Kohti tulevaisuuden kaupunkiyhteisöä? Monikulttuurisuus ja maahanmuuttajat Helsingin, Joensuun ja Tampereen kaupunkien strategioissa

This article examines the strategies of Helsinki,Joensuu and Tampere and the cities’ strategic reactionsto multiculturalism and immigration. Is culturaldiversity treated as a risk – a burden to be copedwith – or an opportunity and solution to challengesfaced in the future? The empirical data consists ofstrategic documents of municipal governance. Thetextual analysis of the documents shows that immigrationand diversity appear to have risen amongthe important strategic issues, most evidently in themetropolitan area of Helsinki. In the regional citiesof Tampere and Joensuu, cultural diversity andimmigration have been treated less systematically.Equity of ethnic minorities or multiculturalism inthe strong sense of the term, referring to rightsgranted to communities or cultural rights in thepublic sphere have nevertheless not gained groundin any of the three urban municipalities examined. Apragmatic, welfare-society approach that is based onthe allocation of resources derived from economicactivity combines with a dichotomizing view of theimmigrant either as work force for the needs ofeconomic growth or as a potential threat that hasto be controlled through social service provision andeducation. Rights-based discursive approach in strategicplanning of municipalities is largely missing thisfar. Strengthening of such an approach would betterbring forth the role of active, inclusive citizenship