COST Action CA18126 – Writing Urban Places

New Narratives of the
European City

Latest Updates
August 20, 2024
Selected for İstanbul International Architecture and Urban Films Festival The documentary and experimental movie, “The Hundred Columns of Skopje,” directed by Antonio Paoletti and rooted in the Action’s STSM, was selected for the competition films announced for XVIII İstanbul International Architecture and Urban Films Festival. Organized every year by the Istanbul Metropolitan Branch of the...
May 22, 2024
On the evening of May 3rd, Kulttuuritalo Telakka in Tampere was abuzz with excitement as we gathered for the launch of a new book and Special Issue of Writingplace, celebrating four years of collaborative work under the COST Action Writing Urban Places. This event, organized by Insurgent Spatial Practices in collaboration with COST Action Writing...
May 3, 2024
(Hidden) Narratives of Spatial Resistance Keywords: resistance, spatiality, insurgent, narrative, poetry, literature, architecture Have you ever felt the streets whispering tales of defiance, participated in acts of collective protestsreverberating through the alleys, or witnessed the subtle resistances etched into the very fabric ofour everyday spatialities? Have you experienced a place becoming a monument of counteraction,...
April 8, 2024
Welcome to the book launch event focusing on creative methods to work with the narratives of the grassroots in the city! 6-8 p.m. May 3 // Kulttuuritalo Telakka (second floor) // Tullikamarinaukio 3, Tampere, Finland In the event, we will launch the book/Special Issue of Writingplace journal, Writing Urban Places: New Narratives for the European City, which...
April 3, 2024
Translating the Mid-sized European City The latest publication of our network, Other Destinations. Translating the Mid-sized European City edited by Michael G. Kelly, Jorge Mejía Hernández, Sonja Novak, Giuseppe Resta is now printed by the publishers at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek.  We have been able to produce a...
March 6, 2024
In September 2024, the University “Ss. Cyril and Methodius” in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia, will host the interdisciplinary conference “City Streets 6” with the theme “Architecture as Infrastructure – Toward Sustainable, Inclusive and Beautiful City Streets.” The conference aims to highlight architecture’s role in creating additional values, meaning, and community-based quality in city streets...

New Narratives of the European City

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 focuses particularly 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.

Working Groups

WG 1 – Science Communication

Working Group 1 is responsible for the overall communication and output of the initiative, via the dissemination of the status…

WG 2 – Theoretical Framework

Working Group 2 is concerned with how theoretical reflections can stimulate the thinking and praxis of narrating urban places of medium-sized…

WG 3 – Methodological Framework

The objectives of WG3 include the investigation and development of appropriate analytical and projective methods to understand narratives…

WG 4 – Fieldwork

The core of WG4 fieldwork’s activities is site-specific research. Each study consists of two phases, an analytical and a projective phase…

}