Governing domestic space: Townhouse-related living, gardens and the home-making process in Finland.

Authors

• Eija Hasu Aalto University

Keywords:

Home-making process, Extended home, Townhouse, Garden,

Abstract

Despite the increasing level of urbanization, the housing preference for small-scale housing is still dominant, not least because of the gardens. Urban planning and housing design hence constantly seek options to deliver the housing preferences for small house living. In the Finnish context, one vividly discussed opportunity in this setting is the townhouse typology. The townhouse offers various opportunities, both regarding the urban cityscape and individual home creation. Indeed, making a house become a home is an important process to residents. An essential part of this is that the residents have the possibility to personalize their own dwelling, including the outdoor spaces like gardens and yards. This process, nonetheless, demands domestic governance, and privacy.

This article scrutinizes the home-making process in the light of three studies that all reflect the domestic space as experienced by inhabitants in townhouse-related contexts. The results are presented in a form of hierarchical examination to reflect the domestic governance. The examination indicates that townhouse-related living is compressed with aspects that may either boost or hinder the home-making process. Concurrently, this article suggests that in addition to understanding the role of gardens as part of townhouse design, even urban planners are required to pay attention to the role of gardens as part of the home-making process. For this purpose, the hierarchical analysis offers one prominent approach.

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