Effective coastal planning is inclusive and incorporates the variety of user needs, values, and interests associated with coastal environments. This requires understanding how people relate to coastal environments as ‘places’, imbued with values and meanings, and accordingly, tools that can capture place and connect with people’s ‘sense of place’ have the potential for supporting effective coastal management strategies. Realistic, immersive geographical visualizations, i.e., geovisualizations, theoretically hold potential to serve such a role in coastal planning. However, significant research gaps exist around this application context. Firstly, place theory and geovisualizations are rarely explicitly linked in the same studies, leaving questions around the (potential) relationship between these tools and sense of place. Secondly, geovisualization work has focused on terrestrial environments, and research on how to realistically model coastal places is currently in its infancy. This dissertation aims to address these gaps by pursuing two research objectives. The first objective is to explore the ‘human component’ of geovisualizations, referring to how these tools operate within the social and cultural dimensions germane to environmental management plans and processes. In accordance with the discussion above, this exploration is framed through place theories and concepts, and regards realistic geovisualizations as ‘place-based’ tools. The second objective concerns the coastal context, and it involves elucidating the considerations around developing and using terrestrial-to-marine geovisualizations as tools for inclusive coastal planning and management. The dissertation is composed of five manuscripts, which have been prepared as standalone articles for submission to academic journals. Each manuscript details a study designed to support an aspect of the research objectives, respectively serving (1) to develop a theory of geovisualizations as place-based tools, (2) to explore the theory in the coastal context, (3) to examine the relationship between sense of place and one’s mental visualization of place, (4) to develop a coastal geovisualization under place-based considerations and examine its capacity for connecting to sense of place, and (5) to assess the geovisualization’s potential as a tool for inclusive coastal planning efforts. The first and second study consist of literature review work. The third study involves a survey administered to residents of the Capital Regional District, which collected data for examining a potential relationship between the way people visualize coastal places and how they value and relate to these places. The fourth and fifth study involve developing a coastal geovisualization of Sidney Spit, and then employing focus groups to examine its ability for connecting with people’s sense of place (i.e., fourth study) and utility as a tool for inclusive planning (i.e., fifth study). Outcomes from the first study include a theory on how geovisualizations can function as place-based tools, and this was developed by integrating place concepts with ideas and conceptual models from human-media interaction and sense of presence research. The second study produced insight on how values and interests of different coastal user groups can influence understandings and perceptions of coastal places, and it used this insight to develop recommendations for coastal geovisualizations - full navigability, dynamic elements, and flexibility (i.e., allowing for continual modification and scenario building). The third study produced empirical evidence that place-based values and interests (i.e., framed through sense of place and concerns for place) can influence one’s mental visualization of place in terms of the types of elements people include and perspectives they take in said visualization. The fourth study demonstrated that the presence of certain elements in coastal geovisualizations (such as people, dogs, birds, marine life, vegetation, and boats) can contribute to realism and sense of place; however, simultaneously, deficiencies in numbers and varieties of these elements can detract from realism and sense of place. In addition, the fourth study found that the incorporation of soundscape and viewshed elements is significant for the tool’s ability to connect with sense of place. The fifth study demonstrated the geovisualization’s usefulness for assessing certain qualities of management scenarios, such as aesthetics and functionality of fencing around a restoration area and potential viewshed impacts associated with locations of moored boats. The study also found that incorporating navigability into the geovisualization proved to be valuable for enhancing understandings around scenarios that hold implications for the marine environment because it allowed users to cross the land-sea interface and experience underwater places. / Graduate

This thesis examines the everyday experiences of Anglophone communities in three different regions of Quebec – the Gaspésie, Gatineau and Eastern Townships – with the aim to understand their sense of place. Specifically, the focus is on the role of different geographic contexts on everyday access to social services, particularly healthcare, and how these experiences contribute to Anglophones’ place attachment. Data collection involved semi-structured personal interviews with ten participants in each region. Comparative analysis yielded three main findings: (1) issues with accessing healthcare in English reinforces Anglophones’ minority status; (2) in spite of the challenges faced as a linguistic minority, Anglophones demonstrate a strong sense of place to their region; and (3) feelings of home, heritage, and rootedness constitute elements in Anglophones’ place attachment and contribute to their sense of place in Quebec. The study also concludes that age, mobility, and location are important variables in influencing everyday experiences in each of the three regions.

The relevance of places to people has been questioned in recent times, as the world has become increasingly globalised and people more mobile. The aim of this research was to explore the relationship between sense of place and people’s behaviour in ‘ordinary’, everyday places. This contrasts with much prior research, which has focused on ‘special’ places, such as national parks and impressive landscapes in order to investigate the components of sense of place. Most people do not live in such places, but inhabit ordinary places in (sub) urban contexts. The research questions were: How does sense of place manifest in an ordinary, everyday landscape? In what ways can social learning impact upon the dynamics of sense of place? Can a more salient sense of place affect people’s attitudes towards and behaviour within their local area? Using an action research approach, pre- and post-interviews and three workshops to create a sustainable future vision at a neighbourhood level of scale, and the town as a whole, were held with fourteen residents of East Bolton, in the North West of England. The activities were designed to facilitate interaction between the participants, so that meanings attributed to places could be shared and discussed. This approach allowed participants to see familiar places in new ways and to share perspectives. The key themes that emerged from this research were: the importance of childhood places; the impact of mobility – both physical and social mobility; the interdependence of places at various scales; and also self-efficacy and people’s ability to influence their surroundings. A key finding was that sense of place can be made more salient for people in ‘ordinary’ landscapes, particularly if people are given direct experience of their places and opportunities to share and reflect on their perceptions relating to place. Social learning, however, takes time and requires resources to create opportunities to influence the salience of sense of place. The findings point to the value of promoting social learning through engagement activities. Planners, regeneration project officers and citizen groups could utilise sense of place as an organising principle to explore place meanings and as a catalyst for stimulating local action. Participants found it more difficult to discuss sense of place at the neighbourhood level of scale than the town level of scale, partly owing to their differing conception of boundaries and lack of awareness of the neighbourhood beyond the home. This has implications for implementing the localism agenda, suggesting that local action and visioning needs to be situated within activities nested at a range of scales in order to be most effective. The drive towards localism may lead to more self-organising and activism emerging from outside of the formal planning system and becoming a force for collective place shaping. Thus, the benefits of developing a more salient sense of place may also have impacts in less formal ways, such as greater interest and involvement in neighbourhood affairs and increased capacity-building, from which community action could potentially emerge.

abstract: This dissertation addresses empirical, applied, and theoretical issues in the place literature through an ethnographic study of the volunteer stewards in the nonprofit McDowell Sonoran Conservancy (Scottsdale, Arizona). The first phase of study explores Conservancy stewards’ phenomenological place meanings through participant observation, a photovoice protocol (N=18), and life-history interviews (N=53). Findings indicate that being a steward fosters deep, identity-based place meanings within the conservation land (the McDowell Sonoran Preserve) and City of Scottsdale. The second phase of study measures stewards’ psychometric place attachments to the Preserve and broader community using the Place Attachment Inventory (PAI) survey. New stewards’ (N=29) PAI scores—collected before attending orientation and one year after—demonstrate a rise in Preserve place attachment and place identity in the first year of service. Established stewards’ (N=275) PAI data suggests no correlation between place attachment and volunteer intensity. These findings are complemented by phase I results and suggest that stewards experience a rise in place identity after earning the identity of an environmental steward, regardless of engagement. The third phase of study experimentally combines the data from established stewards who participated in phase I and II (N=48) to test the hypothesis that those with identity-based place meanings would possess higher place identity scores. Data analysis found no significant differences in place identity scores between those with and without a Predicted High Place Identity. The outcomes of this experiment suggest construct validity issues with the widely used place attachment and place identity constructs. While it is established that volunteers arrive at an organization with a strong sense of place, this study demonstrates empirically how place attachments increase and place meanings deepen further after joining a volunteer organization. Communities and organizations can learn from the Conservancy’s practices that help stewards easily establish and perform a place-based steward identity. Finally, the experimental mixed methods findings suggest a sense of place research program that measures attachment to a place’s meanings rather than attachment to a place. This shift will allow place meaning and place attachment to be studied concurrently, advancing the sense of place construct and broader place theory. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Anthropology 2020

Youth crime is a current topic in the news and seems to be a serious challenge for several municipalities in Sweden. Therefore, this study investigated the increasing youth crime in Växjö municipality, especially the Teleborg centrum area. The study focused on the role that sense of place plays in relation to youth crime. The selected research method is a qualitative method and semi-structured interviews. Thirteen interviews were conducted and categorized into three categories: one youths who lives near the area Teleborg center, two residents in the area and three Växjö municipality workers, and other relevant individuals. The collected material was analyzed with the help of the concept of sense of place presented in the literature review and the idea of neighborhood decay, as well as Travis Hirschi's theory of social bonds. This study's findings show youth who live near Teleborg center have strong bonds concerning the family, school, and society in general. Therefore, youths who live near Teleborg center are not prone to develop criminal character. The result also shows that sense of place is weak and impacts youths' behaviors, contributing to insecurity and anti-social behaviors in Teleborg Center. Further, the results show the area Teleborg center lacks a strong community that promotes collective action to tackle instability concerns in the area. However, it is important to acknowledge that the results cannot be generalized to the entire population.

This degree project is focusing upon the use and relevancy of the phenomenon of ‘a sense of place’ within Swedish municipal spatial and strategic planning practice. The aim is to investigate if, when and how Swedish municipalities are working with the phenomenon of ’a sense of place’, which includes investigating possible motives and problems towards working with this. Furthermore the aim is also to investigate different theoretical, as well as empirical, understandings of the concept as ‘a sense of place’ is a highly ambiguous concept.Various theoretical understandings and definitions of the concept are acknowledged within the study, however a broader definition is primary used within the empirical investigation, whereas ‘a sense of place’ should be understood as: the particular qualities and atmosphere that makes a place unique, this is embedded within peoples understanding about place, which is affected by the physical environment, human activities and social relations.The empirical investigation is primary based upon qualitative interviews with public officials in seven Swedish municipalities. The study concludes in that ‘a sense of place’ as defined within the study, is highly relevant and present in Swedish municipal planning practice. Furthermore the study concludes in that there are possibilities to gain both economic and social benefits from incorporating a‘a sense of place’ perspective to planning, arguing for a relationship between social sustainability and ‘a sense of place’. / Denna studie undersöker fenomenet ‘a sense of place’ relevans samt aktualitet inom svensk kommunal planeringsverksamhet. Syftet med studien är att undersöka om, när och hur svenska kommuner arbetar med fenomenet ’a sense of place’ med fokus på planeringsprocessen. Vidare är syftet med studien även att verka teoretiskt samt empiriskt begreppsutredande kring ’a sense of place’ samt angränsande begrepp, då det är högst mångtydiga koncept.Studien diskuterar och reflekterar över flertalet tolkningar och definitioner av begreppet ’a sense of place’. För att konkretisera och underlätta den empiriska undersökningen appliceras en bredare definition av begreppet som: ’a sense of place´ är de specifika egenskaperna och atmosfären som gör en plats unik, vilket är inneboende i människors upplevelse av plats, vilket i sin tur påverkas av platsens fysiska karaktär, mänsklig aktivitet samt sociala relationer.Studiens empiriska undersökning är främst baserad på en kvalitativ intervjustudie med tjänstemän från sju svenska kommuner. Det empiriska materiaet kompletteras även av kommunala handlingar samt tre kvalitativa intervjuer med kommunstyrelseordföranden. Studiens slutsatser är att ’a sense of place’ som definierat inom studien, är ett högst relevant och aktuellt ämne inom den svenska kommunala planeringsverksamheten. Vidare är studiens slutsatser att arbete med ’a sense of place’ inom kommunal planeringsverksamhet har potential att påverka flera aspekter av samhällets hållbara utveckling; som ekonomisk tillväxt, samt ett mer socialt hållbart samhälle, där studien argumenterar för ett samband mellan ’a sense of place’ och social hållbarhet.

Denna studie har för avsikt att undersöka begreppet platsidentitet i relation till vad personer boende i Fellingsbro förknippar med sina liv. Syftet med studien är att undersöka vad personer i Fellingsbro förknippar med sina liv ur ett nutida och historiskt perspektiv samt om, och i så fall hur, personernas platsidentiteter har förändrats mellan 1970-talet till idag 2021.Begreppet platsidentitet har många olika definitioner. Platsidentitet kan förstås som dels baserad på platsens identitet, dels baserad på personernas identitet kopplat till platsen. Den här studien utgår från personers identitet kopplat till platsen men definitionen har även fått en egen prägel för att passa just den här studien. Det är vad personer förknippar och har förknippat med sitt liv, och därmed deras identitet i Fellingsbro, som är fokus i den här studien.Studiens empiriska undersökning är baserad på en flermetodsforskning där kvantitativa enkäter och kvalitativa intervjuer har kompletterat varandra. Enkätundersökningen låg till grund för avgränsningar i studien och intervjuerna gav fördjupad information om de olika teman som uppstod genom enkäten.Vidare är studiens slutsatser att de respondenter som har deltagit i denna studie har annorlunda platsidentiteter idag i jämförelse med vad de hade under 1970-talet. Respondenternas förändrade identiteter kan förstås genom ortens fysiska förändring, rörelsemönster och känsla för platsen. Dessa förändringar mynnar ut i att en majoritet av respondenterna idag ser andra orter som mer viktiga i sina liv än vad de var på 1970-talet. Samtidigt som respondenterna idag associerar sammanhållningen i Fellingsbro med de närmsta grannarna snarare än med Fellingsbro i stort som de i högre grad gjorde under 1970-talet.

Idag byggs urbana, rekreativa grönområden ofta bort till följd av förtätning, samtidigt som städernas kyrkogårdar lämnas orörda. Studien syftar till att i en svensk kontext, undersöka möjligheterna att planera för att urbana kyrkogårdar även ska fungera som rekreationsområde, utan att platsens spirituella dimension går förlorad. Studien har en abduktiv ansats, där kvalitativa intervjuer med planerare samt en representant från Svenska kyrkan utförts. Vidare har platskänsla använts som verktyg för att tolka materialet. Slutsatsen är att det idag finns olika intressenter, tillika platskänslor, att ta hänsyn till vid kyrkogårdsplanering. Några strategier, för att balansera de rekreativa och spirituella värdena, är att låta kyrkogården ha olika funktioner på olika ytor eller tidpunkter. En annan strategi är att anpassa vilken typ av rekreation som platsen uppmanar till. Det finns också möjligheter att utveckla kyrkogårdens spirituella värden som kan betraktas som rekreativa i sig. / Today, urban recreational green areas are gradually removed as a result of densification, while urban cemeteries are left untouched. This study aims to investigate the possibilities for urban cemeteries in Sweden to function as recreational areas, without losing the spiritual dimension. The study takes an abductive approach, where qualitative interviews with planners and representatives from the Church of Sweden were conducted. Furthermore, the concept of ‘sense of place’ has been used as a tool for interpreting the material. The conclusion is that there are many stakeholders, and different senses of place, to take into account in cemetery planning. Strategies for balancing the recreational and spiritual values involve working with different spaces and analyzing how they are used at different times. Adapting what type of recreation that is encouraged, is another approach. Lastly, some planners believe that the cemetery's spiritual values can be considered recreational in itself.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate immigrant youths’ experiences of accessibility of urban greenspaces (UGS) and how these spaces meet the needs and preferences of this user group. The case study takes on an explorative approach based on interviews and participant observations. Environmental justice and sense of place theory constitute the research framework and permeate the study from research design throughout to the conslusions. Environmental justice theory has been applied earlier in studies of accessibility of UGS among different social groups, mostly on issues of environmental bads. However, no previous research has treated these issues in combination with a sense of place framework. This study contributes to the UGS accessibility research by illuminating the subjective experiences of the urban nature in familiar environments. The results from this study depict how factors other than the physical presence of UGS - such as social networks for local knowledge, previous nature images and feelings of familiarity with the surroundings - affect the perception of how well UGS meet one’s need and desiers.

"Vision is regarded as the most noble of the senses, and the loss of eyesight as the ultimate physical loss" -- Juhani Pallasmaa To see or not to see?   As a child growing up in the Dominican Republic, my vision was blurred by a perception strongly held by my elders.  A perception that have been nurtured and carried out for many centuries.  This perception have kept me away from the 'reality', limiting my vision to what existed in the other side of the borderline.   As my eyes were blindfolded, my ears opened to received words that would slowly construct my own imaginary world.  A particular world, in which hearing was dominant over my other senses.  As one would imagine that a world could painful while living in 'darkness', what was actually painful was living with the existence of the unknown, of the invisible In April 2011, I decided to visit the imaginary line that runs along Dominican Republic and Haiti.  My experience was truly remarkable.  At that present moment, I had a very exciting encounter with a new sense of reality.  As I approached to an unfinished construction, I climbed to a metal stair reaching an altitude of nearly twenty feet.  My eyes witnessed what was hidden for nearly thirty years of my existence. Through the wavy transparent mirage caused by the refraction of the blistering sun, I was able to see the neighboring country of Haiti for the first time.  Along the Massacre River, there was an element that immediately captivated by curiosity.  It was  a thin, blue metal gate located right in the middle of a concrete bridge that expanded east and west uniting the border towns of Dajabon and Ounaminthe. To my eyes, this gate was a visible and an invisible boundary -- A line, a remarkably powerful, and fundamental element in Architecture -- which was strongly visible, by dividing and marking its presence demarcating territories.  Yet, was also transparent uniting two cultures during the market days. My thesis unfolds in the quest of what can exist by the emergence of the visible and the invisible -- what I envisioned while standing at the site, a Binational Market along the imaginary line. / Master of Architecture