November

1

Urbaria Academics seminar: The History of Small Towns and Cities: Finland and The World!

Date: 19 November 2026
Time: 15.00-17.00
Place: B214 (Hall 4), Metsätalo, Unioninkatu 40, Helsinki

Programme:

Opening Remarks
Laura Kolbe, Emerita Professor of European History, University of Helsinki

Nuclei for an Urban Nation – Small towns in Finland from 1810s to the present
Matti O. Hannikainen, Docent, University of Helsinki

Abstract:
The last two centuries witnessed the gradual transition of Finland from an agrarian to an urban society. The advent of new industries coupled with new modes of transportation provided the momentum for economic growth for numerous smaller towns after the 1850s. The urbanization thus continued the tradition of a top-down urban policy and process to boost commerce, while new urbanizing communities grew up as local hubs for trade, industries, and transportation with local impetus from below. Yet most of the 37 Finnish towns in 1900 were small. Thew new century witnessed a profound societal change due to continuous population growth, however. While Finnish society urbanized, national policies did not support the process wholeheartedly. Until the 1960s, the aim of Finnish policies was to control urbanization, which partially explains the small size of many Finnish towns and townships. With accelerated urban growth after the Second World War, the creation of new towns after 1960 was seen as a way of regaining political control over the urbanization process and invigorating trade and industrial development across the country with limited success in longer perspective. Hence, at the advent of the 21st century, Finnish small towns remain a heterogenous group and their position is under pressure again.

Why Study Small Towns? Their Importance in Global Perspective
Peter Clark, Emeritus Professor of European Urban History, University of Helsinki

Abstract:
Too often neglected in the urban literature and public debate, small towns (from the Middle Ages to now) have housed a significant part of the urban population and played a key role in urban development, at the regional, national and global level. The recently published book by Emeritus Professor Peter Clark, Small Towns and Cities in World History (2026), sheds new and important light on their trajectory and multi-functionality up to the present day.

2

The IStG in Münster, Germany, is now a partner of the STN. It is a unique research hub aiding and supporting the wide range of interdisciplinary European urban studies. A large research library and the most comprehensive collection of Historic Towns Atlases feature among the resources we put at the disposal of visiting scholars. IStG publications and academic events frequently focus on small towns, town types, urban networks, and related issues. Check out our website on: https://www.uni-muenster.de/Staedtegeschichte/

October

1

Zora Piskacova co-organized a panel with Jana Hunter for the upcoming Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies convention in November 2026. It explores four small towns in the Bohemian Lands and their relationships with the state.

2

Pablo Sánchez Pascual is currently organising two international conferences scheduled for 2027 in Zaragoza (Spain) and Genoa (Italy).

3

Gérard Chouin is currently co-director of the Ife-Sungbo Archaeological program, which studies the urban archaeologies of Ile-Ife in southwestern Nigeria during the second millennium CE.