Immigration in Finland has increased significantly in the last decades. The integration of immigrants and autochthonous Finns poses new challenges to the society. Nevertheless, the resulting cultural diversity creates opportunities for intercultural social development. According to previous studies, urban nature can benefit human well-being and it can also play a role in integration processes. However, the role urban nature can potentially play in integration is largely overlooked, and immigrants are rarely involved in the planning of urban nature. This paper presents the main results of a qualitative study carried out in Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland. The aim was to understand the role of urban nature in integration, and to address how the planning of urban nature can support integration and interculturalism. We found that using urban nature helps immigrants feel comfortable and enjoy their living environment. The interviewed immigrants were interested in getting information on urban planning, especially in 2 their own neighbourhood, and many of them wanted to participate in planning, although they were unsure of their right to do so, and access to planning processes appeared problematic in many ways. To support integration and interculturalism, urban planning should take the opportunity to enhance intercultural understanding. Adhering to culturally sensitive processes, and developing trust with local residents by taking their views seriously, can do this. Nature has the potential to inspire people to connect with one another.

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Olohuone is the Finnish word for living room, as well as the name I gave a publicly accessible installation that I made on the basis of art and action research. I will briefly describe the context of the installation, and then proceed to analyse it as an urban intervention,and finally offer the findings produced by the entire process. Keith Hoggart and colleagues write that ‘Action Research is associated with learning about society through efforts to change it’. Olohuone was part of my action research and a fundamental component of my doctoral dissertation. In it, I framed a situation at a busy urban space and, in so doing, I intervened and temporarily changed the field of my study. Olohuone proved to be a critical case study for my research, mainly because of the responses of the people who interacted with it. In these years since Olohuone, I have lectured about it on numerous occasions. When I talk about Olohuone, the reactions I get encourage me to keep on using it as an example of place-making and of research in urban studies. During lectures, I discover aspects of Olohuone that I have not thought of before, often due to the questions posed by students. This is why I think that my findings from Olohuone merit consideration in relation to action in art and design research, place-making and intercultural dialogue.

This article examines how public spaces shape racialized youth growing up in a multicultural city. It focuses on youths in the Jane-Finch neighborhood of Toronto presenting their fears, sociospatial practices, and aspirations for social inclusion and urban spaces. Research data consist of interviews with stake-holders and social providers working with youth in Toronto, in general, and in Jane-Finch, in particular. In addition, the article relies predominantly on a focus group discussion with 13 young women and men that took place in The Spot Youth Centre located in Jane-Finch in June 2011. In August 2013, two Black teenagers were killed in the area of Jane-Finch in North-West Toronto. This article was inspired by these tragic losses.