(In)visibility in the city: belonging, urban space, and civic engagement of Russian speakers in Helsinki

This chapter examines how Russian speakers in Helsinki practice belonging and citizenship through everyday engagement with urban space. Drawing on an ethnographic study with the non-profit organization Silta, the chapter demonstrates how volunteers made themselves present in the city via guided walks, lectures, and budget proposals for Oma Stadi (Helsinki's participatory budgeting process). These low-threshold, sub-political tactics created “quiet visibility,” enabling claims to the right to the city while linking private life goals (work experience, friendship, recognition) to collective outcomes. The chapter also shows how the poly-crisis context, particularly Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, recalibrated visibility: projects shifted online and some actors adopted strategic (in)visibility in response to stigma and securitizing discourses. Conceptually, the chapter frames Russian speakers as ordinary urban political actors and foregrounds the role of civic infrastructures (organizations, networks, and routines) that sustain participation beyond project cycles.