The planning and building of a new residential community

A discourses survey

Abstract

The study introduces the results of a discourses survey mapping the media content and public views on the emergence of a residential community in a northern Finnish city. Three major discourses were seen to be at play in the process. The first of these highlighted communality and envisioned the area as a modern ‘village community’ where children were to be raised as active citizens. Secondly, the new school for the area was discursively constructed as serving not only this community but piloting new practices for the good of the whole city and even the country. The third discourse foregrounded dependencies between the new locality, the older neighbouring areas and the city centre. The analysis brought to light the diversity of actors and their voices in the long-term community planning process. The discourses survey highlighted the politicians’ and citizens’ viewpoints on the community planning and building process, showing the complexity of the process and its impact on the daily life of the citizens.