Living a Dream in a Conflict Zone?

Old Wooden Town Housing in Change

Authors

• Sanna Lillbroända-Annala, PhD, Researcher Åbo Akademi University

Keywords:

gentrification, cultural heritage, old wooden house living, attitude, change, conflict

Abstract

During the latter half of the 20th century old environments in Finnish towns, as well as in towns across Europe, becamc objects of a modernisation process. The growing number of people moving into towns from the countryside needed to be accommotated and old houses were considered outdated and unsuitable for the new inhabitants. Heavy costs of both the demolition and of building new homes prevented these modernisation plans from being fully carried out, which resulted in a scattered town structurce with a mixture of old and new buildings side by side. (Tuomi 2005, 9, 22-28, 46-47; Stahre 1999, 16- 17.) ln Finland the impacts of modernisation were tremendous, as only 20 % of thc buildings dating from before 1945 survived (Suonto 1995, 17).