Following a presentation yesterday at the yearly conference of the Finnish Literary Research Society, I presented today at the annual Finnish Urban Studies Conference – both conferences are organized this year in Turku, and suitably located in adjacent buildings.

My presentation is part of a 10-presentation double panel on cultural and social knowledge in interdisciplinary urban studies. Great to hear diverse presentations on this important topic and looking forward to meeting old friends and new colleagues from different academic backgrounds!

Abstract below

Narrative approaches for twenty-first century urban planning and theory

Following a tentative “narrative turn” in planning, what have been the benefits of drawing on narrative and literary studies when working in the field of urban planning and theory? This paper builds on three recently completed international projects: the COST action “Writing Urban Places. New Narratives of the European City” (hosted at TU Delft), the project “Scripts for Postindustrial Urban Futures: American Models, Transatlantic Interventions” (Ruhr region) and the project “PARVIS – Paroles de villes” (Paris). It identifies as central achievements: 1. clarification of concepts and methods; 2. clarification of innovative methods in teaching and participation; 3. identification of important points for further development. Productive approaches for further development in planning practices, based on narrative and literary methodologies, include among others: polyphony, open-ended storytelling, and narrative-purpose PPGIS. This paper draws on work published recently in the open-access book Narrative in Urban Planning: A Practical Field Guide (Ameel, Gurr & Buchenau).