kehyskentällä

Kehyskenttä is a term used in Finnish urban geography and regional planning to describe the ring of municipalities that surround a central city and are functionally integrated with it. The concept emphasizes the urban region as a whole rather than the core city alone, focusing on how the surrounding area interacts economically, socially, and spatially with the city center. Kehyskenttä is usually defined by patterns of commuting, shared services, and connected infrastructure rather than by formal administrative borders.

Characteristics of the kehyskenttä typically include suburban housing development, population growth, and strong ties to the core city in terms of labor markets, retail, and cultural life. The area often faces planning challenges such as balancing housing supply with open space, managing traffic and transportation networks, and coordinating service provision across multiple municipalities. Because kehyskenttä is a functional rather than administrative concept, its boundaries can vary between analyses and contexts.

In planning and policy discussions, kehyskenttä is used to analyze metropolitan growth, regional cohesion, and the relationship between city centers and their hinterlands. It helps illuminate how peripheral areas contribute to and depend on the core city, informing transport, land use, and housing strategies. In Finland, the term is especially relevant to major urban regions and their surrounding municipalities.

See also: Kaupunkiseutu, Satelliittikunta, Helsingin kehyskunta