MDI coordinated a study on housing policy: No new tricks but more comprehensive support for existing instruments

Housing prices and rents in Helsinki metropolitan area have risen sharply due to population growth and rising average income levels. The best way to restrain the growth of prices and rents is to increase housing supply in all growth centers nationally. Too small plot reserve has formed the worst bottleneck for housing construction in the 2000s. General plans and new major transport solutions are enabling more sustained planning and buildup of the plot reserve.

There were two major purposes for the study:

1. to inquire the questions related to housing construction and high price levels on Helsinki metropolitan area, and
2. to assess the problem areas and effectiveness of housing subsidies.

The questions on housing policy have remained the same for decades. The main finding of the study was that the instruments implemented in 2000s have started bearing fruit. Therefore, there is no need for radical changes, but successful policies and instruments need more support. In addition to MDIs own team, Seppo Laakso and Henrik Lönnqvist participated in the research. The study was commissioned by the audit committee of the Parliament of Finland. Eighteen recommendations were given, and realization of these will be monitored in the coming years.

The study is available as a report (in Finnish) in Parliament’s online service.

A sustainable green transition is achieved by investing in the diversity of RDI activities – the AGDA project continues to work on this theme

AGDA is a Nordic development project funded by the Nordic Gender Equality Fund (NIKK). The project focuses on the opportunities that a greater focus on diversity and inclusion could create in the RDI-field, particularly in respect of green transition.

Read more A sustainable green transition is achieved by investing in the diversity of RDI activities – the AGDA project continues to work on this theme

MDI leads the co-creative process of developing, piloting and sharing practices for wellbeing in Sustainable Cities

The challenge bundle work is the cross-cutting co-development of the “Sustainable City” programme, co-ordinated by the Ministry of the Environment, with the aim of producing and sharing information, knowledge and solutions to the challenges linking cities’ management and practice in the area of leading work towards sustainability. The work produces concrete development measures, new ways of doing things and peer learning.

Read more MDI leads the co-creative process of developing, piloting and sharing practices for wellbeing in Sustainable Cities