Urban Inequality in Finland - (Edinburgh Studies in Urban Political Economy) by Mika Hyötyläinen

About the Book

Investigates the structural dynamics of urban inequality from a political economy perspective.

Book Synopsis

Urban Inequality in Finland investigates urban governance, land and housing policies and the uneven development of the built environment. It analyses city strategies, policy documents and interviews with urban authorities to show how decentralisation, growing inter-city competition and the adopting of economic policies informed by an ideology of efficiency and entrepreneurialism in governance, have prompted the state and cities in Finland to sell public, urban land to get money for public treasuries. It demonstrates how recent transformations in the policies of a Nordic welfare state that have traditionally worked to curb urban inequalities, now allow for them to become exacerbated.

Review Quotes

Urban Inequality in Finland is a timely, engaging and thought-provoking account of a transforming Nordic social welfare state. Hyötyläinen investigates institutional and legal transformations in Finland, showing how the goals of land policy threatened the prevention, and even worsened, inequality. This important book is a must read for anyone interested in the structural dynamics of urban inequality.

--Johanna Lilius, Aalto University

About the Author

Mika Hyötyläinen is Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Institute for Housing and Urban Research at Uppsala University, Sweden