Sense of home, sense of place : a morpho-typological comparative study of Florida and Queensland

Cities in the 21st century have become layered and complex systems not only in terms of physical form, but also social and cultural structure. Consolidated tools to analyze the urban environment have today to be improved including a strong interdisciplinary perspective in order to understand and manage the unprecedented complexity our cities are facing. Redevelopments, new estates, internal and external migrations are all dynamics which are deeply modifying the built environment directly or indirectly also affecting local identity, culture and social structure. This paper investigates the relationship between urban form and social behaviors, with particular attention to the perception of the built environment and its use by long term residents, recent migrants as well as tourists. A comparative study is suggested between South East Queensland and Florida; this two regions share common features such as subtropical climate, similar lifestyle, leisure cities and canal estates. Neighborhoods on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts have been designed using the communities of Florida, such as Celebration or Seaside, as models. These regions share also significant migration processes, similar social problems and high crime rates, which directly affect the local economies. Comparing Florida and SEQ could provide an understanding of different strategies adopted and how urban development and lifestyle can be managed maintaining social equity and security. This study, investigates people’s perception of built form and how this affects the use of public space. The relationship between built environment and social behaviour has been previously investigated, for example by environmental psychology; the innovation proposed by this research is to study the perception of place in leisure cities at multiple levels. Locals, migrants and tourists have different understanding of the built form in the same location; this understanding affects the use of space and the attitude to visit or avoid some precincts. The research methodology integrates traditional morpho-typological investigations with qualitative methods; data are collected in the first phase through online surveys about perception of urban forms. Findings guide then the selection of neighbourhoods to be investigated in detail through questionnaires and Nolli maps, specifying morphological regions as well as recurrent building typologies. A final phase includes interviews with selected stakeholders. Major urban projects are discussed addressing how they are used and perceived by locals, migrants or tourists; the comparison between SEQ and Florida allows the identification of strategies to address migration issues in both regions with particular attention to urban form and placemaking dynamics.

Fragments of place : revealing sense of place through shared phone images.

Is an interactive new media art installation that explores how the sharing of images, normally hidden on mobile phones, can reveal more about people's sense of place and this ultimately shared experience. Traditional views on sense of place, as exemplified by Wagner (1972) and Relph (1976), characterise the experience as a fusion of meaning, act and context. Indeed, Relph suggests that it is not just the identity of a place that is important, but also the identity that a person or group has with that place, in particular whether they are experiencing it as an ‘insider’ or ‘outsider’. This work stimulates debate concerning the impact of technology on sense of place. Technology offers a number of bridges between the real and virtual worlds, but in so doing places an increased tension on the sense of place and subsequently the identity of the individual. This, coupled with the increased use of camera phones, has enabled the documentation of all aspects of our lives, the things we do, the objects we encounter and the places we inhabit. The installation taps into these hidden electronic resources by letting people share their sense of place associated with a large scale event. The work explores the changing nature of the sense of place of performers, visitors and residents over the duration of the event. Interaction with the installation will transform the viewer into performer, echoing Relph’s insider-outsider dichotomy

Promoting a Sense of Place: An International Study of Architecture Centres

This paper details an international research project which examined over 50 architecture centres in 23 countries including four case study subjects:
•Kent Architecture Centre, England
•Chicago Architecture Foundation
•Museum of Finnish Architecture
•Netherlands Architecture Institute
The paper analyzes the project's main findings including issues of definition, reasons for foundation, cultural policy impact and the main goals of architecture centres. It summarizes recommendations for centres as they attempt to reach their aims.

A sense of place. 1 : place and space in Britain.

Para alumnos que estudian geografía. El enfoque es presentar unas ideas a través de una serie de datos, textos, fotografías, dibujos, diagramas, estadísticas, mapas etc. Se hace hincapié en la comprensión de las ideas más que en la memorización de los hechos, si bien la adquisición de conocimientos de los lugares y de los pueblos se considera como un objetivo importante.

Sense of place: A tool to assist the meaningful engagement of communities in protected area management

This study used ‘sense of place’ as a research tool to help understand the relationship between a community and their local protected area, Brisbane Forest Park. To establish an indication of the community’s relative degree of sense of place, we considered and measured both the strength (intensity) and orientation (focus) of sense of place. We developed a new method to measure sense of place that considers and measures the elements constituting sense of place, independent of one another, utilising qualitative data collected in in-depth semi-structured interviews. Exploring both the strength and orientation of an individual's sense of place provides a way of exploring the desired nature of community involvement in the management of the Park. It was found that the stronger an individuals’ sense of place, the greater their place dependence and commitment, and the greater their desire to be involved in management. Analysing the strength and orientation of sense of place illustrated that there is a high degree of diversity in how individuals perceive and feel about area, and their desire to be involved in management. The type of information obtained in this study is important and useful to the management agencies if they are to successfully engage the community in meaningful ways.

The bondage of an imposed visual discourse : understanding the built environment's influence on the 'oldest-old' aged care residents' sense of peace

This study investigates the influence of the built environment upon residents' sense of familiarity, concept of self and thus, their facilitation of place through the theory of "The Bondage of Imposed Visual Discourse". Simone de Beauvoir's theory "The Bondage of Feminine Elegance" provides the conceptual understanding of the visual discourse between the physicality of clothing and the wearer's personal identity. This fashion theory is transposed to explore the influence of the built environment's physicality upon aged care residents' personal identity. This paper presents findings from a study of professionals' opinions in reference to the built environment of permanent residential aged care for the 'oldest-old' of Australia. The researcher conducted qualitative interviews with four participants: an architect, occupational therapist, nursing home facility manager and an aged care lobbyist in the South-East Queensland. This study is structured towards proposing "place-focused" qualitative design principles to encourage residents' sense of place through the built environment. These proposed principles are addressed with reference to existing Standards and Principles outlined by the Australian Government.

The Conceptualization and Exploration of Place Allegiance: Towards a Unified Model of Person-Place Relationships within Outdoor Recreation

The academic study of place has been generally defined by two distinct and highly refined discourses within outdoor recreation research: place attachment and sense of place. Place attachment generally describes the intensity of the place relationship, whereas sense of place approaches place from a more holistic and intimate orientation. This study bridges these two methodological and theoretical separate areas of place research together by re-conceptualizing the way in which place relationships are viewed within outdoor recreation research. The Psychological Continuum Model is used to extend the language of place attachment to incorporate more of the philosophy of sense of place while attending to the empirical strength and utility of place attachment. This extension results in the term place allegiance being coined to depict the strong and profound relationships outdoor recreationists build with their places of outdoor recreation. Using a concurrent mixed methods research design, this study explored place allegiance via an online survey (n = 437) and thirteen in-depth qualitative interviews with outdoor recreationists. Results indicate that place allegiance can be measured through a multi-dimensional model of place allegiance that incorporates behaviours, importance, resistance, knowledge and symbolic value. In addition, place allegiance was found to be related to an individual's influence on life course and his/her willingness to exhibit preservation and protection tendencies. Place allegiance plays an important role in acknowledging the importance of authentic place relationships in an effort to confront placelessness. Wilderness recreation is an important avenue for outdoor recreationists to build strong place relationships.

Being, Belonging, and Connecting: Filipino Youths' Narratives of Place(s) and Wellbeing in Hawai'i

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2016-04

Experiential hospitality environments: The roles of the interior architectural features in affording meanings of place

People’s authentic sense of place is being overshadowed by less authentic experiences referred to as placelessness. Consequently, a demand for experiential interior environments has surfaced. Experiential environmental and place attachment theories suggested that the relationships between self, others, and the environment are what encourage users in creating meaningful authentic experiences. This qualitative study explored the roles of the experiential interior architectural features in affording users of hospitality environments higher-level needs, such as meanings of place. For the case study, ten participants stayed at a hotel for two nights. Participants were given a guided list of ten facets of an experience, which was insidiously structured by both experiential environmental and place attachment theories. The participants used photographs to document each of the facets on the guided list. The photos were then used during the photo elicitation interviews, which evoked additional qualitative information. Participants identified specific interior architectural features and described them using the themes associated to place attachment theories. The findings revealed that the interior architectural features might enrich the meanings a person associates with a given place. Possibly affording users higher-level needs. As a result, if an experiential interior environment allows users to foster relationships between self, others, and the physical environment, they may experience more authentic experiences and give more meanings to a place.