Perceived social disorder in post-WWII housing estates: recent evidence from Finland

Abstract

Many post-WWII housing estates have a poor reputation that is often related to insecurity and social restlessness or disorder. However, the prior literature is mainly on problematic estates and does not contain a representative view on the matter. Filling this gap, the present article introduces and discusses the findings of two recent large-scale studies on perceived social disorder in Finnish housing estates built in the 1960s and 1970s. The research questions were the following: First, do housing estates differ from other kinds of neighbourhoods in terms of perceived social disorder, and to what extent does socioeconomic disadvantage contribute to the difference? Next, is tenure structure of the estate related to the perceived social disorder, and does socioeconomic disadvantage mediate this relationship? Finally, what is the role of local social life, conceptualised in terms of social integration and normative regulation, in the association of disadvantage and disorder? The data came from two large survey projects. The first project targeted the Helsinki region while the second was used in a study on 70 estates around the whole of Finland. Multivariate regression analyses provided the following findings: First, estate neighbourhoods did not markedly differ from the other multi-storey areas in terms of perceived social disorder; there was a significant difference, but it was quite small in substantial terms. Thus, the negative image in the public discourse seems to be misleading. Second, estates are rather diverse in terms of tenure structure and socioeconomic situation: rental-based estates exposed their residents to higher levels of perceived social disorder because of a higher socioeconomic disadvantage; moreover, weaker normative regulation partly mediated the association of disadvantage and disorder. Finally, the findings are discussed from the perspectives of housing markets, disadvantage-disorder nexus, and tenure mixing.