Reclaiming Cities as Spaces of Middle Class Parenthood

For nearly a century families have been out-migrating to suburbs and peri-urban areas. In this book, Johanna Lilius conceptualizes the relatively recent phenomenon of families choosing to live in the inner city. Drawing on a range of qualitative data, the book offers a holistic approach to simultaneously understanding changes within parenting practices and changes connected to city development. The book explains not only why families choose to stay in the inner city and how they use the city in their everyday lives, but also how families change the landscape of contemporary cities, and how the family is, and has been, perceived in urban planning and policy-making. The Nordic perspective provided by Lilius makes this book an important contribution in helping understand inner city change outside the Anglo-American context, and will appeal to an international audience.

Conceptualizes the phenomenon of a new generation staying in the city after starting a family Offers a holistic approach to simultaneously understanding changes within parenting practices (equal parenting, fathering practices) and changes connected to city development (the renaissance of the inner city, gentrification) Draws on interviews with residents, politicians, urban planners, small shop owners, day care and social workers.Written in an accessible style and has a clear, readable format that can be equally used by academics, students and practitioners alike Designed to help students understand the reciprocity of space how changes in space reverberate in society and vice versa

Autorentext

Johanna Lilius is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Architecture, Aalto University, Finland, who has explored the phenomenon of families returning to inner cities for more than ten years. She has also researched urban and suburban regeneration, multi-locality, single household dwelling, street level consumption, sense of community in planning and everyday life, and strategic urban planning in the Nordic context.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. The Family and the City a Historical Overview.- 3. The Contemporary Inner City and Families.- 4. Why Are Families Staying in the City?.- 5. Parenting Practices in the City.- 6. Urban Parents and the Changing Consumption Landscape in Helsinki.- 7. New Urban Figures in Contemporary Urban Reality?.- 8. Conclusion: The Domesticfication of Neighbourhoods.- 9. Research Design.