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Vesa Kanninen
University Lecturer, strategic spatial planning
Person profile
I have worked at DoBE (formerly at YTK, which is now the Spatial Planning and Transportation Engineering Group, SPT) for well over 10 years as a researcher and project manager. For academic years 2018-19 and 2019-20, I will act as a University Lecturer. My research and development interests deal with (strategic) spatial planning, land use and transport issues and the integration of the two disciplines in planning practice. In addition, I also have an interest for 'Retail Planning' as a specific case of spatial planning. There, too, I mostly focus on the cooperation and collaboration between different fields of expertise. The spatial planning system in Finland, as those in other European countries, have for long been a central interest, too. In addition to research and project management, my competencies include research design and idea development, conceptual visualization and R&D collaboration within my research themes.
My research perspective has been international to the degree that I've held it important to acquire multi-faceted knowledge on scientific work as well as practical planning in several countries through visiting several top universities in the fields of my interest:
- University of Amsterdam, 2009-2010 (Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan and International Development Studies (AMIDSt))
- University of Stirling, 2010 (School of Management, Institute for Retail Studies (IRS))
- Newcastle University, 2013-2014 (School of Architecture, planning and Landscape, Global Urban Research Unit (GURU)
- Radboud University, 2014 (School of Management, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment)
To a large extent, my work has been and is in projects with strong connections to planning practice in Finland and abroad, especially in the Baltic Sea region countries. Most of the projects I've been involved with have had direct links to local and regional decision making and/or authorities, thus providing directly for legislative, policy-oriented and practical scientific and applied research and development foci and viewpoints.
As of now, I'm mainly engaged in an Academy research project (SCENSLECO) as a researcher, and as a consortium coordinator and a researcher in the Academy's Strategic Research Council -funded project "Beyond MALPE-Coordination: Integrative Envisioning" (BeMInE) (2016-2019) which received a total of 3,7M€ from the Academy in the Spring call 2016.
(CV can be found below the texts and keywords)
PLEASE VISIT MY PERSONAL WEBSITE FOR UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION!
My contact info can be found by scrolling down this page.
Recent and ongoing projects in 2016-2019 (full project list in CV)
Beyond MALPE-Coordination: Integrative Envisioning" (BEMINE)
Similarly to other European countries, Finnish urban regions are facing a variety of challenges: urban sprawl, enhanced by migration, puts pressure on sustainability and accessibility and accelerates segregation, local economies struggle to remain efficient and competitive, urban governance finds it hard to engage citizens, and urban development continues to operate in ‘silos’ and lacks policy integration. Hence, the focal point of the project is to develop integrative perspectives in Finnish city-regional governance to meet these challenges.
In Finland, integrated land use, housing, transport, services and economic development (MALPE) has become a new practice to
encompass key municipal planning sectors and to address state/city region relations in urban regions. Progressing upon the MALPE framework, the project aims at:
1) comprehending Finnish urbanization processes, urban-rural and agglomeration dynamics and drivers in a Nordic and broader international comparative context, and their implications to sustainability, functionality and economic livelihood;
2) gaining analytical insight of tendencies towards depolicization and ambiguities in knowledge management and policymaking in the current MALPE work; and
3) providing normative solutions for coping with these processes and tendencies, in terms of incorporating qualitatively new knowledge on emerging urban phenomena and new forms of political agency, and for inter-linking sectored and scaled policy sectors. With research insights gained from the above, the project aims at
4) generating policy and planning recommendations for Finnish city regions involved in MALPE work.
In a co-creative fashion with the stakeholders, urban planning, policy co-coordination and scenario-making (e-)tools will be developed, in a) identifying, modelling and estimating critical thresholds in the development of urban structures, transport and service networks, migration, commuting and consumption patterns and agglomeration mechanisms, b) developing foresight in scenario-building and envisioning future pathways and c) configuring necessary strategic choices towards more sustainable urban development.
My personal work, connected with the coordinating role, concerns studying the realization, possibilities and problems of integration in multi-disciplinary research, development and planning environments, utilizing a "Trading Zone" approach for action-oriented research. The project runs from mid-2016 until the spring of 2019, and it is funded by the Academy of Finland, Strategic Research Council.
Personal role: project coordinator, researcher
During the recent years, the strategic approach to spatial planning has been fostered along with the general managerialist turn of the society. Different sorts of “soft” or unofficial planning tools have been introduced, portraying planning as strategc storytelling. However, the role of such soft planning in relation to the statutory planning system has been ambiguous, especially regarding the legitimacy of planning.
The aim of the research project is to study how legitimacy is produced and maintained in strategic spatial planning processes. Our view is that in situations chracterized by institutional ambiguity legitimacy has to build on the planning process, not on formal authority or legal rights. This is often manifested in practices of storytelling which aim at creating storylines that frame understandings on the present and future and bring together different stakeholders.
The research project, a consortium effort between Aalto DoBE and University of Tampere (School of MAnagement, POLEIS research group) aims to integrate the unofficial and statutory forms of strategic spatial planning, to better manage legitimacy of planning processes, with a view on 1) rights and responsibilities, 2) democracy and power, and 3) information and knowledge. The research includes a case study of Tammela in the City of Tampere, and an analysis of unofficial structural schemes made in several Finnish urban regions.
The project Task Force includes world-renowned planning academics: prof. emerita Patsy Healey, Newcastle University; prof. emeritus Louis Albrechts, Leuven Catholic University; prof. emeritus James Throgmorton, University of Iowa; prof. Alessandro Balducci, Politechnico di Milano; prof. Willem Salet, University of Amsterdam.
My work in SCENSLECO concerns multi-faceted analysis and interpretation of structural schemes as policy documents, informal planning outcomes and governance storylines. I also coordinate the running of project activities. Funded by the Academy of Finland, the project runs from late 2015 until mid-2019.
Personal role: financial coordinator, researcher
Teaching, lecturing
In the academic year 2018-2019 I act as a University Lecturer at DoBE. I teach in courses related to spatial planning. I am responsible for or teach in
- SPT-E1070 Planning Studio (10cr)
- SPT-E1030 Planning Theory (5cr)
- MAA-C2002 Maankäytön suunnittelun perusteet (Land use planning basics)(5cr)
- SPT-E1010 Land Use Planning Systems (5cr)
I regularly give lectures and presentations within as well as outside academia, especially to public sector audiences. I have also taught at Helsinki University (1990-1993) and UIAH (1992-1996).
I have completed 10 cr of pedagogical studies (A! Peda Intro, Opetuksen suunnittelu/Planning of Teaching).
Person profile
I have worked at DoBE (formerly at YTK, which is now the Spatial Planning and Transportation Engineering Group, SPT) for well over 10 years as a researcher and project manager. For academic years 2018-19 and 2019-20, I will act as a University Lecturer. My research and development interests deal with (strategic) spatial planning, land use and transport issues and the integration of the two disciplines in planning practice. In addition, I also have an interest for 'Retail Planning' as a specific case of spatial planning. There, too, I mostly focus on the cooperation and collaboration between different fields of expertise. The spatial planning system in Finland, as those in other European countries, have for long been a central interest, too. In addition to research and project management, my competencies include research design and idea development, conceptual visualization and R&D collaboration within my research themes.
My research perspective has been international to the degree that I've held it important to acquire multi-faceted knowledge on scientific work as well as practical planning in several countries through visiting several top universities in the fields of my interest:
- University of Amsterdam, 2009-2010 (Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan and International Development Studies (AMIDSt))
- University of Stirling, 2010 (School of Management, Institute for Retail Studies (IRS))
- Newcastle University, 2013-2014 (School of Architecture, planning and Landscape, Global Urban Research Unit (GURU)
- Radboud University, 2014 (School of Management, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment)
To a large extent, my work has been and is in projects with strong connections to planning practice in Finland and abroad, especially in the Baltic Sea region countries. Most of the projects I've been involved with have had direct links to local and regional decision making and/or authorities, thus providing directly for legislative, policy-oriented and practical scientific and applied research and development foci and viewpoints.
As of now, I'm mainly engaged in an Academy research project (SCENSLECO) as a researcher, and as a consortium coordinator and a researcher in the Academy's Strategic Research Council -funded project "Beyond MALPE-Coordination: Integrative Envisioning" (BeMInE) (2016-2019) which received a total of 3,7M€ from the Academy in the Spring call 2016.
(CV can be found below the texts and keywords)
PLEASE VISIT MY PERSONAL WEBSITE FOR UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION!
My contact info can be found by scrolling down this page.
Recent and ongoing projects in 2016-2019 (full project list in CV)
Beyond MALPE-Coordination: Integrative Envisioning" (BEMINE)
Similarly to other European countries, Finnish urban regions are facing a variety of challenges: urban sprawl, enhanced by migration, puts pressure on sustainability and accessibility and accelerates segregation, local economies struggle to remain efficient and competitive, urban governance finds it hard to engage citizens, and urban development continues to operate in ‘silos’ and lacks policy integration. Hence, the focal point of the project is to develop integrative perspectives in Finnish city-regional governance to meet these challenges.
In Finland, integrated land use, housing, transport, services and economic development (MALPE) has become a new practice to
encompass key municipal planning sectors and to address state/city region relations in urban regions. Progressing upon the MALPE framework, the project aims at:
1) comprehending Finnish urbanization processes, urban-rural and agglomeration dynamics and drivers in a Nordic and broader international comparative context, and their implications to sustainability, functionality and economic livelihood;
2) gaining analytical insight of tendencies towards depolicization and ambiguities in knowledge management and policymaking in the current MALPE work; and
3) providing normative solutions for coping with these processes and tendencies, in terms of incorporating qualitatively new knowledge on emerging urban phenomena and new forms of political agency, and for inter-linking sectored and scaled policy sectors. With research insights gained from the above, the project aims at
4) generating policy and planning recommendations for Finnish city regions involved in MALPE work.
In a co-creative fashion with the stakeholders, urban planning, policy co-coordination and scenario-making (e-)tools will be developed, in a) identifying, modelling and estimating critical thresholds in the development of urban structures, transport and service networks, migration, commuting and consumption patterns and agglomeration mechanisms, b) developing foresight in scenario-building and envisioning future pathways and c) configuring necessary strategic choices towards more sustainable urban development.
My personal work, connected with the coordinating role, concerns studying the realization, possibilities and problems of integration in multi-disciplinary research, development and planning environments, utilizing a "Trading Zone" approach for action-oriented research. The project runs from mid-2016 until the spring of 2019, and it is funded by the Academy of Finland, Strategic Research Council.
Personal role: project coordinator, researcher
During the recent years, the strategic approach to spatial planning has been fostered along with the general managerialist turn of the society. Different sorts of “soft” or unofficial planning tools have been introduced, portraying planning as strategc storytelling. However, the role of such soft planning in relation to the statutory planning system has been ambiguous, especially regarding the legitimacy of planning.
The aim of the research project is to study how legitimacy is produced and maintained in strategic spatial planning processes. Our view is that in situations chracterized by institutional ambiguity legitimacy has to build on the planning process, not on formal authority or legal rights. This is often manifested in practices of storytelling which aim at creating storylines that frame understandings on the present and future and bring together different stakeholders.
The research project, a consortium effort between Aalto DoBE and University of Tampere (School of MAnagement, POLEIS research group) aims to integrate the unofficial and statutory forms of strategic spatial planning, to better manage legitimacy of planning processes, with a view on 1) rights and responsibilities, 2) democracy and power, and 3) information and knowledge. The research includes a case study of Tammela in the City of Tampere, and an analysis of unofficial structural schemes made in several Finnish urban regions.
The project Task Force includes world-renowned planning academics: prof. emerita Patsy Healey, Newcastle University; prof. emeritus Louis Albrechts, Leuven Catholic University; prof. emeritus James Throgmorton, University of Iowa; prof. Alessandro Balducci, Politechnico di Milano; prof. Willem Salet, University of Amsterdam.
My work in SCENSLECO concerns multi-faceted analysis and interpretation of structural schemes as policy documents, informal planning outcomes and governance storylines. I also coordinate the running of project activities. Funded by the Academy of Finland, the project runs from late 2015 until mid-2019.
Personal role: financial coordinator, researcher
Teaching, lecturing
In the academic year 2018-2019 I act as a University Lecturer at DoBE. I teach in courses related to spatial planning. I am responsible for or teach in
- SPT-E1070 Planning Studio (10cr)
- SPT-E1030 Planning Theory (5cr)
- MAA-C2002 Maankäytön suunnittelun perusteet (Land use planning basics)(5cr)
- SPT-E1010 Land Use Planning Systems (5cr)
In addition, I occasionally teach and assist in designing Aalto Pro courses, e.g. "Pitkä Kurssi" and "Liikennejärjestelmäsuunnittelu". I have tutored practicing planners in "Alue- ja yhdyskuntasuunnittelijan oppisoimustyyppinen koulutus" (2012-2014). I also supervise bachelors' theses and students' research practice assignments.
I regularly give lectures and presentations within as well as outside academia, especially to public sector audiences. I have also taught at Helsinki University (1990-1993) and UIAH (1992-1996).
I have completed 10 cr of pedagogical studies (A! Peda Intro, Opetuksen suunnittelu/Planning of Teaching).