Miten sosiaalista kestävyyttä tehdään? Ruohonjuuritason toimijoiden sosiaaliset käytännöt entisen tehdasalueen elävöittämisessä
Keywords:
kansalaistoiminta, kaupunkikehitys, ruohonjuuritason toiminta, sosiaalinen kestävyys, sosiaaliset käytännötAbstract
This article examines grassroots actors’ social sustainability practices in a brownfield renewal. Municipal authorities highlight grassroots actors’ role in cities’ social sustainability. We apply the interpretive approach, according to which different actors involved in urban development do not have a shared understanding of the content of social sustainability, and thus its meaning is politically contested. This research applies social practice theory to analyse the grassroots actors’ concrete social practices understood as promoting social sustainability. We apply inductive qualitative analysis for interviews and participant observation with local actors. Our research presents three categories of social sustainability practices: 1) community-building practices, 2) social inclusion practices, and 3) participatory urban development practices. We argue that grassroots actors pursue social sustainability more extensively than what financial growth-oriented urban authorities expect from them. The grassroots actors are very welcome to take part in the development, but they lack the financial means to become a permanent part of the market-priced renewed urban space. Thus, to commit to social sustainability, urban developers should recognise the contribution of grassroots actors and define their rights in urban development.
