CA18126 - Writing Urban Places. New Narratives of the European City (Writingplace)

Writing Urban Places proposes an innovative investigation and implementation of a process for developing human understanding of communities, their society, and their situatedness, by narrative methods. It particularly focuses on the potential of narrative methods for urban development in European medium-sized cities. By recognising the value of local urban narratives -stories rich in information regarding citizens socio-spatial practices, perceptions and expectations-, the Action aims to articulate a set of concrete literary devices within a host of spatial disciplines; bringing together scientific research in the fields of literary studies, urban planning and architecture; and positioning this knowledge vis-à-vis progressive redevelopment policies carried out in medium-sized cities in Europe.
The Action defines three thematic targets it wants to explore theoretically as well as in case studies. 1) meaningfulness: offering local communities and professionals the ability to improve their understanding of their built environment; 2). appropriation: empowering communities by improving their ability to project their feelings on their built environment. 3). integration: offering concrete tools and methods for the construction of common grounds among communities, based on relations of meaningfulness and appropriation of their built environment.