The definition of municipal citizenship needs updating
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People living in multiple locations often feel they cannot fully participate in the activities of their unofficial home municipalities. To recognize multi-local residents as legitimate municipal citizens, the concepts of municipal citizenship and living in a municipality should be separated, Katja Rinne-Koski proposes in her doctoral dissertation at the University of Vaasa.
Known for their love of cottage life, Finns are quite familiar with multi-local living. In recent years, remote and hybrid work in particular have enabled more flexible living in two or more municipalities, leading to a significant increase in multi-locality.
Despite the changes in people’s living arrangements, municipal citizenship is still determined solely by the official place of residence. In her doctoral dissertation in public management, Katja Rinne-Koski challenges this traditional definition and proposes distinguishing between the concepts of municipal citizenship and living in a municipality.
– From an administrative and cultural perspective, multi-local residents are recognised as legitimate municipal citizens only in the municipality where they are officially registered. As a result, they feel unable to participate in the activities of their other home municipalities in the way they would like, says Rinne-Koski, who will defend her dissertation on 14 December.
– To address this issue, municipal citizenship should be definable based on factors other than just the official place of residence.
Separating the concepts would clarify the status of multi-local residents
Rinne-Koski emphasises that not all people living in multiple locations consider themselves multi-local residents for whom different municipalities of residence are equally important.
– Multi-local residents want to be seen as legitimate municipal citizens in their different places of residence. However, many of them currently feel that they are not municipal citizens in the same way as official residents and therefore think it is not appropriate for them to, for example, contribute to developing the municipality and express their opinions.
According to Rinne-Koski, separating the concepts of municipal citizenship and living in a municipality would clarify the status of multi-local residents and help municipalities promote multi-local living in their regions.
The study is based on interviews with multi-local residents, some conducted as semi-structured interviews and others as stimulated recall interviews.
Doctoral dissertation
Rinne-Koski, Katja (2024) Monipaikkainen asuminen ja uudistuva kuntalaisuus. Acta Wasaensia 549. Doctoral dissertation. University of Vaasa.
Public defence
The public examination of M.Sc. Katja Rinne-Koski’s doctoral dissertation, "Monipaikkainen asuminen ja uudistuva kuntalaisuus" will take place remotely on Saturday, 14 December 2024 at 12 noon. It is possible to participate in the defence here: https://uwasa.zoom.us/j/68608229367?pwd=fgPuTU71voa73nusX9NwhRYG5SgDnm.1. The password is 705066
Professor Pia Bäcklund (University of Helsinki) will act as opponent and Senior Researcher Sanna Tuurnas as custos.
Further information
Katja Rinne-Koski, tel. +358 40 560 9423, katja.rinne-koski@helsinki.fi
Katja Rinne-Koski was born in 1974 in Seinäjoki. She earned a Master’s degree in Administrative Sciences from the University of Vaasa in 2002 and has worked for over 20 years at the University of Helsinki’s Ruralia Institute, as part of the University Consortium of Seinäjoki.
Tietolaatikko
Further information
Katja Rinne-Koski, tel. +358 40 560 9423, katja.rinne-koski@helsinki.fi
Katja Rinne-Koski was born in 1974 in Seinäjoki. She earned a Master’s degree in Administrative Sciences from the University of Vaasa in 2002 and has worked for over 20 years at the University of Helsinki’s Ruralia Institute, as part of the University Consortium of Seinäjoki.
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