Challenges of participatory design in apartment buildings’ renovation projects in Finland

Participatory and user-centered design has taken inspiration from each other, and the classical roles of users, researchers, and designers have merged in the co-designing process. Participatory methods consider the balance of power between the designer and residents and the needs and usefulness of the research. Community members should be involved as partners, advisors, and participants. In Finland, participatory design is law mandated in urban planning projects, but participation that goes beyond the initial publicization of information, is genuinely interactive, and spans all stages of the project is underutilised and the methods of participatory practice are still unfamiliar to many designers. The methods commonly used are the research survey and the workshop, often mentioned as participatory design methods. From the residents’ perspective, participation only becomes participatory when the participant gains the experience of influencing the development and its outcomes. The article examines resident surveys and workshops as tools to produce information and evaluate their interactivity in two case studies. It shows that the diversification of methods is necessary to ensure genuine participatory planning in the renewal of suburban neighborhoods. The research was done as part of the project Reshaping living: New structure and new life for old suburbs (AsuMut), funded by the Ministry of Environment.