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Urban public spaces are constantly restructured with new meaning, reflecting their socio-cultural, political, historical, and technological influences. Over the last two decades, the rapid technological advancements and increasingly widespread use of mobile devices give people a chance to share their experiences of their immediate surroundings through various applications. As these platforms enable people to create and exchange various forms of User-Generated Content (UGC) has gained wide attention as an invaluable source of information on human-environment relationships including people's timely perception, emotion, preference, and sense of place in public space. This study employs quantitative content analysis to identify collective perceptions of urban public spaces and their characteristics as projected through a photo-sharing social media application, Instagram. A total of 1,200 users' photos and associated hashtags geo-referenced to three New York City urban public spaces, Bryant Park, Madison Square Park, and Union Square. This study begins with a qualitative phase, employing manual categorization techniques to identify the concepts in visual and textual data. The second phase applied a statistical analysis method, a set of descriptive analytics, and chi-square tests to answer the research questions for this study. Findings indicate physical attributes of urban squares are the most dominant type of geo-referenced users' photographs through the visual social media platform. People's immediate perceptions vary with time and place, while the patterns of hashtag usage found in this study show no difference across the three urban squares. people's perception of urban squares goes beyond the boundaries of the square itself, encompassing the streetscape, buildings, and local businesses adjacent to the square. While people rarely utilize hashtags as a method of emotional expression, findings show a clear connection between hashtags associated with users' photo content and the image of the city. / Doctor of Philosophy / The proliferation of mobile devices and social media platforms has given people new opportunities to document and exchange their experiences in urban public spaces. Publicly available content, which communicates timely opinions, perceptions, emotions, and preferences has a strong influence on the formation of the overall perception of urban public spaces in the digital environment. This study aims to explore how a sense of place—including emotional value, urban identity, distinctiveness, and seasonality—is built-in urban public spaces through one image-sharing application, Instagram. In addition, hashtags attached to the photographs are collected to help understand people's motivations for posting content in urban public places. The study compiles 1,200 photographs on Instagram taken at three New York City public spaces, Bryant Park, Madison Square Park, and Union Square. The study finds that people tend to post content that focuses on the physical appearance of the squares. However, people's perception of urban squares goes beyond the boundaries of the squares themselves, encompassing the streetscape, buildings, and local businesses around each square. One important function of Instagram in these spaces is for people to write information to document their experiences in the urban squares. There are also strong connections between the visitors' perceptions of urban public space as seen through their photographs and the image of the city.

New developments often lack regional identity and distinctiveness of place. Before the industrial revolution, landscapes were the result of social, cultural and environmental constraints. Currently, a strong sense of place is lacking in many American cities. Santa Fe, New Mexico, as an example, faces the challenge of integrating new development with existing historic areas. While the downtown central core of Santa Fe has a distinctive and unique character, the outlying fringes of Santa Fe County are being developed in ways that undermine the sense of place that is valued by its residents and visitors. Current county development patterns do not meld with the intimate, small-scale character of the older neighborhoods in the downtown central core areas of the city. To address this issue, this thesis uses theory related to sense of place to identify distinctive characteristics that can be adapted for projects outside Santa Fe's central core. The study uses a mixed method approach, including a literature review and field study methods to assess Santa Fe's distinctive physical characteristics. The results are a set of contemporary community design guidelines for the Santa Fe, New Mexico region that address sense of place in the following categories: (a) Spatial Planning and Architecture: street design characteristics and their physical relationship to architecture; (b) Environmentally Responsive Architecture: architecture design characteristics that respond to the regional environment and Santa Fe Style; (c) Decorative Architectural Details: architectural detail design characteristics that respond to the regional vernacular and the Santa Fe Style; (d) Integration of Architecture and Landscape: open space design the physical relationship between the local landscape and architecture; and, (e) Landscape and Cultural Character: regional landscape and art design characteristics that respond to Santa Fe's environment and culture. The resulting design principles are expressed as guidelines to support sense of place and their application to new development in Santa Fe County. / Master of Landscape Architecture

My thesis is regarding the regeneration of identity and a sense of place on the unappealing nature of public open space, in terms of its urban context and architecture. A sense of place is related to the quality and character of making a place unique or special. It could be described as the established atmosphere or character of an individuals relationship with a place.  So a good sense of place becomes a place that people would like to be a part of and enhances a human's positive emotional attachment making people feel connected to a place. So creating a sense of place should be based on understanding the cultural identity, social activity, physical environment and heritage of a place. Shown on the left are two images captured from the movie "Lost in Translation"an American comedy-drama film directed and written by Sofia Coppola in 2003. The film revolves around an aging actor, Bob Harris, and a recent college graduate actress, Charlotte. These two Americans develop empathy after meeting by chance at their hotel bar in Tokyo. The movie explores themes of loneliness, insomnia, existential boredom and culture shock against the surroundings of a modern Japanese city. Both images from the movie show an unbalanced scale of the environment around the actor. These images reminded me of the first impression of disconnected or disappointed that I had of the atmosphere at the end of King Street in Alexandria, Virginia. The place was not comfortable to be in with its own character and the access to the water was hard to be sense visually. The first impression of this place still occupied my mind rather than any other attractive aspects within the area. This unpleasant experience arose from my own individual relationship with the place but later I figured out that it had already been seen as a public issue. These circumstances motivated me to think about how to regenerate a strong local sense of place in the area. The site of the project is an entire block from the Old Dominion Boat Club at the King Street Park to the Waterfront Park on Prince Street along the Potomac River in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia. The main access to the site is at the end of King Street. King Street has been the dominant connection to the water and the main corridor, carrying most of the entertainments in Old Town. Currently though, it lacks designated routes to the water at the end of the street. This project, an urban park pavilion, is composed of four different programs: the roof park, plaza, community performance Theater and boat taxi terminal which will be treated as equal value by a juxtaposed arrangement and interconnected street grids. My thesis will narrates how to develop a sense of place through the interaction of quality of architecture, infrastructure, cultural identities, social activities and the environment. / Master of Architecture

The built environment should facilitate a meaningful experience for a user by intellectually engaging their perceptual and cognitive abilities. In 1983, Howard Gardner published his cognitive theory of multiple intelligences. Gardner theorizes that human intelligence is not one single capacity, but is comprised of multiple capacities. Many teachers use the multiple intelligences theory as a tool to reach a larger number of students by engaging their unique learning styles. The theory of multiple intelligences is one way to interpret how an individual might understand, perceive or experience their surroundings. I used Gardner's theory as a framework to develop design criteria that can be used by designers to create landscapes or environments that engage people in an intellectual and meaningful way. By designing a site that will engage different individuals' unique methods of understanding, a landscape architect can create landscapes that will capture attention and promote a unique personal experience through the creation of sense of place. I believe that this in turn can also be used as a tool for articulating design ideas and analyzing current landscapes. My research begins with a review of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's theory of flow and what is needed to achieve this playful state. The answer is to engage a user with a challenge. This led me to Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. After a review of his work, I used his theory to analyze several case study landscapes. Based on this research, I developed a set of preliminary design criteria that can be used as an outline or a starting point for designers. I chose the Joe L. Evins Appalachian Center for Crafts (ACC) in Smithville, Tennessee as my site for beginning my understanding of the range of uses that the multiple intelligences possess within a landscape. The ACC is a visual arts school whose mission is to preserve and educate people about the culture and techniques of Appalachian crafts. The mediums that are taught are clay, glass, metal, fibers, and wood. My design exploration lead me to concluded that the outcome of a multiple intelligences landscape will be shaped by several factors: the personal strengths and weaknesses within the multiple intelligences of the designer, the sites will determine which intelligences should be designed for, and that the design process should be a collaborative effort. Therefore, the design solution produced is not the strength of this research project, but rather the development, process, and conclusions that reveal a strong case for the inclusion of engaging users' intellectually. / Master of Landscape Architecture

Many rural village schools have closed over the years, both in Sweden and internationally, because of urbanisation, centralisation and the quest for efficiency. This study shows the impact of two school closures in the rural area of Ydre, south-east Sweden, and describes the reactions of children and families concerned. The aim is to analyse what rural village schools mean for everyday life and how such meaning is based on time-spatial everyday stories. How the children and families view the school closures emerges in the time-geographic perspective, on their own terms, given their opportunity to demonstrate how they use different time-space components. This was studied by interviewing and sketching mental maps with 28 pupils of various ages, and by interviewing and drawing up weekly time schedules with 12 families. This also enabled the analyses to be extended, using the time-geographic conceptual framework, and in particular the interplay between structural changes and individuals’ day-to-day lives, and the interconnections between school and private life, to be clarified. One conclusion is that a school is no mere teaching venue. It is also a key meeting place for children, part of community life and a space for social networking and daily decision-making: a local community hub for the children and their parents alike. When a local school closes and the pupils need to travel further for schooling elsewhere, it affects their travel and activity patterns and social networks. Children’s drawings express their perceptions of place, time and distance. This study shows that the locations where children spend time and have their social networks, as well as how and how often they travel on particular routes, are crucial for their assessment of distance, both temporal and spatial. Describing the value of the closure-threatened school, parents express concern about their local village. They stress the importance of the village school, which they regard as excellent, unique and a resource for the family, but also for the community as a whole. Thereby, they highlight their hope that their community will be attractive to visitors, and also to themselves, the residents. The threats of closure upset them and provoke discussions on how to sustain a living countryside. Studies of children’s and families’ experience of school closures pinpoint the complexity of rural life and show it in a more human-centred, everyday light. Since children are absent from the municipal closure procedure, views of children’s participation are also discussed.

Denna uppsats har syftat till att undersöka downshifting som en livsstilsmigration till landsbygden samt belysa downshiftares flyttmotiv till landsbygden i förhållande till deras valda livsstil. Frågeställningar som uppsatsen har utgått ifrån är: vilka motiv påverkar downshiftare att flytta till landsbygden? samt hur upplever downshiftarna landsbygden som plats och hur möjliggör landsbygden deras livsstil? Forskningen beskriver downshiftning som en motrörelse till ett högt livstempo där det förespråkas att “växla ner”. Vi har uppmärksammat en trend där människor som downshiftar ofta flyttar till landsbygden som följd av sin livsstil och vi ville därför fördjupa oss i ämnet utifrån ett kulturgeografiskt perspektiv då detta inte undersökts tidigare. Vi har även uppmärksammat att det finns mindre forskning som rör intern livsstilsmigration inom Sverige och specifikt om livsstilsmigration till landsbygden. En stor del av forskningen kring livsstilsmigration har hittills behandlat internationell migration. I förhållande till de nämnda observationerna syftar därför studien till att undersöka downshifting som en livsstilsmigration.  Tidigare forskning kring downshifting, livsstilsmigration och plats utgör den teoretiska referensramen. Uppsatsen har utgått ifrån en kvalitativ undersökning med semistrukturerade intervjuer med downshiftare som flyttat från en större stad till landsbygden. Sammanfattningsvis genomfördes åtta intervjuer med endast kvinnliga respondenter, detta eftersom vi använde oss av snöbollsurvalet som uteslutande länkade till kvinnliga nätverk. Resultaten visar bland annat att de flesta flyttar till landsbygden för att kunna växla ner och hoppa av “ekorrhjulet” som de upplever är påtagligt i storstaden. I studiens slutsats har vi kommit fram till att flyttmotiv till landsbygden bygger på flera olika motiv som inte skiljer sig nämnvärt från de motiv som framkommit i tidigare forskning. Att flytta till landsbygden har fungerat som strategi för att kunna styra över sin egen tid eftersom de låga boendekostnaderna möjliggör för downshiftaren att kunna gå ner i arbetstid.

This research explores the role of co-learning in addressing water issues, being both context sensitive and responsive to the needs, lived experiences and symbolic representations of people at the local level in the case of the West Bank. Water is essential to the wellbeing of all societies, not only due to the necessity of water for life, but because it connects us to stories about place, beliefs and norms, identity and others, through the meanings that it invariably comes to embody. This research critically examines the significance for learning of freshwater: as a physical necessity; as a metaphor; and, as a source of meaning in the context of community-based water interventions. The dominance of particular narratives around water in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are discussed, as these have resulted in the acceptance of specific understandings about the problems and solutions to the water shortages that are experienced across the West Bank in differentiated ways. The effects of these narratives on water intervention processes and outcomes are observed, being most adverse in relation to local ownership, agency and identity as well as sustainability. A meaning-based framework is proposed based on an understanding of sense of place and a socio-political perspective of water shortages, as a way to reconnect the discourse with Palestinians' own accounts of water and place, and to provide opportunities to explore NGO engagement with divergent knowledges, perspectives, and priorities during interventions. It is argued that water interventions can be understood as a social learning process, which NGOs may be ideally situated to mediate. A model of learning and sustainable development is revisited and revised in order to consider the relationship between participation, agency and sustainability in relation to community-based water interventions.

The historic place is the result of a uniqueness that characterises and differentiates it from other places. It holds both tangible and intangible features that creates its sense of place, which is a lifelong process whereby it gradually constitutes our historic city and its character. This study aligns with the growing recognition by the international heritage community to expand our understanding of cultural heritage to include tangible and intangible values, agenda of sustainability, the role of local culture, and sustainable development. It, thus, initiates a critical dialogue between heritage conservation and sustainable urban development, to examine the concept of sense of place and its implications for conservation theory and practice. By drawing on a variety of methodologies and sources, it seeks to understand how effectively sense of place can contribute to the management of historic urban areas in a globalised world. The theoretical phase of the research traces relevant literature and studies, presenting the latest debates on heritage management at the international level, and explores selected collaborative projects in Europe at regional level. While the practical phase, focuses on Edinburgh as an in-depth case study, exploring its policies and practice at a local level. The methodological approach adopted in this study has enabled combining literature from different disciplines, through categorising the main features of sense of place, to a grid of main goals for any development project: conserving the physical structure, the suitability of the use, and the development of local community and improving the quality of life. This takes us beyond issues of conservation and towards a recognition of the central role sense of place and local community have in (re)configuring shared values, practices, collective memory and identity in a specific cultural cluster. To illustrate the validity of the approach, the analytical framework was applied to selected development projects across Edinburgh to explore the sense of place, unpack the complexity of local values of various users, effectively engage more users and stakeholders, and redefine heritage management and the way it can be integrated within the planning system. This was possible by using various methods to acknowledge its multiplicity: exploring the evolution of Edinburgh’s historic place in history and the role of planning system and policies into shaping the present character; and conducting semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and focus groups in local communities.