Development review of living – consumers and players of the housing industry assessing new living concepts in the Helsinki metropolitan area

The Future Concepts of Urban Housing project, ‘URBA’, evaluates new ways of living and doing business. The National Consumer Research Centre’s part in the three-year project, which started in 2007, was to implement the assessment of the international living concepts identified by the experts at the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies.

Consumer panellists, Helsinki metropolitan area planners, and housing builder representatives participated in the concept assessment. The concepts selected for the workshop assignments highlight very different aspects of residential planning, including construction method (Group building), house type (Townhouse), services associated with the residency (James – serviced apartments), design method (Flexible housing – user-initiated flexibility), and residencies intended for special groups (Settle-down flats). The concept workshops were held on two rounds at the National Consumer Research Centre during October and November of 2008. The first round entailed three workshop meetings. They all consisted of approximately 10-member groups with consumer panellists and representatives from cities and builders. During each of the three meetings, the topics involved acceptability of the concepts that bring international ideas to the domestic market and the feasibility and applicability in Helsinki metropolitan area housing production. The second round consisted of all of the aforementioned three small groups meeting to discuss the problems identified during the first round and resolving the differences.

Based on the concept workshops, the most familiar living concepts were the ones most generally accepted. Townhouse and settle-down flats were seen more positively for being generally accepted, feasible to implement and easy to sell. The Flexible housing and the James – serviced apartments concepts were seen as the most radical concepts at the workshops. Modern-day group building was also seen as an unfamiliar concept. With living concepts, the most significant development areas were multi-functionality and adaptability, which would allow different types of consumers to implement solutions that meet their own specific needs. Of the assessed concepts, stakeholders felt that a concise living environment with green areas and the possibility to engage in nature experiences was the most popular. Consumers also felt that it was important to create suitable privacy in areas that otherwise focus on community values. Based on the concept workshops, regular living expenses play a significant role in the development work of living concepts. When considering financial issues, it would be good to consider the entire life-cycle during living, not only the construction costs.

Co-operative development illustrated that expertise can be created using a new consistent method and information exchange can be established with living concepts. In addition, new ideas can be created without conflicts being created between the different stakeholders.

PUBLICATION
Jenni Väliniemi, Mikko Rask, Päivi Timonen, Sanna Uotinen
DEVEL OPMENT REVIE W OF LIVING – consumers and players of the housing industry assessing new living concepts in the Helsinki metropolitan area. National Consumer Research Centre, publication 1/2009.

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