Hossam Hewidy
Biographic Data
| ID | 3428332 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Hossam Hewidy |
| GIVEN NAMES | Hossam |
| FAMILY NAME | Hewidy |
| SIGNATURE | HEWIDY H |
| AFFILIATIONS | Aalto University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4455-9987 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 12 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Planning beyond words
Urban redevelopment is increasingly shaped through discursive systems in which language and representation frame neighbourhoods as declining, obsolete, or requiring intervention. This article examines how planning documents, architectural competition materials, and mass media discourses co-produce the social image and redevelopment trajectory of the Kontula strip mall in Helsinki. Drawing on discourse theory, framing analysis, territorial stigmat…
From Plot to Block
This study investigates how urban planning in Finland is adapting to climate change, focusing on the practical challenges planners face in single‐family housing areas. It draws on participatory workshops with municipal planners in Pori and Joensuu, where three planning tools—green factor metrics, impermeable surface limits, and the 3–30‐300 guideline—were tested. The workshops strengthened collaboration between municipal planners and researchers,…
Unlearning borders
Scenario planning is increasingly recognised as a valuable pedagogical tool in spatial planning education, particularly for addressing the complexities of cross-border integration. This study investigates how exploratory scenario planning can enhance learning in a multidisciplinary urban planning studio, with a focus on cross-border cooperation in the context of European spatial planning. The research draws on a studio conducted within the Archit…
The ‘so-called’ one-hour train
Large-scale infrastructure projects (LIPs) are often framed as iconic national achievements, yet they frequently involve cost overruns and contested regional impacts. This study examines media coverage of the Helsinki–Turku (One-Hour Train) project to explore how legitimacy is constructed in multi-level regional governance. Drawing on post-Actor-Network Theory media scholarship, framing, and agenda-setting perspectives, the analysis treats media …
The public library building as nexus for social interactions
Public libraries are public spaces that simultaneously respond to and reshape their contexts, by bundling different programme, and numerous functions that synergistically support social interactions among diverse users. They offer domestic, work and leisure environments, hubs and platforms for civic dialogue, encounter, tolerance of differences and exposure to cultures. Less is known about the interaction between library buildings and their surro…
The hybridisation of public libraries
Nordic public libraries (PL) are considered ‘houses of democracy’, which have played a key role in ensuring free access to social and cultural capital, and more recently, knowledge capital. In several PL, there has been a shift towards ‘hybrid hubs’, which has not yet been adequately explored, either theoretically or empirically. Firstly, this study reviews existing scientific studies and builds a conceptual framework for exploring the hybridizat…
Let them speak
Bridging the gap
This study investigates the dynamics of urban resilience (UR) and sustainability (US) in Finnish regional planning cultures, focusing on the Helsinki‐Uusimaa and Southwest Finland regions. It highlights the intertwined nature of UR and US, emphasizing the need for clearer distinctions to enhance planning effectiveness. Through comparative case studies, this research explores the role of institutional planning culture in shaping procedural resilie…
Mismatched planning and place-based identity in Helsinki
Declining independent retail and oligopoly of retail chains are common in Helsinki, leaving many premises at strip malls erected in the 1960s vacant. Despite this, ethnic retail has spontaneously clustered at two malls converting them into livable hubs. Both malls have been announced as destinations for tourists and food lovers on the city webpage by Marketing Helsinki. In 2019–2020, two planning competitions were held with the objective of formi…
In the blind spot
Currently, hypermarkets represent most of the Finnish retail property stock leading to the dwindling of small mainstream retail. Accordingly, many retail premises have been left vacant at the old shopping centres in suburbia. Ethnic retailing has remarkably impacted the urban landscape of the city of Helsinki and spontaneously converted such abundant premises into livable agglomerations, which has contributed to placemaking. The aim of this paper…
The death and life of Malmi neighbourhood shopping street
Chain stores have changed the retail landscape leading to the decline of small independent retail. Consequently, public street life on shopping streets is fading, and many premises have been left vacant during the past decade. However, in Finland, such transformation in the retail landscape coincides with the rapid growth of ethnic retail in some Helsinki neighbourhoods, such as Malmi, an area undergoing major urban renewal. The aim of this resea…
Just city planning competitions in Helsinki
City growth in Helsinki is based on urban renewal steered by a policy preventing segregation. Meanwhile, chain stores dominate the Finnish retail market, and small mainstream retail is hardly seen in Helsinki. Although many old strip malls have been left vacant by the decline in small mainstream retail, ethnic retail has remarkably converted two strip malls into the most livable urban hubs in Helsinki. In 2019-2020, two planning competitions were…
Just city planning competitions in Helsinki
City growth in Helsinki is based on urban renewal steered by a policy preventing segregation. Meanwhile, chain stores dominate the Finnish retail market, and small mainstream retail is hardly seen in Helsinki. Although many old strip malls have been left vacant by the decline in small mainstream retail, ethnic retail has remarkably converted two strip malls into the most livable urban hubs in Helsinki. In 2019-2020, two planning competitions were…
Bridging the gap
This study investigates the dynamics of urban resilience (UR) and sustainability (US) in Finnish regional planning cultures, focusing on the Helsinki‐Uusimaa and Southwest Finland regions. It highlights the intertwined nature of UR and US, emphasizing the need for clearer distinctions to enhance planning effectiveness. Through comparative case studies, this research explores the role of institutional planning culture in shaping procedural resilie…
Let them speak
Mismatched planning and place-based identity in Helsinki
Declining independent retail and oligopoly of retail chains are common in Helsinki, leaving many premises at strip malls erected in the 1960s vacant. Despite this, ethnic retail has spontaneously clustered at two malls converting them into livable hubs. Both malls have been announced as destinations for tourists and food lovers on the city webpage by Marketing Helsinki. In 2019–2020, two planning competitions were held with the objective of formi…
Just city planning competitions in Helsinki
City growth in Helsinki is based on urban renewal steered by a policy preventing segregation. Meanwhile, chain stores dominate the Finnish retail market, and small mainstream retail is hardly seen in Helsinki. Although many old strip malls have been left vacant by the decline in small mainstream retail, ethnic retail has remarkably converted two strip malls into the most livable urban hubs in Helsinki. In 2019-2020, two planning competitions were…
In the blind spot
Currently, hypermarkets represent most of the Finnish retail property stock leading to the dwindling of small mainstream retail. Accordingly, many retail premises have been left vacant at the old shopping centres in suburbia. Ethnic retailing has remarkably impacted the urban landscape of the city of Helsinki and spontaneously converted such abundant premises into livable agglomerations, which has contributed to placemaking. The aim of this paper…
The death and life of Malmi neighbourhood shopping street
Chain stores have changed the retail landscape leading to the decline of small independent retail. Consequently, public street life on shopping streets is fading, and many premises have been left vacant during the past decade. However, in Finland, such transformation in the retail landscape coincides with the rapid growth of ethnic retail in some Helsinki neighbourhoods, such as Malmi, an area undergoing major urban renewal. The aim of this resea…
Mismatched planning and place-based identity in Helsinki
Declining independent retail and oligopoly of retail chains are common in Helsinki, leaving many premises at strip malls erected in the 1960s vacant. Despite this, ethnic retail has spontaneously clustered at two malls converting them into livable hubs. Both malls have been announced as destinations for tourists and food lovers on the city webpage by Marketing Helsinki. In 2019–2020, two planning competitions were held with the objective of formi…
Bridging the gap
This study investigates the dynamics of urban resilience (UR) and sustainability (US) in Finnish regional planning cultures, focusing on the Helsinki‐Uusimaa and Southwest Finland regions. It highlights the intertwined nature of UR and US, emphasizing the need for clearer distinctions to enhance planning effectiveness. Through comparative case studies, this research explores the role of institutional planning culture in shaping procedural resilie…
The public library building as nexus for social interactions
Public libraries are public spaces that simultaneously respond to and reshape their contexts, by bundling different programme, and numerous functions that synergistically support social interactions among diverse users. They offer domestic, work and leisure environments, hubs and platforms for civic dialogue, encounter, tolerance of differences and exposure to cultures. Less is known about the interaction between library buildings and their surro…
The hybridisation of public libraries
Nordic public libraries (PL) are considered ‘houses of democracy’, which have played a key role in ensuring free access to social and cultural capital, and more recently, knowledge capital. In several PL, there has been a shift towards ‘hybrid hubs’, which has not yet been adequately explored, either theoretically or empirically. Firstly, this study reviews existing scientific studies and builds a conceptual framework for exploring the hybridizat…
Let them speak
Planning beyond words
Urban redevelopment is increasingly shaped through discursive systems in which language and representation frame neighbourhoods as declining, obsolete, or requiring intervention. This article examines how planning documents, architectural competition materials, and mass media discourses co-produce the social image and redevelopment trajectory of the Kontula strip mall in Helsinki. Drawing on discourse theory, framing analysis, territorial stigmat…
From Plot to Block
This study investigates how urban planning in Finland is adapting to climate change, focusing on the practical challenges planners face in single‐family housing areas. It draws on participatory workshops with municipal planners in Pori and Joensuu, where three planning tools—green factor metrics, impermeable surface limits, and the 3–30‐300 guideline—were tested. The workshops strengthened collaboration between municipal planners and researchers,…
Unlearning borders
Scenario planning is increasingly recognised as a valuable pedagogical tool in spatial planning education, particularly for addressing the complexities of cross-border integration. This study investigates how exploratory scenario planning can enhance learning in a multidisciplinary urban planning studio, with a focus on cross-border cooperation in the context of European spatial planning. The research draws on a studio conducted within the Archit…
The ‘so-called’ one-hour train
Large-scale infrastructure projects (LIPs) are often framed as iconic national achievements, yet they frequently involve cost overruns and contested regional impacts. This study examines media coverage of the Helsinki–Turku (One-Hour Train) project to explore how legitimacy is constructed in multi-level regional governance. Drawing on post-Actor-Network Theory media scholarship, framing, and agenda-setting perspectives, the analysis treats media …
Political science (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Urban planning (5 works) · Business (4 works) · Engineering (4 works) · Urban Planning and Governance (4 works) · Civil engineering (3 works) · Computer Science (3 works) · Ethnic group (3 works) · Law (3 works)