Stability of self-reported favourite places and place attachment over a 10-month period

We investigated the reliability and stability of favourite place selections and evaluations of place attachment over a 10-month period. A simple random sample of 1273 respondents representative of the population of the two largest cities in Finland completed a mailed questionnaire. Reliability data was obtained in a second questionnaire (N = 427). We obtained five main favourite place types which were extensively managed natural settings (mainly urban woodlands), urban green spaces (mostly parks), waterside environments, exercise and activity/hobby areas, and indoor and outdoor urban areas. Sixty-four percent of the respondents in the second survey selected the same main favourite place type as 10 months earlier, which is more than what might be expected by chance. Extensively managed natural settings (mainly urban woodlands) and waterside environments were reselected most often. Indoor and outdoor urban favourite places had the lowest stability. We found evidence of people being more consistent in their attachment to natural favourite places than to urban favourite places. The findings lend further credence and credibility to earlier results concerning self-regulation and restorative experiences in favourite places.     

RESTORATIVE EXPERIENCE, SELF-REGULATION, AND CHILDREN''s PLACE PREFERENCES

We examined the role of restorative experience and self-regulation in the formation of place preferences by Finnish children. Girls and boys (n= 55) aged 8–9 or 12–13 and living in downtown Tampere or Helsinki answered open- and closed-ended questions in a structured interview. One or both parents completed a questionnaire. We did not find statistically significant associations between age or gender and type of favorite place, nor was a particular type of favorite place named disproportionately often, independent of age and gender. The latter result contrasts with previous findings with young adults. However, like young adults, over half of the children appeared to use their favorite places for cognitive restoration. One-third of the children reported using their favorite places for emotion-regulation. Use of the favorite place for restoration and emotion-regulation did not necessarily imply visiting the favorite place alone; however, 12–13-year-olds were more likely than the younger age group to visit the favorite place with friends. Surprisingly, many parents did not know their child's favorite place.     

An exploration of place as a process: The case of Jackson Hole, WY

A variety of theoretical positions and frameworks have been advanced to account for how places become “places”—in other words, how places become meaningful. Most existing frameworks share the idea that a place is a complex concept, given life by people attaching meaning to a physical setting in a variety of ways. This paper explores how places evolve as ever-shifting points of meaning that mark changes in people's lives in response to a variety of influences. Data collected from in-depth personal interviews in and around Jackson, Wyoming, are used to explore the conceptualization of place as a process, rather than a static entity. Three key themes or dimensions that were frequently described by interviewees are examined: (1) life stage/course, (2) searching for a feeling, and (3) commitment to a place. Not only did some respondents describe what made places important to them (the components, such as social ties, or favorite activities), they also described how these attributes worked together to create and maintain place meanings over the course of their lives. During the interviews, it was noted that these dimensions and processes were expressed explicitly as well as implicitly.     

Social Planning for Mall Redevelopment: An Australian case-study

This paper provides a case study of recent work undertaken in Melbourne relating to a mall re-development project. It begins by discussing the nature of shopping centres as sites of consumption and non-commercial social activities. It then describes planning and development strategies that provide innovative and socially progressive interventions in regard to the social, physical and regulatory environments of public malls. The importance of seeing such sites as 'community spaces', of promoting activities on the basis of social inclusion, of creating a safe, convivial atmosphere, and of establishing low-key friendly sorts of mall management, are highlighted.     

The deep city: cultural heritage as a resource for sustainable local transformation

ABSTRACT

The sustainable city of the future is typically envisioned as smart, creative and disruptive, assuming that urban and local sustainability is achieved through new technology and innovation. However, considering that the built environments of our cities and surroundings are highly durable, there is also a need to focus on how resources brought from the past – histories, artefacts and places – may be used for promoting urban sustainability. We label this a “deep city” perspective on urban and local transformation. By looking at Røros, a World Heritage Site in central Norway with a dense and historic wooden urban centre, we investigate how its heritage protection facilitates the maintenance of a compact urban centre. We hold that a shared sense of place – the deepness– may serve as a resource against unsustainable sprawl and mall-oriented development.     

Social Planning for Mall Redevelopment: an Australian case-study

This paper provides a case study of recent work undertaken in Melbourne relating to a mall re-development project. It begins by discussing the nature of shopping centres as sites of consumption and non-commercial social activities. It then describes planning and development strategies that provide innovative and socially progressive interventions in regard to the social, physical and regulatory environments of public malls. The importance of seeing such sites as 'community spaces', of promoting activities on the basis of social inclusion, of creating a safe, convivial atmosphere, and of establishing low-key friendly sorts of mall management, are highlighted.     

营口市港城经济关联度研究

港口是城市经济发展的核心资源,城市为港口经济发展提供支撑.以营口市为研究对象,应用灰色关联度模型,对营口市1995-2009年以来城市相关产业与港口吞吐量进行关联度分析,其结论为:港口经济与城市工业、建筑业关联度较高,批发零售业、金融保险业关联度相对较低;在城市经济的促进下,港口临港工业正在形成,但是港口经济对城市服务业带动较小.     

Perception of street vendors as ‘out of place’ urban elements at day time and night time

This study attempts to understand the public evaluation towards elements that exist within the temporal dynamics of the cities. In particular the study explores the extent to which street vendors in Jakarta are evaluated as ‘out of place’ elements at day time and night time. The findings suggest that the users' evaluation of street vendors as ‘out of place’ change from day time to night time. The change of users' evaluation also varies across different urban places. In particular the study suggests that the presence of street vendors seems to be less unacceptable (out of place) at night time. Such knowledge regarding the dynamic of ‘out of place’ evaluation becomes important in making the decision about temporary urban elements in the city.     

Assessing London,Ontario's brownfield redevelopment effort to promote urban intensification

Intensification of existing urban areas is currently a major item on the policy agenda of the Ontario and Canadian governments. As part of the urban intensification drive, brownfield sites have become major candidates for redevelopment. Governments at all levels have initiated policies and programmes to encourage their remediation and redevelopment. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative exploration of brownfield redevelopment in London, Canada. Through in-depth interviews (n?=?17) with key stakeholders involved in brownfield redevelopment, the study explores the level of participation in brownfield redevelopment, barriers to brownfield redevelopment in the city, and perceptions about financial incentives in the city's Brownfield Community Improvement Plan. The study found that despite the availability of financial incentives, the overall private sector participation in brownfield redevelopment is low due to barriers such as competition from greenfield, risk, cost, negative public perception of brownfields, and complex remediation processes. The paper provides policy suggestions that may contribute to a more active participation in brownfield redevelopment in the city.     

Students' awareness of the urban environment in a small Greek city

Guided and open ended questionnaires are distributed to secondary school students in the small Greek city of Serres in order to study their preconceptions about the urban environment. According to students' responses the word city is mostly connected with negative natural, social and structural features. Evidence is provided that young people are developing a reasonable conscious of environmental issues, especially regarding acute everyday aspects of city life, e.g. solid waste management. Places of entertainment and leisure as well as places representing the history of the city are also highly appreciated. Noticeably, students have only a limited knowledge of the living species of their city, identifing as such mostly pets and other relatively large animals but almost no plants. Finally, a comparison is conducted with an analogous study from the small Spanish city of Orense leading to similar conclusions, a fact which lends support to the notion of a common European environmental education policy.     

Fifth-, sixth-, and seventh- grade students’ use of non-classroom spaces during recess: The case of three private schools in Izmir, Turkey

This study investigates fifth, sixth, and seventh grade students’ place preferences between indoor and outdoor non-classroom spaces during recess and their activity patterns in these spaces in three private elementary schools. The study explores whether differences in the variety and organization of the spaces of school facilities have an impact on the place preferences of students and whether students are aware of the reasons for their preferences. Students’ place preferences and their activities were determined with field observations and a 30-item questionnaire with Yes/No and open-ended questions. A total of 173 students (n = 51 School 1; n = 70 School 2; and n = 52 School 3) participated in the questionnaire. The Chi-Square test, a non-parametric statistical analysis test, was used to analyze the students’ answers to the questionnaire. The results indicate that students prefer places which offer variety and which are large enough to avoid congestion and that, in general, students are aware of the spatial features of their environments and make choices accordingly. When students are given a choice of outdoors or indoors, they tend to choose according to which is more conducive to their activities. If both outdoor and indoor spaces are conducive, students tend to use both. If neither is conducive to their activities, students either alter their behavior patterns, for example, developing a preference for stationary activities or staying inside the classroom, or they convert available spaces to accommodate their activities. It is concluded that students are good sources of information in the design and planning of the environments they occupy.     

Public parks as an element of urban planning: a missing piece in Accra's growth and development

Public parks are important to urban environments, residents, and visitors. Among other functions, they provide environmental services, such as air and water purification, and they increase both recreational opportunities and the attractiveness of the urban environment. Because of their importance, urban parks serve as public spaces that provide visitors and urban residents with rights to the city. This paper identifies the dearth of urban public parks in Accra-Tema city-region as worrying. The Accra Plan 1958 underscored the significance of green spaces and designated the coastal strip for parks development but the areas have been lost to various urban uses. We argue that the continual neglect of public parks within urban planning and community development schemes in the Accra-Tema city-region is a major concern because it is depriving the citizens a right to the city and its public spaces. A number of factors have worked adversely against the provision of public parks and green spaces in the city-region. These include development pressures, undue political interference, a complex land delivery system, and ad hoc planning. The paper concludes by offering policy suggestions as to how to resolve the dearth of parks and green spaces in the city-region.     

城市生态环境质量评价——以南充市为例

以可持续发展理论为指导,结合南充生态城市建设的要求,对南充城市生态环境进行定量评价并提出改进对策。采用城市空气污染指数API等23个指标,应用层次分析法对四川省第二座大城市南充的生态环境质量进行定量评价,2010年南充城市的生态质量综合值P为0.67,达到Ⅲ级标准,城市生态可持续发展水平状况良好。伴随着快速的城市化和人口激增,南充城市生态问题日益突出。主要问题表现为:老城区交通拥堵、绿地面积小、建筑屋间距不够,城市环境指数低,工业园区建设与城市房地产开发占用较多土地,城市原生态的生态-地貌景观被人为过度的破坏与改造,城市经济有待进一步发展。     

Sustainability versus liveability: an investigation of neighbourhood satisfaction

Recent years have witnessed an increasing emphasis placed on planning systems in most advanced capitalist societies to develop a more sustainable urban development pattern, resulting in policies to increase residential densities. Although belief in the virtues of the compact city approach is now widespread among the policy community, questions remain relating to the ‘sustainability versus liveability’ implications of compact city environments. In this regard, while the public may support sustainability principles, there is a perception that high-density development poses too great a cost on individuals' quality of life. Combining both quantitative and qualitative research data, this paper evaluates the relationship between high-density living and neighbourhood satisfaction within the central city. Findings suggest that, in many instances, it is not high density per se that is the source of dissatisfaction for respondents, but rather other related factors such as environmental quality, noise, lack of community involvement, traffic and lack of services and facilities.     

Environmental audit: III. Improving the management of environmental information for toxic substances

Environmental programs have been commonly driven by a preoccupation with the collection of data in the mistaken belief thatdata is synonymous withinformation. The distinction between data (that is, the quantified and qualitative attributes of a particular environment) and information (specifically, data processed so as to focus upon a particular environmental problem) will become far more important to environmental managers. They will increasingly manage their information through use of what has become known as information resource management (IRM) and the attendant use of critical success factors methodology. Environmental managers will thereby move away from concerns about data and specific EDP hardware and applications toward managing information as a valuable agency resource. In applying IRM, they will find it helpful to include a number of planning elements and to resolve early a number of issues critical to its successful use.     

Food production in the city: (re)negotiating land,food and property

This paper addresses issues of access to land for food production in Toronto by offering fresh perspectives on urban agriculture in the neo-liberal city of the global north. It examines attempts to scale up urban agriculture that emphasise changing the relationships between land access, property and new collaborative relationships among different stakeholders. These initiatives involve renegotiating access to land for growing food between private property owners and landless growers, concomitant shifts in control over valued resources and commercialisation. These shifts are often based on relations of trust within a sharing economy rather than public battles over political decisions to develop urban agriculture lands. Growing food on private lands in the city is political in challenging taken-for-granted ideas and practices of property and urban agriculture. New approaches offer options for training and income, as well as expanding the land base for urban agriculture. Small-scale farming projects are affirmative political manoeuvres. They challenge urban residents to consider land for food production across the categories of public and private property. We document three approaches that challenge current property relations: temporary use of a development site through “soft” squatting; redesignating suburban backyards for farmer training and community-based and private food production; and garden sharing of private home backyards for urban food production and commercial growing. Such initiatives articulate alternative visions of sustainability and food security that rely on principles of collaboration and a sharing economy that challenge prevailing notions of property ownership and food security.     

Watering the garden: preferences for alternative sources in suburban areas of the Mediterranean coast

Gardening has become a relevant contributor to the quality of life of suburbanites, as a source of leisure, to build a relationship with nature or to express a particular social identity. Nevertheless, water scarcity in the Mediterranean region has increased concerns about how demand should be managed to face future uncertainties, and watering the gardens has become an element for discussion in urban planning. This contribution presents the findings of a survey of permanent residents and secondary homeowners (n?=?230) in the suburban areas surrounding the city of Girona in the northeast of Catalonia (Spain). The area is a popular national and international tourist destination and a preferred place for second-home owners. We explore the main socio-demographic drivers for choosing an alternative watering source and we analyse if water-harvesting tank sizes properly meet net irrigation requirements. Results show that many water-harvesting tanks are oversized. The percentage of unemployed or retired household members, the estimated irrigation water needs of the garden and the education level directly influence the search for alternative sources of water. Moreover, social variables like interest in gardening, water conservation attitudes and household income indirectly influence the search for alternative sources of water.     

The effect of urban quality improvements on economic activity

This paper is concerned with the link between urban quality improvements and economic activity. A key question is whether improvements in the urban environment which might be achieved, for instance, through pedestrianisation, will affect business location choices - for example, are office or retail businesses particularly keen to locate in more pleasant urban places? The paper outlines the current state of development of the literature with respect to the influence of urban quality on economic activity, and proposes a framework for forecasting economic impacts based on three communities of reference: customers, employees, and the businesses themselves. The results from original modelling of a case study area in Manchester, England are reported and suggest that the positive uplifts that may be expected from environmental improvement programmes may well be on a scale which is significant. The research is obviously important for the urban regeneration and renaissance agendas which posit attractive and well-designed environments as a way to create the right conditions for promoting economic growth.     

Moving dirt: soil,lead, and the dynamic spatial politics of urban gardening

Urban gardens are often heralded as places for building social, physical, and environmental health. Yet they are also sites of significant conflict based on competing political, economic, and ecological projects. These projects range from radical re-envisionings of liberatory urban spaces, reformist aesthetic and sanitary improvement programmes, to underwriting the production of the neo-liberal city. These projects are based on divergent visions of the garden ground itself, in particular, whether this is soil (the fertile and living source for growing food and social values) or dirt (an inert and even problematic substrate to be removed or built upon for development purposes). These are not fixed or mutually exclusive categories, but are unstable as soil/dirt moves in discursive and material ways over time and space. Contaminants such as lead in the soil contribute to this instability, reframing fertile soil as dangerous dirt. To understand this discursive and material movement of soil/dirt over time and space, a dynamic spatial politics framework is needed that encompasses three scalar concepts: location, duration, and interconnection. This paper applies this dynamic spatial politics framework to interpret the 30-year conflict over the fate of an urban garden in Sacramento, California, that began as a countercultural space and was eventually transformed into a manicured amenity for a gentrifying neighbourhood, and the role of soil lead contamination in this narrative.     

Emergy synthesis of tourism-based urban ecosystem

Macao is a tourist city with a dense population, but is short on natural resources. Almost all of the life-support resources of the city depend on imports from outside. During the past 20 years, Macao has experienced an economic boom accompanied by rapid social development. The tourism industry (including gambling, hotel accommodation, restaurant dining, and shows) have become the city's main economic activity since 1991. This paper uses emergy flow analysis to investigate and characterize the urban evolution and city development that have occurred in Macao from 1983 to 2003. Macao's tourism industry has existed almost from the establishment of the city, with the legalization of gambling in Macao occurring in 1850. Tourism has become the biggest industry in Macao, contributing more than half of the city's revenues since 1995. The emergy flow related to tourism was tracked and analyzed to measure its contribution to Macao. In addition, we used statistical analysis to divide the various emergy-based indicators into three categories: positive, negative, and insensitive indicators.