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.

Ritualising residency: territory cults and a sense of place in Southern Lao PDR

Territory cults in southern Lao PDR exemplify the importance of ritual for the production of locality in an era of mobility. Here, the idea of village expressed in ritual incorporates scattered members who have ties of history and affection to village households—a view of residency that is extra-verted, inclusive and traverses space.

Stadium architecture and a sense of 'place'

Stadiums are unique places, a building form that in modern times is perhaps unrivalled in reflecting an intense identification of 'place' for people and for cities. This research investigates the role that architecture plays in the development of such a sense of 'place', as compared to the influence of cultural factors such as history and a tradition of events.

Using peoplemap technique to elicit and broadcast sense of place

The population in Geelong Region is expected to keep growing. In order to work towards a better future of the region, it is essential to understand the feelings and needs of local communities and empower them in the community affairs. This study used an innovative technique – peoplemap – to investigate local communities’ sense of place. The primary objective of the investigations was to reveal the sense of place of Geelong Region. Local residents (N=166) in Geelong Region were interviewed face-to-face about how they identify themselves, what they love, what they want, and how empowered they feel. This paper reports the sense of place of three areas of Geelong Region: Ocean Grove, Bannockburn and Teesdale, and Corio-Norlane. Thematic analyses revealed the sense of place of these three areas, and identified their similarities and differences. The results of this study have several implications for government policy makers, planners and designers. This study contributes to the sense of place research, in that civic action was found to be a valid dimension of sense of place.

Sense of place in urban natural landscapes

Landscape perception from the cultural ecology perspective can help us understand what urban natural landscapes mean to people from different cultures, and how they make sense of place through landscape experience. While there are key anthropological studies on culture and environment, there is not extensive literature about how post-war and more recent immigrants appropriate, use and perceive natural environments? And do migrants' culture and experience of nature in their previous places of dwelling affect their perception and experience in a new landscape? In a global world conditioned by mobility, it may be important to understand the factors that affect immigrants' perception of place and the phenomenon of the sense of belonging as mediated by their approach to nature. This paper explores the experience of migration in relation to urban natural landscapes, and studies the role of natural environments in their place making and identity.

From estrangement to a sense of place …

Maggie MacKellar in her book Core of my Heart, my Country writes 'What is sense of place? Why is relationship with place so fundamental to our identity as individuals and as communities?' MacKellar rightly acknowledges that 'A sense of place is a complex connection between land and self. Place is both inside and outside; it takes us beyond ourselves, yet allows us to make sense of ourselves. Attachments to place are born into us, but they are also formed through movement, through labour, through words.' My mother Maria Radzimirski-Herzog considered herself truly Swiss and thoroughly Australian. Through one migrant's story this paper explores something of the complex intertwining of place, memory and identity. It grapples with the notion of belonging to one's country of birth and one's adopted country via a rich understanding of place. In Maria's case, place becomes inextricably bound with who she became as a person. In the early 1940s, Maria explored Switzerland on bike and on foot during war-time restrictions on cars and she came to know it intimately. She photographed the land and the mountains; she documented her journeys. Spirn writes perceptively that 'Significance does not depend on human perception or imagination alone.' For Maria significance was, to use Spirn's words, 'there to be discovered, inherent and ascribed, shaped by what senses perceive, what instinct and experience read as significant, what minds know'. For Maria, Landscape was not 'mere scenery'. The ability to see, to listen, to be present in place, stood her in good stead in her adopted country, Australia. Maria called place into being for her children: through her lived experiences, her memories, her story telling, through language, traditions and history, Maria shared her Swiss identity with her children. But imperceptibly she also taught them how to understand her new homeland Australia, their birth country. How did Maria become Australian? Was that her creative response to exile from Switzerland? How did she come to feel at home in both countries, to understand both places? How did they seep into her and she into them? Through my own research on place I have discovered that assessing 'sense of place' is not an exact science but a creative analysis of the attributes of a place. The methodology I have adopted to explore the complex interrelationships between place, memory and identity allows recovery and reclamation, rediscovery, juxtaposing the subjective and the objective, the co-presence of different evidence. This paper draws on place research, on personal papers, letters and photographs, and the author's own experiences and memories. Through story and narrative it interweaves autobiography and biography with theoretical scholarship, to illuminate one migrant's journey from estrangement to a sense of place in her adopted country, Australia.

From fibro shacks to McMansions: considering the impact of housing change on the sense of place in the historic Victorian coastal towns of Sorrento and Queenscliff

Eighty per cent of Australians now live within 50 kilometres of the coast.1 While most of the population remains concentrated in the large capital cities, some people have chosen small coastal towns as their permanent and or second-home destination. Greater mobility and income has increased the feasibility and attractiveness of living in these once overlooked and forgotten towns. The arrival of these new residents has changed the towns in both positive and negative ways. Declining traditional industries have been replaced by tourism and service sectors, providing a much-needed economic revival. The expectations of new residents, both permanent and non-permanent, however, have also brought challenges to the towns. Metropolitan value systems sometimes impact negatively on the unique sense of place and neighbourhood character of these towns. This paper presents both quantitative and qualitative evidence of the impact on character and sense of place in two historic coastal towns, Queenscliff and Sorrento, in southern Victoria. Census data shows how employment and the number of permanent residents have changed radically over the last 50-60 years, altering the social fabric of the towns. An analysis of the building footprint over a similar timeframe shows a growth in building size as larger houses become more common, and a growth in planning appeals for the towns is indicative of a clash of expectations between the council, long-time and new residents. While these indicators demonstrate the impact on the character of the towns as defined by their built environment, some oral accounts of local residents are used to show the emotional impact of these changes on the traditional sense of place associated with these towns. Some specific examples of changes to the built environment are provided to demonstrate that local planning schemes are not always successful in protecting neighbourhood character and that further measures are required in order to safeguard the uniqueness of coastal towns from the negative aspects of development.

Community museums and the creation of a ‘sense of place’: Holocaust Museums in Australia

Community museums have traditionally focused on a particular geographical location. This proximity between museums and the focus of their collection give them a unique opportunity to make connections between objects, the museum building, landscape, and community. These linkages are one of the key strengths of local museums due to their potential to tell inclusive stories of people and place. Australian Holocaust museums are displaced from this geographical proximity and situated at great distance from the events they commemorate. Due to the intense involvement of survivors in their inception and development, however, such museums have been driven, indeed, defined by communal imperatives. This paper examines the connections between community and place constructed through these museums. Further, it asks how community, place and the local are defined, and how and in what way the community museums examined make connections between here and there, then and now.

This paper takes as its focus two Holocaust museums in Australia: the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne and the Sydney Jewish Museum. After briefly exploring the origins of the respective institutions and the motivations of those involved, the paper discusses how the museums construct ideas of community and place, focusing particularly on the complex imaginative geography that creates intimate, emotional connections between different times and places.

A global sense of place: geography and sustainability education in a primary context

In this paper, I draw on Massey's conceptualisation of space and place and literature on children's geographies to argue for the importance of "a global sense of place" (Massey, 1991, p. 29) in geography (and sustainability) education. Reporting on interviews with six Victorian primary teaSustainability educationhers' and their conceptions and perceptions of geography, I contend that place in their imagining is commonly represented as bounded, contained and static. This is in contrast to Massey's understanding of place as immersed in global networks/processes, a product of interrelations and continuously changing. I conclude this paper by presenting an example of a primary unit that provides opportunities for students to develop an outward sense of place; one which foregrounds the interconnections and interdependence of places and processes.