This paper describes the formation of the planning issue 'Nordic Superblock' through the early planning phase of the Hiedanranta area in Tampere, Finland. The workshops with citizens and professionals as participants, held after a planning competition, were an important part of the area's initial planning. The paper argues that the superblock issue emerged because the institutional context differed from the traditional zoning process. Furthermore, the issue itself challenged the traditional planning process and the current urban development regime. The case is a promising example of the outcome of expert-citizen interaction; however, it also reveals some bottlenecks in the planning process.

Finnish collaborative housing projects are in an experimental stage. These projects are trying to push the conventional habits and practices of housing production into a new shape in order to realize their schemes in the housing market dominated by large construction companies. This paper aims to shed light on the resident groups' resources and ways of using them in a context where resident-driven projects are rare. We apply the concept of bricolage to analyse three collaborative housing projects in Finland, using the material derived from the interviews. Our analysis highlights that the residents and others involved refused to enact limitations imposed by the dominant housing market and examines how this was made possible. The cases we studied were successful for two interconnected reasons: 1) because of the capabilities of the residents; and 2) the professional allies they had. We argue that analyses framed by bricolage can help better understand the local contexts with their real and presumed constraints, and offer a possibility for international comparison of collaborative housing.

No abstract

One of the main criticisms of participatory planning is its tendency to produce mediocre outcomes due to the compromises made in the search for consensus. As a remedy, there have been recent proposals to enrich participatory processes with stronger visionary leadership. We want to broaden this debate by highlighting the relationship between successful leaderless self-organisation and more conventional forms of participation. We argue that although processes driven by self-organisation can be difficult and confusing, they hold strong creative potential. We demonstrate their dynamics by using an analogue model that contrasts liquid movement with social movement. We conclude that participatory processes with a high amount of self-organisation have not only strong creative potential, but also the potential to constitute a new politics of participation in cities.

No abstract