This thesis aims to analyse the Istanbul Historical Peninsula city walls under the framework of place-making. This study focuses on proposing a way of looking for the place identity of walls upon the dialect of the times, and the dialogue of physical configurations and cognitive imaginaries. The present wall front is studied and the frequently repeating patterns on this fabric are pointed out throughout the understanding which incorporates both the geographical and spatial imagination. As the identity of places are constituted over the dialectical links between physical setting, activities and meanings, the attempt of the thesis is to inquire the place virtue, to comprehend what city walls propose and which meanings are produced over these city walls. The value and the uniqueness of the city walls which has a defining impact on the place-making process of Historical Peninsula is acknowledged pointing out to the character of the place. Based on the findings of the thesis, collaboration of diverse disciplines is suggested for future projections in order to appreciate the sense of place and to use the knowledge of place-making while the city walls are brought to the design table of the planners.

This dissertation examines a movement in Western North Carolina to build a local food system, one grounded in the conditions and relationships of place. In 2000, Mountain Family Farms launched the Local Food Campaign to raise public awareness about the region's farms and farming heritage, to educate consumers about the benefits of buying food grown by local farms, and, ultimately, to build markets for locally grown food to sustain the region's farms. The campaign sparked a social movement and over a decade later local farms and locally grown food are a palpable feature of life in the mountains of Western North Carolina. This dissertation is the result of my tenure at the organization as an employee and four years of ethnographic research. The primary objective of my research has been to understand how the Local Food Movement in Western North Carolina is interacting with and affecting the industrialized food industry at the local level. Drawing on perspectives within anthropology, sociology, political science, geography, feminist theory, and social movements theory and from the concepts of hegemony, cultural politics, place-making, and social capital, this dissertation understands the movement in Western North Carolina within a processual framework, an integral part of the hegemonic process, which struggles to define and legitimize the practices and ideas that govern way of life. To examine this process, my research has focused on the ways movement organizers create a movement culture and mediate a tension between the dual imperatives of engaging the dominant food system and protecting the integrity of movement goals. Equally, my research has focused on understanding the impacts of movement activities on the region's food system - on the perceptions and practices of consumers and farmers and of the businesses that serve and sell food in the region. My dissertation reveals the significance of place-making to the strategies of movement organizers - grounding movement participants and observers in the particularities of place, developing a shared place-based consciousness, cultivating different economic subjectivities that affect different material impacts. My dissertation documents the hegemonic process - the encounter and interaction between movement meanings, ideas, and practices and those of the dominant, conventional food industry. Within this process, movement outcomes are the responses of movement organizers, participants, and observers as they mediate challenges and opportunities at the intersection of disparate ideas and practices. Within a dynamic movement, outcomes are both provisional and incremental, shifting in relation to emergent knowledge and perceptions and the actions they inform.

In its course of development, urban and regional planning has been greatly influenced by the modernist movement, which left human environments with various problematic ecological and social conditions. In reaction to these conditions, alternative planning approaches branched from the planning profession, one of these being the development approach known as place-making. Place-making is the physical designing of a place based on locational contexts. Place-making is offered as an alternative planning approach to current planning practice to ameliorate and possibly prevent continuation of the problematic ecological and social conditions. However, this implies that there has to come about a shift in the focus and aims of current planning practice. The main implications of place-making are that planning should become more contextually driven, holistic, multidisciplinary, as well as human and quality centred. Also, it is proposed to increase research on place in the South African context. In terms of current research in South Africa, a mixed-method research approach made it possible to include symbolic locational elements, like sense of place, in the planning process. Researching the Vredefort Dome's sense of place aimed to explore sense of place in a rural area and to concretise the area's sense of place for inclusion in spatial planning. Initial qualitative research informed the quantitative phase. This way symbolic experiences and meanings of participants were linked to spatial locations and three-dimensional features, which made it possible to create place-making guidelines based on both symbolic and material contexts of the Vredefort Dome. / Thesis (M.Art. et Scien. (Town and Regional Planning))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

In its course of development, urban and regional planning has been greatly influenced by the modernist movement, which left human environments with various problematic ecological and social conditions. In reaction to these conditions, alternative planning approaches branched from the planning profession, one of these being the development approach known as place-making. Place-making is the physical designing of a place based on locational contexts. Place-making is offered as an alternative planning approach to current planning practice to ameliorate and possibly prevent continuation of the problematic ecological and social conditions. However, this implies that there has to come about a shift in the focus and aims of current planning practice. The main implications of place-making are that planning should become more contextually driven, holistic, multidisciplinary, as well as human and quality centred. Also, it is proposed to increase research on place in the South African context. In terms of current research in South Africa, a mixed-method research approach made it possible to include symbolic locational elements, like sense of place, in the planning process. Researching the Vredefort Dome's sense of place aimed to explore sense of place in a rural area and to concretise the area's sense of place for inclusion in spatial planning. Initial qualitative research informed the quantitative phase. This way symbolic experiences and meanings of participants were linked to spatial locations and three-dimensional features, which made it possible to create place-making guidelines based on both symbolic and material contexts of the Vredefort Dome. / Thesis (M.Art. et Scien. (Town and Regional Planning))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

abstract: Place branding by its very nature is a highly selective endeavor. Typically, place branding focuses on highlighting positive aspects of place while discounting others that are deemed less appealing. Whether it pertains to attracting tourism, investment or people, or whether it concerns achieving a level of cultural significance, ultimately place branding impacts physical planning decisions and consequently the built environment. The selectivity entailed in projecting a sellable place image, together with the presence of different interests among the particular place stakeholders, may lead to a divergent dialectic of assertion and resistance over which brand ought to be projected and how it ultimately should be represented. This dynamic, I argue, will have impact on equity, on the issue of authenticity and on representation. Through a historical analysis approach and a case study, this dissertation examines how such a dynamic plays out in the built environment and how it evolves and shapes it over time. Downtown Scottsdale is chosen as a case because it offers an example of a small city downtown in the US West that experienced significant place branding activity in the 1950s and the 1960s. In the 1950s, the City of Scottsdale branded itself as a Western town and the built environment of the downtown area was themed to reflect this image; in the 1960s, the Western brand was challenged and calls for change emerged. Stakeholders and supporters of the Western image and those of the call for change are identified, and the dialectic that ensued is examined and discussed in relation to its impact on the built environment. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Built Environment 2014

This dissertation investigates the idea of creating an engaging public place by introducing productive activity in a dormant area of Mamelodi where the effects of Pendulum migration and waste accumulation have caused public spaces to become inaccessible and functional only as spaces of departure. The site selection will involve looking for a space with a highly layered construct that captures the essence of what Mamelodi has become overtime. This proposed programme will aid in the investigation of testing whether a dormant space has the potential to inspire transformation and change in the social and public realm of this informal settlement. Through the theoretical premise of Place Making, the investigation will focus on whether social spaces, activity generators, existing contexts and past events could be layered to create a functional public place. The hierarchy and transition of spaces from one to another could allow one to understand the process of change on site, as well as the process of change in terms of waste material that is reused and transformed into something useful. This thesis document explores the idea of a building as a threshold and solvent of different spaces that would normally be split from each other. / Dissertation MArch(Prof)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted

The introduction of the Bus Rapid Transit and the Gautrain Rail and Bus facilities to the corner of Wolmarans and Rissik Street in Johannesburg's inner city has altered the site on which the Brazilian Modernist inspired South African Railway War Memorial Hall is situated. The new public transport facilities have bought in new users, increasing the foot traffic on the site. However, the additional facilities on the site remain unchanged and does not accommodate and provide the necessary facilities for its current users. The South African Railway War Memorial Hall sits isolated from the site and the larger context of Johannesburg's inner city, and fails to communicate the energy and unique flavour, that is seen at many urban spaces within the culturally rich Johannesburg inner city. Interior architecture involves the alteration and adaptive reuse of existing structures. The thesis proposes the alteration of the South African Railway War Memorial Hall into a visitor centre for the Johannesburg Tourism Company. An intensive analysis was conducted in order to establish the historical, structural and environment contributors to the design. Visitor centres, relevant precedents, along with the theory of place-making were investigated to establish an effective design approach that will address the identified problem. This resulted in the design of the Urban Foyer. The intervention will provide the necessary facilities required by the current and proposed users. It will also promote and advertise local events, unique urban spaces frequented by locals and popular landmarks. It is hoped that such an intervention will facilitate the integration of the site with its immediate and larger context. It is also hoped that through this integration current and new users will be encouraged to explore Johannesburg's inner city. / Dissertation MInt(Prof)--University of Pretoria, 2014 / Architecture / MInt(Prof) / Unrestricted

Urban development is an ongoing process in Stockholm with renewal projects emerging in the suburbs of the city. Hallonbergen, north west of Stockholm city, is no exception and is also the neighborhood concerned in this essay. The purpose of the thesis is to examine two aspects of urban renewal and to analyze place-making as strategy for current urban renewal. The research strategy applied is a qualitative method and specific strategies utilized is qualitative interview and content analysis, in addition to literature sources such as earlier research in the form of scientific articles and books, official documents deriving from public authorities, news articles and internet sources. The result shows that urban renewal can be seen as a reason for segregation and hence a contributor to urban injustices as it causes a gentrification process leading to inequality for inhabitants, but also as a solution for segregation if a change in focus areas were to adapt, and thus, possibly, counteract the negative consequences of segregation and urban injustices. By way of conclusion, suggested improvement of urban renewal development combines regional development planning, a policy focused to involve a greater emphasis on retention and raised awareness of the risks associated with place-making.

Traditionally, interiors are associated with rooms as spaces inside buildings. Spaces for human habitation and interaction are found throughout the built environment and include urban space. Space is a product of social practices and Lefebvre (1991) argues that this process allows for ‘space’ to be transformed into ‘place’. The appropriation of space adds personal meaning to place that Lefebvre refers to as differential space. The study is based on the premise of Augé’s (1995) argument of place and non-place. Place allows for meaning and enrichment with the connotations of identity, history, urban relationships and social life within spatial dimensions and manifestations. Place and space are central to this investigation, as the study aims to determine the relation between spatial definition and place-making. Anthropological, economic, cultural, sociological, geographical, economic, ecological and political aspects that are influences, are accepted and acknowledged, but fall outside the scope of this study. This investigation focuses on the static, physical spatial dimension. A search into the criteria that can be applied to research, describe and define space and create place is conducted. The terminology that constitutes these criteria is identified according to the elements and modulation variables for architectural interiors. The study explores the possibility of developing a general set of criteria that could be collectively applied to all places for human habitation, regardless of the location. Human need for shelter is universal. Can the criteria to achieve this therefore also be collective? Furthermore, if generalities in spatial dimensions and manifestations do exist, can the term ‘interior’ be used collectively for both architectural and urban places? The existing situation of the Donkin Reserve in Central Hill, Port Elizabeth, is examined according to the criteria established in order to determine whether the space is adequately defined and meaningful to the community it serves. Recommendations are made according to the guidelines to improve the sense of place. The research consists of a literature study to establish a theoretical basis and is supplemented with precedent analyses to interpret and demonstrate theoretical concepts. The descriptive survey method as qualitative research methodology is used to collect data. / Dissertation (Master of Interior Architecture)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Architecture / unrestricted

Extralocal organizations and agencies have increasingly entered into the business of creative place-making—a strategy they use to encourage economic development. One such cultural development strategy is formal cultural district programs implemented by state agencies in cities and towns. While the use of art and culture as a tool for generating revenue is well-documented, less is known about the perspective of local actors—how they understand cultural district programs as a strategy to shape their place and what ways they negotiate the logics and strategies imposed on them from extralocal organizations. The Massachusetts Cultural District Program supports communities in their efforts to attract artists and cultural enterprises, encourage business and job development, establish tourist destinations, and enhance property values. In two Massachusetts cultural districts, I explore the “public” and “hidden transcripts” of state and local actors as pertains to their use of art and culture for fashioning locales as destinations and economic engines, on the one hand, and as places that respond to the wants and needs of the community on the other. Analysis of field notes from participant observations and in-depth interviews indicates a mismatch between the local and state logics that govern cultural districts—particularly around definitions of culture, place, and success. To cope with these mismatching cultural development logics, local actors find ways to harmonize with, modify, and circumvent extralocal logics to meet their own community goals. While these findings show that locales are not simply at the mercy of extralocal actors implementing their programs, they also expose opportunities for local actors to lead the policy conversation with their own logics and strategies.