In the following, the main work stages undertaken for identifying, locating and selecting specific housing areas for the analyses are presented. This work is carried out using the three sets of data presented in the previous section. As mentioned, the housing data allows locating all multi-story residential buildings built in Finland between 1960 and 1979 based on their coordinates. As the study is focused on housing estates which are located outside the city centers, buildings located within the urban centers are excluded from the analysis. In order to determine whether a particular building is located within our outside the center, the data provided by the Finnish Environmental Institute has been used.
In order to be able to identify wider housing areas, and to distinguish housing areas from each other, buffer zones were calculated around the individual buildings, thus allowing identifying building clusters. Buffer zones were calculated for all cases where there are at least five buildings which are located within 250 meters from each other. Figure 4 shows the areas calculated for the Capital Region (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa) using this method. The calculation of buffer zones based on the housing data is visualized in figure 5 (on the following page).
Figure 4. Buffer zones calculated for multi-story residential buildings in Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa.
Figures 5 (buffer zones calculated for identfying housing areas), 6 (joining of the housing and the grid data) and 7 (combining of neighboring grids into wider areas).
However, as the housing data itself does not contain much statistical information that can be used for the analyses, this dataset was joined with the grid data (figure 6). Combining the two datasets and their data content is a precondition for selecting housing areas which fulfill the specific criteria for housing estates set out for the study. As the research focuses on housing estates dominated by multi-story housing built in the 1960s and 1970s, the main criterion is that at least 50% of the total population of each grid lives in this specific type of housing.
Combining the housing data and grid data is also necessary as the grid data is the primary data source for the analyses.
In the following stage, neighboring grids which are part of the same building clusters were combined into wider spatial areas based on the buffer zones (figure 7). In order to be able to analyze housing areas as separate entities, neighboring grids and their data contents are combined into wider areas.
DISCUSSION
Developing a method for identifying certain types of housing areas with the use of GIS, and thus to be able to study these areas and their development over time, has been a pre-condition for the aims of the study. This method, presented briefly here in this paper, has been developed through a course of extensive experimentations with the data where the parameters and criteria for selecting areas have been variated. This has required several stages of intensive data processing. One of the main challenges of the work has been to develop a clear and consistent method for selecting areas for the analyses, especially since housing estates can differ greatly in terms of population and physical form. The areas identified through this method are ones where at least half of the total population lives in multi-story housing built during the 1960s and 1970s. In most cases the areas identified through this method correspond with listings of housing estates from previous reports and studies. Generally, these areas are also well in-line with general perceptions of 1960s and 1970s housing estates and where they are located.
In the following stages of the work, an analysis of the current position and the development of these specific areas will be carried out. In the analysis of their socio-economic development, the focus will be on assessing how the areas have development in relation to the wider urban area where they are located. Key statistical indicators currently available include employment and unemployment rate, income level, level of education as well as changes in the age structure of the population. Changes in the ethnic composition of the areas will also be studied, provided that data on the theme can be obtained. As part of studying the socio-economic development and current position of the estates, attention will also be paid to the physical characteristics and built environment of the areas. Specific focus will be placed on the housing stock of the areas, i.e. the share of high-rise housing and social housing as well as vacant apartments. In addition, the level of services and work places in the respective areas will be studied.
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