EFFECTS OF LOBBYING AMONG URBAN PLANNERS IN FINLAND - VIEWS ON MULTI-STOREY WOODEN BUILDING

Authors

  • Katja Lähtinen Department of Marketing and Communication University of Vaasa
  • Anne Toppinen Department of Forest Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki
  • Nicki Malm Department of Forest Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki

Keywords:

sustainable construction, wood material, urban planning, professionals, lobbying

Abstract

In the context of urban development and construction, professionals working as urban planners have a key role in influencing the implementation of national building codes at the local level, and can thus influence the use of material-based opportunities to promote sustainable development. With growing recognition of wood material as an alternative to concrete in multi-story construction, it is interesting to analyze planners’ perceptions of alternative materials and especially how they perceive to be influenced by diverse actors. Based on our survey data collected from the 30 largest Finnish municipalities, we analyze to what extent municipal planners experience lobbying and investigate whether this perceived lobbying effect is visible in the planners’ perceptions of material-based sustainability in the case of multi-story building. According to our results, Finnish urban planners perceive, on the one hand, wood materials from the perspective of its solid environmental and other quality attributes in building, and, on the other hand, from a more generic technological and regulatory perspective compared to building with concrete. Furthermore, we observed a significant lobbying effort aimed at professionals responsible for urban planning decisions in the largest Finnish municipalities, but further research is needed concerning the influencing mechanisms of this lobbying.

References

Please note: Comprehensive list of references included in the manuscript.

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Published

2019-05-22

Issue

Section

Empirical Manuscripts