The low interest of citizens in municipal elections contrasts with the public debate on urban land use and zoning, which is often intense and full of conflicts. In his dissertation, Mikko Vesterinen examined parties’ goals and political conflicts in urban planning in the cities of Helsinki, Tampere and Oulu.
“In my research, I found that the political conflicts in urban planning are related to environmental protection, the direction of urban growth, private car use, the change of urban space and construction regulation. These five political divisions were found in all three cities in the research,” Vesterinen says.
According to the study, societal cleavages, such as the centre-rural and right-left cleavages, are reflected in party goals in urban planning. In addition to these, the parties’ goals are influenced by the level of environmental protection. This refers to whether environmental protection is considered at the level of a whole city or a single residential area.
Local political culture affects the processing of political conflicts
The study examines party goals from the perspective of the economic, environmental and social goals of urban planning. According to the study, the National Coalition Party underlines economic vitality, the SDP social justice and the Green League ecological sustainability.
The Centre Party emphasises regional and environmental justice, which means a decentralised community structure for the party. The Left Alliance underlines environmental justice, which aims to involve both social justice and environmental sustainability. The Finns Party differs from other parties by being generally critical of the spatial changes in urban space.
“In addition to party goals, local political culture influences conflicts in urban planning. According to my research, Oulu has a strong history of consensus politics, which has become more block politics in recent council periods. In Helsinki, coalitions vary from case to case, and in Tampere, the Mayoral Programme plays a key role in political decision-making,” Vesterinen explains.
In his research, Vesterinen also found that a key factor in the politicisation of planning cases are various one-issue civic movements that arise on a case-by-case and network basis to oppose individual planning cases. These civic movements are a major reason why local nature protection has become a key political issue in urban planning in the researched cities.
Public defence on Friday 5 December
Mikko Vesterinen’s doctoral dissertation in political science, titled Cleavages of Local Urban Politics: Party goals and conflicts in urban planning in Helsinki, Tampere and Oulu, will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Management and Business of Tampere University at 12.00 on Friday, 5 December 2025. The venue is lecture hall D11 of the Main Building (address: Kalevantie 4, Tampere). The opponent will be Professor Lasse Peltonen from the University of Eastern Finland while Professor Emeritus Ilkka Ruostetsaari from Tampere University will act as the custos.