IN-PERSON Barcelona. Section A

Abstract

The city of Turku in southern Finland was founded in the 13th century, simultaneously when the constructions of the city’s most prominent landmark Turku Castle started. Later the area which is situated by the river mouth was an important place for shipping industries. In the 21st century, the city developed it first as an area for museums, and later as a residential area. Currently, the development process of this intensely regenerating district is ongoing: architectural competition for the Museum of history and the future is open, some residential quarters are under construction. In public debates, the questions of preservation and renewal in the area have arisen opposing opinions and strong emotions. In our sensory ethnographic study, we focus on this district as experienced by its residents, people working there as entrepreneurs or in the museums, as well as by the urban planners involved in the process. We consider how embodied knowing, like sensing, could be included in urban planning, especially when we scrutinize it as intertwined with multiple temporalities, the past, present and future. With sensory go-along interviews and experimental “Creative foresight space” workshops, we invite our participants to observe and think with us 1) how the everyday embodied practices, especially sensing, affect the sense of belonging in urban environments and 2) how the pasts become part of urban presents and futures through these practices and urban planning. One of our goals is to increase the dialogue between different stakeholders while the planning of the area is still in progress.