In today’s Finland-Swedish national daily Hufvudstadsbladet (10.3.2015), there’s a long article on my research on narratives in city planning, under the title “Berättelserna som formar staden” – “Narratives that form the city”.

My main point – which is explored, of course, at more depth in my research – is that planning is a form of communication, in which narrative structures form crucial construction blocks. An analysis that draws on concepts and frameworks from literary studies can thus provide new insights in the ways in which new urban developments are constructed. This goes beyond an interest in mere branding: my contention is that narratives guide and structure not only the conception of planning project, but also the construction on the ground, in particular in the form of narratives in legally binding planning documents. More on my research project here.