Study title

The data are part of the EkoSuKaT research project studying the sustainability of community structures and physical environment in growing and declining regions of Northern Finland. The main aim was to study the needs of communities in order to ensure sustainable residential area development. Six growing and declining residential areas in the outskirts of Oulu and in the Kainuu region were chosen for the study. The areas chosen are typical of their region. This dataset covered the declining area of Taivalalanen-Pitämä, located in the municipality of Suomussalmi. A number of questions gathered information on the respondent's current dwelling and its amenities, housing tenure, length of residence in the dwelling and in Taivalalanen-Pitämä. Access to and use of a car were charted. Further questions covered opinions on various aspects of the neighbourhood, its streets, buildings and open spaces, neighbourhood facilities and services, community safety, noise levels, neighbours, participation in local activities, child day care, school, and co-operation between parents, day care centres and schools, block of flats on Hakakatu and Jäniksenpolku etc. The respondents were asked about their social networks within and outside Suomussalmi. Open-ended questions charted what kind of places they regarded as their home and what kind of places they would never regard as home. Views were probed on various issues related to nature and environment (e.g. recycling, environmental problems). The respondents' leisure time activities were studied by asking how many times they had been to/visited a library, a theatre, a restaurant, a sports facility, or a religious event during the past year, or had gone hunting or picking berries etc. The survey also investigated opinions on the municipality of Suomussalmi in general, its services, town planning and business activities etc. Background variables included the respondent's gender, age (categorised), basic education, occupational status and...