Urban Studies

Objectives
The research programme is concerned to study urban change and ways in which
the city itself can shape and influence the process of change. The aim is
to yield information on changes in urban development that have to do with
internationalisation, urban policy, administrative and economic issues as
well as with regional development and the environment. Drawing on these
analyses the programme aims to forecast future urban trends and to develop
better tools for urban planning.

The programme has been set up in response to the growing research needs
created by globalisation and urbanisation. Cities are vital to the
increasingly global economy, and they tend to form international networks.
The successful integration of Finnish cities with the European city network
calls for multidisciplinary urban studies as well as a well-founded and
conscious urban policy.

Themes
The main research themes include the internationalisation of the city and
the urban system; the regionality of cities and their interaction with the
environment; the new use of urban space, where the focus is on cultural and
environmental factors; the threats and opportunities of urban life, which
are approached from a social point of view; cities as innovative
environments; and the new urban economy and the political steering of urban
development.

The programme's projects represent a number of different disciplines:
architecture and technical sciences, regional studies and social sciences,
the humanities as well as environmental science.

Extent
The programme comprises 15 research projects, with a total of some 50
researchers involved in the following organisations: the universities of
Helsinki, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Oulu, Tampere and Turku, Helsinki University
of Technology, Tampere University of Technology and the Government
Institute for Economic Research VATT.

Funding
The programme has a budget of EUR 3 million, of which the Academy of
Finland accounts for EUR 1.5 million. Funding is also provided by the
Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Transport and
Communications, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry,
the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of
Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of the
Environment, and the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities.

Duration
1998-2001

Programme Memorandum

Research Programme for Urban Studies 1998-2001. Evaluation Report

More information

Coordinator
Harri Andersson
University of Turku
Department of Geography
FIN-20014 University of Turku
Tel. + 358 2 333 5589
harri.andersson@utu.fi

Academy of Finland

Scientific Secretary Leila Häkkinen
Tel. +358 9 7748 8288