ATTACHMENT TO PLACE AND COMMUNITY TIES IN TWO SUBURBS OF JYVÄSKYLÄ, CENTRAL FINLAND

ABSTRACT

This article describes varied place attachments manifested in public (communal) places in the two socioeconomically weakest suburbs of the city of Jyväskylä in central Finland. We conducted ethnographic research and observations, interviewed local experts on their views of the suburbs, and analyzed discourses from various places where residents’ experiences of identity and social relations are connected to residential and community attachment. Our results show a strong connection to place evolving in both suburbs through bonds to the physical and the social environment. The local experts reported social connectedness and sense of belonging among the residents of both suburbs. The strength of the suburbs resided in a community spirit manifested in public places (community centers, local natural beauty spots, and recreational spaces). Residents are attached to their nearby natural environment and specific places in both suburbs. Attachment to place is undermined by negative media influence and by public discourse highlighting social segregation and insecurity.

Keywords::

• communality
• suburb
• place attachment

Acknowledgments

The research discussed in this paper was supported by the Ministry of the Environment, Finland (Lähiöiden kehittäminen project), and the University of Jyväskylä. The authors thank their colleagues and friends—Kaisu Kumpulainen, Mervi Luonila, Olli Ruokolainen, and Päivi Rannila—for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ This research is part of the University of Jyväskylä research project “Forms and meanings of culture in the 2020’s suburbs: two case studies from Jyväskylä” (University of Jyväskylä 2022), which started in 2021. (See https://www.jyu.fi/hytk/fi/laitokset/yfi/en/research/projects/kulttuuritoiminnan-muodot-ja-merkitykset-2020-luvun-lahiossa).

² Urbanization began in Finland relatively late in comparison with other European countries, as modernizing agriculture no longer needed a manual workforce. As industry flourished and offered employment, many former rural citizens moved to cities and became part of the urban working class. However, by the 1970s, the manufacturing sector was already in decline and the service sector increased, providing more and more managerial, professional, secretarial, and service work. Class divisions in this so-called postindustrial society were diversified, and the residents of urban suburbs were no longer solely working class.

³ In Finnish society, which typifies a Nordic welfare state, inequalities within communities are currently relatively low (Stjernberg 2019, 547). By international comparison, the level of social segregation in Finnish suburbs has not been high (Bernelius and Vaattovaara 2016). In the 2000s, residential segregation increased significantly, especially in the Helsinki metropolitan area (Bernelius and Vaattovaara 2016). Hence, the present Finnish government has a strong political will to prevent and reduce residential segregation in Finland, implemented in policy programs and financial investments in the largest cities (Ministry of the Environment 2022). The situation is still different from that in Sweden, where the residential segregation of suburbs has led to polarization and large-scale unrest in bigger cities (Dahlstedt and Ekholm 2018).

⁴ The role of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) remains important in the public sphere and among local communities in Finnish suburbs. In the suburbs, the church provides diaconal services, which are closely integrated with the other parish activities, but also holds religious services, and engages in social work as an aid to families, elderly people, and disadvantaged people. The church also provides various services and civic activities in the local parishes (Pessi and Grönlund 2012).

⁵ In Finland, public service points known as “low threshold meeting places” (in Finnish “matalan kynnyksen kohtaamispaikat”), offer social connections and interaction and promote community ties and social inclusivity for residents of many urban housing estates in Finland. The places are semipublic places maintained by various civic actors. The activities organized in these places are free, so a poor economic situation does not prevent people from joining in these activities (Seppälä and others 2020).