Urbanisation and Gentrification

I need to write an application essay for the course about Gentrification in a Welfare Nordic Cities. The main motivation for me to take this course is to change my specialization from Management into Urban Design. Here is the description of the course:

In this Helsinki Summer School course we explore urbanisation from the point of view of the Nordic ‘welfare city’. We are interested in exploring with you housing provision, transportation, education, the built environment and public spaces, from the standpoints of sustainability and equality. A welfare city, such as Helsinki, built on ideals of equality, the well-being of its citizens, a sustainable balance between the needs of both nature and the people, and responding to social and ecological awareness alike.

However one process affecting the welfare city at the moment is gentrification. From hipster bars to rent increases, gentrification is a common and visible process of contemporary metropolitan restructuring, familiar from cities world around. Often its real meaning and what the process really entails remain invisible. Brought on by uneven investments, gentrification sees capital take over and transform homes and neighborhoods of low income people and is a cause of displacement and urban inequality – a process poorly suiting the ethos of the welfare city.

Learning objectives

– Understand the relation between welfare and urbanisation in the Finnish, Nordic and global context
– Recognise the main features of a welfare city
– Familiarise ourselves with theory and concepts of gentrification
– Recognise the effects of gentrification on the city
– Acquire a critical understanding of contemporary urbanisation under capitalism