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Lieven Ameel

Born 9.11.1978, Hasselt (Belgium)

Doctor of Philosophy 2013 (Finnish Literature, Comparative Literature), University of Helsinki & JLU Giessen (Germany)
Master of Arts 2006 (Finnish Language and Culture), University of Helsinki
Master of Arts 2000 (English and Dutch Philology), University of Ghent

Postdoctoral Researcher 2013–2016, University of Helsinki (funded by the Ella and Georg Ehrnrooth Foundation and the Kone Foundation)
Junior researcher/doctoral student 2008–2013, University of Helsinki, Finnish Literature
Translator and teacher 2001-

Recent publications, projects and other scientific activities
Research interests: City in literature, parkour, narrative planning

Helsinki Literature and the City Network founder and coordinator
Finnish Society for Urban Studies board member

Written by Lieven Ameel (Tomas Sjöblom, ed.)

Narrating urban development: Jätkäsaari and Kalasatama

After spending five years working on Helsinki in literature for my doctoral dissertation, I felt the need for something quite different. I wanted to take some distance from the city of the imagination, and move into the direction of today’s real and tangible built, urban environment. Instead of looking for the city in literature, I wanted to look for literature in the city: for narrative structures in planning new city districts.

In my current research, I am exploring the structure and use of narratives in the planning of Helsinki long urban waterfront. I am looking, in particular, at two districts in Helsinki that are currently being developed: Kalasatama and Jätkäsaari. My aim is to examine planning and policy documents using methods and concepts from literary and narrative studies. Can a planning document be read as an example of the bildungsroman? How important are rhetorical devices (the use of metaphor, for example) in the argumentation of particular change in the urban environment? And how are planning visions framed in a larger narrative framework that involves marketing, social media, and citizens’ participation?

Photo: Veikko Somerpuro.​
Photo: Veikko Somerpuro.​

 

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