policy- makers, city planners and organizations to address multi-locality at different levels of analysis and planning.

This paper explores new types of workplaces that are emerging due to the growing flexibility in work arrangements and the use of information and communication technologies. In addition to home and office, third places, such as libraries and coffee shops, are increasingly used as temporary workplaces. Moreover, there is a proliferation of co-working spaces that are designed as temporary working locations. Thus, the boundaries between traditional urban functions have become blurred; different functions co-exist in the same spaces, and new functionalities emerge as people take spaces into new uses. We may call our cities “post-functionalist,” ones that are no longer based only on predetermined and designed functions. However, there has been little research on the spatial characteristics of these new workplaces as well as on the social features within these places. These phenomena have been empirically studied through observational studies, interviews, and spatial analyses of three such sites: Cafe Ko...

Several disciplines, such as landscape architecture, species conservation and water management, have contributed to the advancement of knowledge of Green Infrastructure (GI). However, doubts remain on the best approach to embed the concept of GI and related components in planning policies and practice. This paper presents a literature review of the scientific and policy frameworks of GI as well as the knowledge gap that exists between academics and practitioners. Furthermore, a discourse analysis of planning documents was conducted in the metropolitan regions of Milan, Montreal and Helsinki. The three metropolitan regions are challenging new forms of cooperation between academics and practitioners. The results show that while studies on GI are used to support planning strategies, they struggle to address spatial, landscape and environmental issues at the local scale. Closer interdisciplinary cooperation between academics, as well as between academics and practitioners, can help to find new approac...

Highlights • A further development of the two concepts of Green Infrastructure and Ecosystem Services can support land use planning. • New forms of dialogue between researchers, practitioners, policy makers and citizens are needed when integrating GI and ES in planning. • A better understanding of GI and ES concepts amongst planners can support the transfer of GI an ES concepts within existing planning practices. • The integration of ES and GI within planning strategies and practices requires the development of new land use planning tools. Scientific advancements on Green Infrastructure (GI) and Ecosystem Services (ES) have been conducted by experts from several disciplines such as landscape ecology, landscape architecture and, more recently, regional and urban planning. However, there are still difficulties in defining and operationalizing GI and ES within planning. This paper explores the possibilities and obstacles in incorporating the GI and ES concepts into policy frameworks, planning strategies and planning practices by taking as case studies the Helsinki-Uusimaa Region and the City of Järvenpää in Finland. In both cases, several studies on GI and ES have been developed with the collaboration of academics, research institutes and planners. The literature review focuses on the understanding and integration of GI and ES within land use planning. A qualitative content analysis was conducted of policy and planning documents and interviews with regional and city planners. The results show that while the national policy has already embraced the two concepts, the planning strategies of the Helsinki-Uusimaa Region and the City of Järvenpää need to fully integrate GI and ES. A wider and more concrete picture about the difficulties in operationalising GI and ES is provided by the planning practitioners. Rigid regulatory framework and current planning tools still represent obstacles to the effective integration of GI and ES. More science-practice collaborations between experts, practitioners and policymakers should support the development of our cities and urban regions having GI and ES in mind.

An increasing phenomenon in contemporary cities is to work in multiple places, such as home, offices, and coffee shops, while simultaneously using ICT devices and networks. However, little attention has been paid to the new socio-spatial demands facing city services. This phenomenon has been empirically studied through a comparative case study in the city centre of Helsinki, Finland, by conducting observations of one public library (Library 10) and one coffee shop (Café Köket), as well as semi-structured interviews with the multi-local workers and managers of the two places. This comparative case study shows that multi-local workers with different profiles (age, level of education, contract of employment) and varied socio-spatial working practices use the library and coffee shop for several working purposes, such as individual or collective informal offices, or as temporary workplaces of a larger city network with urban ambiance. Thus, discussion of this phenomenon has shifted to a re-conceptualizing of the third place as well as future visioning of the business model of coffee shops and service concepts of libraries. The results might be useful to managers, architects, planners and policy makers when developing the network of facilities within the cities as well as the multi- functionality of urban spaces.

Growing flexibility in work arrangements, particularly in the knowledge industries, and the ensuing possibilities for teleworking are challenging the traditional ways of conceptualizing and designing public spaces and public services. As an example of this development, public and university libraries are studied from the point of view of teleworking. Although work still only accounts for a small amount of the activities that take place in libraries, its transformations can be seen as a ‘weak signal’ of newly emerging spatial arrangements. In addition to the home and workplace, teleworkers are using a network of public, semi-public and private spaces (so-called third places) for different types of working. The research used the concept “spatial portfolio” to address this phenomenon of spatial modalities. The new role of public libraries within this context is discussed. In addition to their traditional functions of lending books and providing spaces for reading newspapers and magazines, libraries are now becoming more multifunctional, providing space for different activities, including work. This new phenomenon has been studied empirically by conducting a qualitative interview and observing teleworkers in two public libraries and one university library in the City of Helsinki, Finland. The objective was to find and analyze different profiles of workers in libraries, thus providing input for future planning and design of these spaces, as well as the urban fabric around them. The results show that a considerable range of activities within research and education, art and culture, information technology, business and finance, and social services and government are performed in the libraries, all of which are in part supported by the new concepts and policies of the city. Libraries can be seen as ‘transitory workspaces’ where people work at least a couple of hours per week and for different reasons such as free wifi connection and location. Also, libraries might be considered ‘spatial incubators’ or rather places able to attract people who start up their own activities. These concepts contribute to define a new way of appropriating libraries.

In the recent book Situated Practices of Strategic Planning (ed. Louis Albrechts, Alessandro Balducci and Jean Hillier, Routledge 2017), a number of scholars discuss the theory and practice of stra...

Space is generally regarded as one of the key concepts in urban design and planning. Theoretical approaches in the field of design have, however, remained fragmentary, often concentrating on only one or two aspects of space (such as visual quality or functional requirements) and excluding others (such as social, cultural and political aspects of space). Within the fields of planning theory, geography and urban sociology, on the other hand, there is much more theorizing which, however, often remains too abstract to offer any real guidance to spatial practitioners. This article will work out a new theoretical approach to urban space informed by modal logic. In short, urban space is considered in terms of possibilities, that is, the activities that are opened up for the human agent and the possibilities of change, as well as the elements of trust and fear that will be perceived and conceived.

Kirjoittaja tarkastelee artikkelissaan teknillisen yliopisto-opetuksen ja kasvatustieteellisen keskustelun välistä suhdetta ”kahden kulttuurin” näkökulmasta. Korkeakoulupedagogiikassa teknis-luonnontieteellinen maailmankuva kohtaa kasvatustieteen hallitsevaksi näkemykseksi nousseen konstruktivismin, jonka taustalla on kasvatustieteen hakeutuminen oman tieteensä filosofisille juurille. ”Tämä filosofinen pohdinta jää kuitenkin usein käsitteellisesti selkiytymättömäksi ja argumentoimattomaksi, mistä seuraa helposti uskottavuuskriisi. Rakentaakseen uskottavan roolin myös luonnontieteellisen ja teknillisen kulttuurin piirissä korkeakoulupedagogiikan tulisi ottaa tieteensä filosofisten perusteiden selvittäminen vakavammin. Konstruktivismin ja realismin välinen keskustelu on vaativa tieteenfilosofinen debatti, jolla kuitenkin on annettavaa myös teknilliseen yliopistokoulutukseen”, kirjoittaja toteaa.

In his book Dialogues of the Deaf (1999), Michel van Eeten discusses the situation where two or more parties in the planning discourse have valid arguments that point in different, even inconsisten...

In the 1940s, the scientist Michael Polanyi turned to philosophy. Contrary to what might have been expected, he did not want to defend the objectivity of science against subjectivist heresies; he a...

Planning has generally a rather strong position in Finland: the regulative, hierarchical structure of regionals plans, municipal master plans and detailed plans is mandatory, and they control build...

Recent developments in textual analysis in the social sciences can be used to analyse the phenomenon called the 'argumentative' or 'communicative' turn by, for example, Patsy Healey. In this paper, modern argumentation theory, in particular the pragma-dialectical theory of Frans van Eemeren and Rob Grootendorst, together with some elements from discourse analysis, are discussed as theoretical and practical tools in analysing and evaluating arguments used in planning. It appears that there are many features in planning texts that are predominantly rhetorical and which have to be taken into account in order to reveal the basic structure of argumentation. I also discuss how planning argumentation could be developed in order to answer the challenges of participation as well as other new demands, such as sustainability.

Ecology and sustainability have produced new challenges to traditional argumentation in urban planning. In addition to the rhetorical approach informed by Perelman's ‘new rhetoric’, the recent changes can be analysed by using more traditional philosophical argumentation critique, which is also in line with recent developments in argumentation theory. The state of the art in planning is analysed in this article through a case study of an architectural competition for ‘ecological housing’ held in Helsinki in 1995. The analysis illustrates the way that environmentalism produces new discursive means of justification, but not necessarily new types of urban planning.

(1997). The relevance of meta‐criticism: An answer to Sarkijarvi. Scandinavian Housing and Planning Research: Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 85-86.