معرفی
Larsen Maren is a Senior Lecturer in Urban Studies at the University of Basel, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. She coordinates the Master’s program in Critical Urbanisms and chairs its Pedagogy Committee, teaching core courses on interdisciplinary urban research, urban theory, emergency urbanism, and the urbanism of camps. Her office is located at Hebelstrasse 3, Basel, Switzerland.
Her research centers on critical urbanism, with a focus on the impacts of displacement and resettlement in African cities. Key areas include:
- Urbanization in secondary African cities due to extractive industries and climate change
- Peacekeeping camps as urban spaces
- Emergency urbanism and the politics of inhabitation
- Settlement typology, particularly the camp as an urban form
- Interdisciplinary methodologies in urban research
Her postdoctoral project 'Resettlement, Dwelling, and Urbanization in Secondary African Cities' (2023–2024) examined relocations in Tanga, Tanzania, and Saint-Louis, Senegal. Her doctoral dissertation, 'Worlding Home,' analyzed peacekeeping camps in Goma, DRC, and will be published by Indiana University Press in 2025. Her publications appear in journals such as Urban Studies, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, and Geographica Helvetica. The articles reflect a strong trend in postcolonial urban studies, focusing on marginalized urban forms, infrastructure, displacement, and the Global South, particularly Africa.
Larsen has advised Master’s students, including Isabella Pamplona and Ambarin Sultana. She has received research funding from Forschungsfonds Nachwuchsforschende and Freiwillige Akademische Gesellschaft for her postdoctoral work. Prior to her current role, she worked as a Research Associate at the Institute for International Urban Development (I2UD) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has consulted for the OECD and UNESCO. She has co-authored reports for the World Bank, UN-Habitat, and other international bodies.
She is actively involved in the Critical Urbanisms research program, contributing to its publications and public events. Her work bridges academic research with policy and professional practice in urban development.
