Abstract
Although grounded theory (GT) has emerged as a popular research approach across multiple areas of social science, it has been less widely taken up by researchers working in the fields of urban planning and design. The application of GT enables uniquely innovative insights to be gained from qualitative data, but it has attracted criticism and brings its own challenges. This paper proposes a methodology that could be applied by other researchers in the field of urban research. Utilising constructivist GT as a qualitative approach, this research investigates how cultural memory impacts the psychosocial well-being and quality of life (QoL) of users of, and visitors to, historic urban landscapes (HULs). Based on the findings, it can be posited that the application of GT yields a rich and nuanced understanding of how users of HULs experience the settings in which they live, and the impact and significance on human psychosocial well-being of the cultural memories incarnated within such settings. The current paper also contends that GT enables researchers studying the built environment to construct inductively based theories. Lastly, the practical implications of developing GT for application to HUL management are discussed, both in regard to how users experience the contexts in which they live and the impact of such contexts on well-being and quality of life.
Highlights
The field of urban research is multidisciplinary, incorporating insights from the fields of, inter alia, landscape architecture, urban planning, design, and management
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 2011 recommendations aimed to manage the physical deterioration of historic urban settings (Bandarin and Oers 2015)
Research variable patterns were identified, which enabled meaning to be generated and a picture to be created of how cultural memory is enabling the sense of place for users of, and visitors to, the three historic urban landscapes (HULs)
Summary
The field of urban research is multidisciplinary, incorporating insights from the fields of, inter alia, landscape architecture, urban planning, design, and management. Al Salam context and Zanqit Alsitat market Each of these places have been the subject of published research papers (Hussein et al 2020a, 2020b, 2020c) that have developed GT to advantage in analysis. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 2011 recommendations aimed to manage the physical deterioration of historic urban settings (Bandarin and Oers 2015). These recommendations were inclusive in defining the HUL as “the urban area understood as the outcome of a historic layering of cultural values and natural attributes, that extends beyond the idea of ‘ensemble’ or ‘historic centre’. Cultural memory is the act of recalling events that are related to encounters with objects, places, and events by people in a social framework or between groups that experience these events (Molavi et al 2017)
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