Housing, Social Inclusion and Land Values on the Urban Waterfront

This research focuses on housing-focused, mixed-use and recreational urban waterfront developments, and the extent to which waterfront transitions meet social inclusion goals. Waterfront regeneration has become a driver for local growth and a tool to revitalize local real estate markets, and projects are often framed as part of development agendas fostering public benefits and socially-balanced development. However, the promises of social inclusion are far from always realized.

Research Questions

How are urban waterfront transitions implemented through governmental policies and actions? What actors are involved urban waterfront transitions? Who is excluded?

How do the local and regional governments define the social inclusion goals of waterfront developments? Are the profit motivations of landowners, developers and government agencies compatible with the local and regional governments’ social inclusion goals?

What civic initiatives or bottom-up contestations exist that aim at a greater social inclusion on the waterfront? How are these ‘publics’ organized and how they operate? What goals these civic groups or urban social movements pursue regarding the housing landscape and other uses of the waterfront?

Publications

The purpose of this research project is to publish several articles in academic journals during 2024-2025. Further information about the publications will be posted on this site.

• Vuolteenaho, J. & Kauppi, J. (forthcoming). Poliittinen talous ja maakysymys [“Political economy and the land question”]. In Luukkonen, J., Mod, H., Muukkonen, P. & Pyyry, N. (eds): Maailma huutaa, maantiede vastaa.
• Kauppi, J. (2023; forthcoming). Maasta ja sen eri ulottuvuuksista. (“On land and its qualities”). Terra 135. [a book review on Hyötyläinen, M. & Beauregard, R. (eds): The Political Economy of Land: Rent, Financialization, and Resistance. Abingdon: Routledge.]