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Specialist Anna Kholina will defend her doctoral thesis on September 27, 2004, at noon. The defense will take place in Lecture Hall M1 (M232, Otakaari 1) and via zoom.

Thesis Title

Experiencing urbanity in the making. Embracing uncertainty in design for social diversity and rich public realm

Candidate: Anna Kholina
Opponent: Associate Professor Jaz Hee-jeong Choi, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
Custos: Professor Sampsa Hyysalo, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Department of Design

Date and time: Friday 27.9.2024, 12:00

Location: Undergraduate Centre Lecture hall M1 (M232) &

Public defence announcement:

Cities thrive by bringing diverse people together and creating an environment where innovative ideas are born and developed. Frequent social encounters and public life contribute to human wellbeing, make streets safer and create economic opportunities. While we often associate these qualities with city centres, the need to attract diverse people and businesses is more important on the periphery of cities, where most of the urban growth takes place. Having multiple active centres instead of a large decentralised periphery is one of the strategic goals for Finland's capital region, however, existing dense and compact development doesn't always produce places which encourage people to meet each other and interact. 

Anna Kholina's thesis, "Experiencing urbanity in the making. Embracing uncertainty in design for social diversity and rich public realm", challenges the idea that social diversity and public life are a consequence of good design or policies alone. It argues that to design for diversity in the urban periphery, planners need to look at emergent or alternative forms of urbanity instead of replicating solutions that work for city centres. The research uses a case study of Otaniemi, a suburban area in the capital region of Finland evolving into a research and innovation hub. The study traces how public life emerges in places not designed for that purpose and how easy it is to overlook these emergent forms in favour of more efficient use of the buildings. 

Conducted over four years, the research uses Henri Lefebvre's production of space as a framework to analyse ethnographic data. The results of the study surfaced several conflicts and tensions, such as the contradiction between supporting student guilds with private rooms and the need for inclusive spaces, the densification of the centre and the emergence of backstage urbanity or the building renovation projects which reduce ad-hoc activities and interactions. 

The implications of the study are two-fold. First, it clarifies the definition of urbanity and differentiates it from dense and compact development, making it instrumental for guiding suburban growth. Second, this research has brought together an analytical framework based on Lefebvre's production of space and several ethnographic methods, which could be added to the toolbox of planners, architects or designers who want to engage with the messy process of tracing urbanity in the making and embrace the uncertainty of designing for public life.

Keywords: Diversity, public space, public life, urban transformation

The thesis is available for public display here:

Contact details: anna.kholina[at]aalto.fi, +358504626205