Urban Narratives

(Em)plotting planning at ISUF 2015 – City as Organism

Posted on 22.9.2015 by Lieven Ameel

This week, Rome hosts the 22nd ISUF conference, with as title “City as Organism – New visions for urban life”. I’m not entirely sure what to expect from the wide range of interesting-looking papers that relate in broad terms to the issue of urban form and morphology – urban morphology as a separate field of study being somewhat of a mystery to me. But I’m very much looking forward to being inspired at La Sapienza by the conference’s academic input, as much as by that city that defies words as much as it inspired them. Reminds me of the fact that even the saints Jerome and Augustine confessed to have been “allured and teased by sensuous images of Rome” (Mumford 1961: 246).

I’ll be presenting my research on (em)plotting urban planning on Wednesday.

“Narrating Helsinkis Kalasatama – Narrative Plotting, Genre and Metaphor in Planning New Urban Morphologies”.

Full programme here.

My last experience of Rome was watching La Grande Bellezza – I wrote a small piece of the way it depicts the “vortex” of urban life here.

I’ll try to get hold of some novels (hopefully in English translation) by the Neapolitan author Raffaele La Capria, who acted as one of the inspirations for the figure of Jep Gambardella in La Grande Bellezza.

Narratives in Urban Planning: interview in Helsingin Sanomat

Posted on 18.9.2015 by Lieven Ameel

Today (18.9.), the Finnish major daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, featured a large article, including interview, about my research in Narratives in Urban Planning.

The article (in Finnish) can be found here. Link to another, free version of the article can be found here: http://www.hs.fi/ihmiset/a1442459770179

(source: Sirpa Räihä / HS)

The Urban Waterfront as Landscape of Endless Possibilities

Posted on 9.9.2015 by Lieven Ameel

Speaking 10 September at Laituri, Helsinki, about the urban waterfront as a landscape of endless possibilities – a liminal space in which past and future, known and unknown, city and nature, death and new beginnings combine.

My talk is part of my research project of Helsinki’s waterfront, its cultural identity in literature, and the narratives of the waterfront in urban planning.

My talk is part of a one-day seminar on “more life on the waterfront”, bringing a variety of approaches to the urban waterfront, linked to the exhibition Veteen piiretty viiva / Waterline.

The seminar’s program can be found here: seminar program.

Laituri is the Helsinki City Planning Department’s information and exhibition space on Narinkka Square, Helsinki.

Emplotment in Planning – Re-City, Tampere 3-4.9.2015

Posted on 3.9.2015 by Lieven Ameel

Today and tomorrow Re-City – the First International City Regeneration Congress – at Tampere, Finland.

I’ll be speaking on the subject of Emplotment in Planning in the context of Helsinki’s waterfront development – abstract below:

—

Emplotting Urban Regeneration: Narrative Strategies in the case of Kalasatama, Helsinki

Recent decades have seen an increasing interest in the fundamentally narrative and rhetorical structure of urban planning. Urban districts take shape based on words as much as on concrete. Narrative elements such as rhetorical figures, storylines and plot structures are relevant not only for the way in which a particular planned area is presented to the general public or framed within local policy discourse, but also for the way in which larger visions of an urban future translate into concrete developments within the built environment.

This paper will examine the planning of Kalasatama (Helsinki), an ongoing case of urban regeneration, by applying methods and concepts from narrative and literary theory to the analysis of planning documents, marketing, and media narratives. A key concern will be the manner in which planning documents “emplot” a new area, both literally singling out an area within a geographical setting, and framing the development within a “plot”, a story with a specific dynamics and morality. Character, plot and metaphor will constitute the key narrative concepts. This paper will draw on the burgeoning field of narrative planning theory, with the specific aim to make concepts from narrative and literary theory more compatible with existing theoretical frameworks from planning theory.

Narratives of Smart Kalasatama

Posted on 25.8.2015 by Lieven Ameel

Timely: new website of fiksukalasatama online now – “Smart Kalasatama” is a key project in Helsinki’s drive towards smart city districts http://fiksukalasatama.fi/en/.

I’ll be presenting on narratives of Kalasatama during next week’s ReCity conference in Tampere, Finland – disclaimer: I’m not investigating the smart city narrative so much as some of the other methods of narrative emplotment in the development of Helsinki’s waterfront.

Dystopia and Utopia in Urban Planning and Fictional Narratives

Posted on 12.5.2015 by Lieven Ameel

Speaking today at the Urban Studies days in Tampere on the subject of dystopia and utopia in urban planning and fictional narratives. Presenting work on my examination of planning in Jätkäsaari, Helsinki.

http://www.kaupunkitutkimuksenpaivat.net/english-2/

Abstract (in Finnish) below:

Utopistisia ja dystopisia kertomuksia Helsingin Jätkäsaaresta – Tulevaisuusvisioiden retoriikka kirjallisuudessa ja kaupunkisuunnittelun julkaisuissa

Lieven Ameel, Helsingin ylipisto

Missä määrin fiktiivisen maailman tulevaisuusvaihtoehdot kommentoivat tai ohjaavat todellisen maailman tulevaisuusvisioiden suotavuutta? Tarkastelen tätä kysymystä keskittymällä Helsingin Jätkäsaaren suunnitteluun liitettyihin kertomuksiin. Lähtöpisteenä toimii Hannu Mäkelän historiallinen romaani Hyvä jätkä (2009), teos, joka on luotu Helsingin kaupungin tilaustyönä. Romaanissa esitetään 1900-luvun alun Jätkäsaaresta vaihtoehtoisia tulevaisuuksia, jotka on eksplisiittisesti suunnattu 2000-luvun alun kaupunkilaisille. Alueen tulevaisuusnäkemys näyttää Hyvässä jätkässä ainakin osittain tukevan viraston visiota alueesta. Antti Tuomaisen lähitulevaisuuden Helsinkiä kuvaavassa Parantajassa (2012) kaupunkisuunnitteluviraston visioimat futuristiset kaupunkiosat on jo rakennettu, mutta myös jo raunioitumassa. Kalasataman tornitalot palavat, Jätkäsaari autioituu. Molemmat kaunokirjalliset teokset rakentavat merkityksensä suunnitteluviraston tulevaisuusnäkymien varaan. Esitelmässäni tarkastelen näissä kahdessa teoksessa esitettyjen Jätkäsaaren tulevaisuusvisioiden suhdetta 2000-vaihteen Helsinkiin ja suunnitteluviraston suunnitelmiin. Esitän, että myös kaupunkisuunnitteluviraston julkaisut samasta alueesta tukeutuvat kerronnalliseen dynamiikkaan, jossa mahdollisten maailmojen välinen vuoropuhelu ohjaa lukijaa. Tutkimukseni liittyy laajemmin kaupunkisuunnittelun kerronnalliseen käänteeseen, jossa kaupunkisuunnittelun prosesseja ja dokumentteja käsitellään tarinan kertomisena, ja jossa niitä tutkitaan retoriikan ja kerronnallisuuden tutkimusta hyödyntäen.

Helsinki World Views at Think Corner, 8 April

Posted on 7.4.2015 by Lieven Ameel

Tomorrow, presentation of our Helsinki University research project on urban layers of meaning on 8 April 2015, at the Think Corner / Tiedekulma. I will be talking about visions and narratives of Helsinki’s waterfront development. Samu Nyström will introduce the research project, Mikko-Olavi Seppälä will discuss 1920s urban culture and identity in Helsinki.

More on my research of Helsinki’s waterfront here.

Update: the video of the presentation can be viewed here. The first part consist of a presentation by prof. Seppälä, the second part, with my presentation on Kalasatama & Jätkäsaari, begins at 36:25. Presentation in Finnish.

Urban Fragmentation(s), Berlin, March 16–19, 2015

Posted on 13.3.2015 by Lieven Ameel

I’ll be presenting a paper at the Urban Fragmentation(s) conference in Berlin, March 16–19, 2015. Promising conference, on the crossroads between linguistics, urban studies, sociology, and literary studies.

I will speak on the subject of “Narrative Planning in Helsinki’s Waterfront Regeneration: New Directions in Planning Practices and Theory.” Part of my broader research, which is presented (in brief) here.

Below, the abstract of the conference; the program can be found here (pdf).

“The Centers for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (GWZ) will jointly host the 3rd Borders & Identity conference (BIC) from March 16th to 19th, 2015, at the Humboldt University in Berlin (Germany). BIC2015 provides a meeting place for researchers interested in interdisciplinary approaches to exploring Urban Fragmentation(s) from linguistic, literary, sociological, and historical points of view, or a combination thereof. The conference will be organized in three parallel strands, each chaired by a corresponding GWZ-center (ZAS, Center for General Linguistics; ZfL, Center for Literary and Cultural Research; ZMO, Center for Modern Oriental Studies):

Literature & Translation (ZfL)
Language & Linguistic Creativity (ZAS)
Society & Governance (ZMO)” (source: http://bic2015.de/)

Narratives that Form the City

Posted on 10.3.2015 by Lieven Ameel

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.

Drawing on Local Narratives for Planning in San Francisco

Posted on 19.2.2015 by Lieven Ameel

Via @Citylab: engaging with the local community through coherent narrative mapping proved to be a successful way forward in the planning of a former power plant in Bayview-Hunters Point. Interesting: the planners and architects brought in experts in storytelling, Storycorps, to contribute with their expertise:

“Inspired by the vivid stories that were emerging, the design team reached out to StoryCorps, the nationwide oral history project that captures stories of under-represented communities, and asked them to start recording at Hunters View. Instead of a bare-bones recording space, the team wanted to have a place where residents would feel welcome and comfortable as they recounted their memories of living in the shadow of the power plant. They created a listening booth, using a shipping container as a quick and economical structure.” (Lydia Lee, Citylab.com)

Full text here.

More emerging documentation of the importance of local stories in planning processes, and the relevance of a coherent narrative mapping of place. A good case for narrative planning as an innovative and important paradigm.