The meanings of home and environmental relations in a multi-local everyday life.

April 12, 2022 . Written by Johanna Lilius

Image by Maununaho, K. & Lilius, J. (2021)

City and countryside offer complementing and compensating opportunities to adapt to changing situations.

Crises, such as the corona pandemic and climate change, challenge the notion of home as a place for protection, privacy and self-fulfilment. In the Rescue project, we investigated the everyday spatial practices of multilocal residents in Finland. Based on interviews, we found two functional possibilities in the everyday practices of the multi-locals: complementing (täydentäminen) and compensating (kompensaatio), which support the management of everyday life in different situations, including crises such as Covid.

According to our study, the different environments of the city and the countryside offered complementing opportunities to adapt to the needs of leisure and working life, as well as to adapt to changing situations. The complementing element was connected to the perceived quality of life, for example, the convenience provided by the city's services complemented the opportunities for being self-sufficient in the rural environments. Complementing was also associated with home safety and security; for example, having a stove brought a feeling of safety in the countryside while being close to health care services added to the feeling of safety in the city.

The rural environment on the other hand offered opportunities to compensate for the lack of space associated with smaller dwellings in the city, but also, especially during the pandemic, it appeared to be a factor compensating for social isolation and mobility restrictions. It was possible to invite people for coffee in the garden. We also concluded that different environments were complementary from an ecological point of view: multilocality compensated the ecological choices of housing between rural nature and self-sufficiency and urban density and ready-made solutions. Mobility related to living in the countryside or leading a multi-local life was compensated in ecological terms, especially by the potential of rural renewable energy for heating, in some cases also with more environmentally conscious consumption habits.

The full article can be read here: https://lnkd.in/ePCGNrUD

Maununaho, K. & Lilius, J. (2021). Kodin merkitykset ja ympäristösuhteet monipaikkaisessa arjessa. Yhdyskuntasuunnittelu 4/2021, 65-94.