Place Theory Research Articles

DAILY FLOWS, URBAN POLYCENTRICITY, AND TRANSIT COMMUTING PATTERNS: A STUDY OF SHANGHAI, CHINA

ABSTRACT Employment center locations, the jobs-housing relationship, and commuting patterns are inextricably connected in a megacity that heavily relies on the urban transit system to shuttle commuters. Using a transit smartcard dataset, a machine learning method is employed as a preliminary filter to sift through commuter flows and isolate key data, then kernel density and topological analysis methods are implemented to delve into the primary research questions, providing a detailed look at how these patterns unfold. The results show that transit commuting behavior in Shanghai is a dispersal activity based on multi-level employment centers characterized as hierarchical, boundary-clear, and functionally oriented. Further analysis illustrates that the intensity of commuting linkages correlates with the employment center level, shaping a hybrid pattern that couples a core-periphery pattern with a spoke-hub pattern. The commuting network connections present corridor, neighborhood, capture, and replacement features, highlighting the importance of employment centers in shaping commuting patterns. From a daily flow perspective, these findings echo the central place theory and verify that the employment center distribution in Shanghai is also multi-layered and well-nested, forming the basis for commuting links. Policy implications are provided for polycentric megacities with progressively sophisticated urban transit systems.

Aesthetic atmospheres and their affordances in urban squares

PurposeThis study aims to explore aesthetic atmospheres and their affordances in urban squares to advance knowledge on the research and design of attractive living environments.Design/methodology/approachDescriptions of pleasant and unpleasant experiences of urban squares were collected using qualitative questionnaires with open-ended questions. The theoretical framework and the lens of aesthetic affordances were applied to pinpoint and understand the connections between the place attributes and experiences.FindingsThis study found four distinct aesthetic atmospheres formed by perceived synergies of both the material and immaterial aspects of the environment. It was also found that the atmospheres may shift. A model that shows the aesthetic atmospheres and their potential affordances as layered and emerging is presented.Research limitations/implicationsEveryday aesthetics considered as affordances open new research perspectives for the understanding of what generates attractive living environments – or not.Practical implicationsAesthetics affordances may provide the design professionals and alike means on how to design places that engender specific aesthetic atmosphere.Social implicationsGathering and discussing commonplace aesthetic experiences in everyday life may enhance democratic participation in place development among people with different levels of design expertise.Originality/valueThis study combines theories of place with a novel concept of aesthetic affordances to identify distinct aesthetic atmospheres. A holistic overview structure of how the various constituents of aesthetic atmospheres relate to each other provides new ways of studying and understanding urban aesthetic atmospheres.

AN INNOVATION PLACE MODEL FOR THE ANALYSIS OF CREATIVITY AND SOCIAL INNOVATIVENESS IN SELECTED FRENCH AND POLISH METROPOLISES

The article’s starting point is the assumption that, because of their socio-cultural and economic diversity, density, and complexity of interaction systems, metropolises provide a sufficient basis for creating innovation – including social innovation emerging from residents’ grassroots activities. Such perspective emphasises the importance of the creative potential of residents, as materialised in emerging innovation places and collectives operating and dispersed throughout the city. Assuming such a perspective made it possible to build an original model for this study of an innovation place that combines the features of classical and dynamic theories of place. In the empirical portion of the article, the data obtained during the study of ten selected innovation places located in three European metropolises are analysed. The study used qualitative methodology: in-depth interviews and observations. The study’s main objective was to assess the utility of the model of the innovation place as a tool for identifying and analysing metropolitan social innovation. This objective has been achieved, and the data obtained showed that, by using the model with characteristics typical of an innovation place, it is possible to effectively analyse the process of creating social innovation, indicate its determinants, and reveal differences in the innovation places under study.

Identification of Urban Centre and Rural Growth Centres Around Guwahati and Its Surrounding Rural Region Using Hierarchical Settlements, Nested Hexagons, Remote Sensing and GIS

Guwahati city is the highest order urban center of Assam and is an important gateway to the north eastern region of India. In this study, a 50km buffer from the master plan boundary of Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) is selected for identifying potential urban centers and rural growth centers (URGC) of different order for decentralized planning and inter and intra-administrative cooperation around the city using multi-parametric criteria. This includes central place theory, nested hexagon method and thematic information on groundwater potential zones, land use/land cover, flood prone and landslide susceptible zones. Out of the 32 identified potential villages, 15 are proposed for new urban centers and 17 are proposed for development as rural growth centers. 9 towns are also proposed for up-gradation to higher order for proper spatio-functional interaction. However, several suggestions and preventive measures were made before initiating developmental expansion which needs to be considered. The findings of this study would be useful for decentralized planning to minimize the economic imbalances, rural migration and sustainable development of the region.

Geography learners’ awareness and lived experiences of their local environment: A case of Namibia

This paper examines the awareness and lived experiences of 28 secondary-level school learners in Namibia to explore their observations and experiences in their local environments. It investigates the factors influencing their ability and/or willingness to make observations. The research employed open-ended, semi-structured interviews and drawings to collect data from Grade 11 learners in five different locations. The data was analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis and the theme related to exposure to environments is explored. The study draws on theories of place and informal learning, highlighting the role of everyday experiences in shaping individuals’ understanding of their surroundings. All the participants showed that they are aware of what makes the environment in which they live different to others by describing the geographical concepts present in their local environment. However, the findings show that participants’ ability or willingness to make observations can be hindered or reduced by factors such as a lack of interest and familiarity with their local environment and a preoccupied mind. The study highlights the value of understanding learners’ perspectives from their own lifeworlds and sheds light on the contribution of the local environment to geographical awareness.

Unruly River and Plantation Logics

In this contribution to the Plantationocene forum, we ask what and how the Plantationocene allows us to see. Considering the unruly Colorado, we think through how both the delimitation of time into epochs in the form of “cenes” and the search for plantation logics might limit what we can see and understand, by excluding the unruliness of both nature and people, and by insisting on a historical vision that maintains European agency, even if rendered as a problem. We turn to other theories of time and place to attend to the forms of life that confound settler colonial plantation logics and ask whether, despite scholars’ intentions to create a critical model of our entangled social and environmental planetary histories, the Plantationocene instead risks producing Native absence.

포디프레임을 활용한 중심지 이론 모델링 활동의 교육적 효과 및 인식에 미치는 영향

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a model and modeling-based educational program among pre-service teachers and their perceptions of the effectiveness of themodeling-based teaching program.
 Methods: A total of 46 pre-service teachers majoring in Geography Education at a teacher education university participated in the study. Twenty students in the experimental group were given a three-week program regarding the central place theory based on models and modeling, and their understanding of the central place theory was analyzed through a t-test. The questionnaire on the perception of the effectiveness of the program was analyzed through descriptive statistics and iterative reading.
 Results: The results indicated that the experimental group had a statistically significantly higher level of understanding than the control group. These pre-service teachers also expressed an overall positive perception of the program in terms of flow, evaluation of the program, satisfaction, and aestheticand embodied cognition. Regarding the pedagogical effectiveness of the educational program, they recognized an enhanced level of understanding, focus and engagement.
 Conclusion: This research found that there should be more educational programs based on models and modeling with 4Dframe that would help pre-service teachers understand complex concepts through physical manipulation.

College sport, events tourism and the demand for short-term rentals

ABSTRACT Using a central place theory approach, this study investigates the demand for short-term rental units and how it is impacted by external sport-related events (college football, university events, and holidays), location, and the characteristics of the units. Using an extensive database of 1,852 units and their daily availability in Ann Arbor, Michigan, findings of the main model and two robustness models support the relevancy of central place theory to sport tourism and reveals from an externalities perspective just how dependent the city’s hospitality and tourism industry is on the university, and particularly the scheduling of events including American football games. The findings provide detailed results for short-term rental bookings based on unit characteristics, dates, and external factors. This study reveals the impact a sport organization has on the local hospitality market that should be further examined in other towns and cities debating the future of hospitality industry and the relationship between sport and tourism.

Soils as Carbon Stores and Sinks: Expectations, Patterns, Processes, and Prospects of Transitions

The few percent of soil organic carbon (SOC) among mineral components form the interface of climate, plant growth, soil biological processes, physical transport infrastructure, and chemical transformations. We explore maps, models, myths, motivation, means of implementation, and modalities for transformation. Theories of place relate geographic variation in SOC to climate, soil types, land cover, and profile depth. Process-level theories of biophysical change and socioeconomic theories of induced change explain SOC transitions that follow from land use change when a declining curve is bent and recovery toward SOC saturation starts. While the desirability of recovering from SOC deficits has been mainstreamed into climate policy, the effectiveness of proposed measures taken remains contested. Process-level requirements for transitions at plot and landscape scales remain uncertain. Expectations of policy-induced SOC transitions have to align with national cross-sectoral C accounting and be managed realistically with land users (farmers) and commodity supply chains (private sector, consumers).

Investigating the central place theory using trajectory big data

The human settlement system is central to land use, infrastructure development, and environmental impacts. Although central place theory (CPT) was proposed about 90 years ago and has been extensively examined by many researchers, to what extent CPT can explain the current rural settlement system in the changing age of informatization and geospatial reconstruction remains to be explored. This paper aims to contribute fresh evidence for settlement systems and examine the applicability of CPT's quantitative laws by using the trajectory data of 2.0362 billion trips from 37.53 million mobile phone users in China's Jing-Jin-Ji region (218,000 km2 area). We found that the settlement system's distribution patterns and service range conformed with the hierarchical law in CPT. However, the former was closer to the administrative principle (K = 7) in Christaller's theory, while the latter was nearer to the marketing principle (K = 3). The basic service range of all levels of settlements for rural residents was approximately 3 km, which was reflected by the rural residents' 3 km travel volume peak point. When exceeding this distance, the relationship between travel volume and distance distribution changed from linear increase to power-law attenuation. The traditional three principles of CPT influenced the settlements’ service range and K value. Nevertheless, the specific roles of the influencing factors varied in space. The findings of this paper would enhance our knowledge of CPT and settlement systems in the context of a fast growing and rapidly urbanizing society.

Geographical Tensions Within Municipalities? Evidence from Swedish Local Governments☆

AbstractWhen Sweden transformed its geography of local government in 1952 and 1962–1974, the number of municipalities was reduced from 2,498 to 278. The reforms were infused by the “central place theory,” which aimed to identify a larger town as the “local capital” (centralort) for each municipality. The centralort became the municipalities' political and administrative center, responsible for providing public services to surrounding settlements. Taking our point of departure in this historical legacy, as well as the literature on “geographies of discontent,” we ask whether there are geographical tensions within today's Swedish municipalities. Are there differences in satisfaction, trust, and views on the future of one's place of residence when comparing the centralort with its surrounding settlements? Using two datasets—Statistics Sweden's citizen survey carried out in 241 municipalities and Trustbarometer in 49 municipalities—we find that citizens in the centralort are more satisfied with democracy than those in peripheries, where individuals residing in the municipalities' most rural parts are the most dissatisfied. Moreover, different issues are perceived as more pressing and salient in the centralort compared to surrounding settlements.

Towards a multi-scalar place-sensitive planning approach in small-sized cities

ABSTRACT The urban fabric can be characterised as an ever-evolving assemblage operating on multiple scales; constantly being constituted and reshaped by internal and external elements, not making it possible to regard any place as an isolated entity at a specific scale. Through an overview of relational place theory, this paper aims to theoretically discuss how local planning practices need to include a relational and multi-scalar approach to cope with complex urban and rural realities if they wish to create development in local places. To unfold this, the paper reveals some of the empirical implications of such a multi-scalar urban reality, by analysing how two selected Danish municipalities seek to relate to, respond to and comply with the networked and relational reality of place in their planning practices. The empirical work builds among others on students’ field work and the cases expose the importance of working with totalities, relations and networks on multiple scales; however, they also reveal the challenges related to the manifestations of such a practice. The paper argues that, despite the challenges associated with this practice, the current complex global interconnectedness of places calls for an increased focus on strategic municipal planning approaches that are both multi-scalar and place-sensitive.

“Close and desirable for whom?”: parents traversing racialised spaces and places in gentrifying U.S. schools

ABSTRACT Within public schools in gentrifying U.S. neighbourhoods, affluent, White families’ priorities collide with those of families from economically disadvantaged and racially minoritized groups. Grounded in raced-classed theories of space and place, we examine how various indicators of gentrification intersect with parents’ experiences in schools and how parents negotiate competing claims to space amid neighbourhood change. We foreground interviews with parents from gentrifying schools in Greater Boston and Washington D.C. Findings reveal how neighbourhood racial and socioeconomic changes informed parents’ connections to schools. Residential proximity to schools and commercial centres shaped parents’ sense of belonging in schools. Parents’ negotiation of racial, spatial, and classed hierarchies in schools and neighbourhoods reveals a need to situate their experiences and perspectives as foundations for school reforms and urban planning initiatives that address and contest social and educational inequities.

Using film to interpret a sense of place: a practice-based case study

ABSTRACT This article presents a new approach for understanding the sense of place in film, based on the findings of a practice-based case study. With a background in both television production and heritage interpretation, I approached the production of a short film for a heritage site as an opportunity to investigate filmic approaches to interpreting and analysing a sense place by using the location-linked theories of space and place from philosophy and human geography and the understanding of setting and landscape from film studies. The article contributes to the ongoing discussion around the place at a time when digital technologies are increasingly altering definitions of spatiality and one's sense of place.

Resisters

Resisters is an oppositional essay film, located in Berlin and addressed to Rosa Luxemburg, the Marxist Revolutionary who was assassinated in Berlin in 1919. The key analytic approaches are located within the framework of film studies, trauma and memory studies, autobiography and theories of place, space and spectatorship. The use of hybrid cinematic strategies of critical realism and poetic re-imagining, brings the force of memory and history into the present to encourage reflection and resistance and enables the circumvention of extensive use of archive footage and exposition.

Field, place or space? A carnal ethnography of a therapeutic space-construct

PurposeIn advancing the academic discourse around the theory of field, place and space in ethnographic research, this paper proposes a carnal sociological reading of the meaning and form of the Lindsay Leg Clubs – third-sector community leg care centres for older adults with leg problems – as a therapeutic space-construct.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on non-formulaic, polymorphic ethnographic research in the UK Lindsay Leg Clubs conducted through multiple on-site and extramural engagements with the Leg Club community between 2019 and 2023 and an interview with the Leg Club founder and president, Professor Ellie Lindsay OBE. Wacquant's (2015) reflexive, enactive ethnographic approach is applied to develop an intellectual and carnal know-how of Leg Clubs as therapeutic space-constructs.FindingsThe researcher's “flesh and blood” experience of the Leg Clubs reveals the importance of cognitive and embodied appreciation of sounds, smells, sights, movements, the structures of wound stigma, centre-stage physical bodies of members and the volunteers, the material arrangement of the place and the researcher's own visceral and intellectual, biographical relation to the fieldwork to understand the therapeutic form and meaning of Leg Club spaces.Originality/valueApplying the carnal sociology approach to reveal the therapeutic form and meaning of the Leg Club spaces makes concrete the abstract distinctions between field, place and space in ethnographic research, hence advancing the discourse around the theory of field in ethnography. A carnal sociological reading of the Leg Club spaces has implications for an embodied understanding of broader community care spaces.

Yere Bağlanma Olgusunun Önemli Bir Bileşeni Olarak Yeşil Alanlar: Kuzguncuk Bostanı

Yere bağlanma kavramı, bireylerin yaşadıkları alanlarla kurdukları duygusal bağlar sonucunda meydana gelir. Bu kavram, hisler, anlama, algılama ve davranış biçimleri gibi değişkenleri içermesi sebebiyle çok boyutlu ve karmaşık bir olgudur. Lewicka (2011, p.223) Yere bağlanma olgusu üzerine yapılan çalışmaların “insanlar, süreçler ve yerler” üzerine olması gerektiği halde, araştırmaların büyük çoğunluğunun sadece konunun psikolojik ve sosyolojik boyutu üzerine yoğunlaştığını belirtmektedir. Bu çerçevede Lewicka, “Yer”i inceleyen bir ‘Yer Teorisi’ (Place Theory) henüz oluşmadığını ve yere bağlanma ile “Yer”in özellikleri arasındaki ilişkileri inceleyen az sayıda çalışma olduğunun altını çizmektedir. Bu makale, Yere Bağlanma olgusu ile Yer’in özelliklerini araştıran geniş kapsamlı bir araştırmanın bir alt başlığı olarak, yeşil alanların varlığı ile yere bağlanma olgusu arasındaki bağlantıyı ortaya çıkarmayı hedeflemekte ve yere bağlanma olgunun mekanın fiziksel özellikleri ile ilişkisini araştırmaktadır. Bu çalışmada araştırma soruları, alan kullanıcılarının sosyal ve demografik özelliklerinin yanı sıra mekanın fiziksel özelliklerini anlamayı ve çözmeyi hedefleyecek şekilde belirlenmiştir. Alan çalışması, İstanbul kentinin Anadolu yakasında bulunan tarihi değerlere sahip Boğaziçi köyleri arasında yer alan Kuzguncuk mahallesinde yapılmıştır. Mahalle kuzeyde bir diğer eski Boğaz köyü olan Beylerbeyi, güneyinde ise Üsküdar ilçesinin tarihi kent merkezi arasında konumlanmıştır. Kuzguncuk mahallesinin önemli kentsel imajlarından biri olan, “İlya’nın Bostanı” adıyla da bilinen bostan alanıdır. Bostan, Kuzguncuklular için, hem çok kullanılan bir yeşil alan, hem de mahalleye ait ortak hafıza mekanıdır. Bu nedenle 1980’lerden başlayarak çekiciliği artmaya başlayan mahalledeki, Bostan alanı birçok kereler değişik fonksiyonlarla kullanıma açılmaya çalışılmış, ancak her defasında mahalle halkının çabalarıyla tehlike bertaraf edilmiştir. Çalışma kapsamında Kuzguncuk semtinde 2016 yılının altıncı ayında 400 kişinin katılımıyla yapılan anket araştırmasının sonuçları paylaşılacaktır. Bu makalede üst ölçekli kapsamlı bir çalışmanın yere bağlanma ve yeşil alanlar ile ilgili kısmı çekilmiş ve bu kapsamlı araştırmanın bazı sorularına odaklanılmıştır.

Ekistics as a Place Theory

Constantinos A. Doxiadis’s entopia is a multidisciplinary design and planning system against the dystopian conditions of the mid-twentieth century. Embodying the criticism of the period’s architectural and urban trends, C. A. Doxiadis coined entopia as a practicable concept between “unattainable” utopia and “existing” dystopia in 1966 as a complementary term for ekistics’ principles to provide healthy living conditions for the oncoming world city, ecumenopolis. This paper examines Entopia’s historical and spatial context by investigating the uniqueness of the concept among the place theories of the same era, aiming to re-open a discussion of ekistics. Entopia suggests a dynapolis (dynamic city) model and integrates a grid plan for accessibility and adequate mobility. The idea originates from the need for a human-oriented approach for future settlements of developing countries, new towns to be built, and existing settlements to be transformed in the direction of emerging needs. In this context, the paper first focuses on the grid plan and linear city model as antecedents of entopia’s dynamic city model. Secondly, modernist utopias are examined to compare entopia and other …topia projections. Thirdly, the place theories of the 1960s are criticized as the contemporary debates of entopia.

The Spatial Ecological Environment Design of the Waterfront Public Areas of Rural Rivers

Abstract To revitalise established urban areas in the context of stock planning, the river surges in established urban areas play an irreplaceable role. In recent years, the water systems of rivers and surges in established urban areas of many international metropolises have undergone transformation and regeneration. The formerly hardened river banks have begun to be transformed into post-industrial places of integrated residence, leisure, and work, reshaping the ecological landscape and the functions of leisure activities of the rivers and urban spaces. By selecting typical representative cases for analysis and research, this paper determines the research angle and conducts a comparative study of waterfront open space in small and medium-sized cities and large cities from the perspectives of spatial layout, functional structure, ecological restoration, and artistic style, summarises the characteristics and current problems of waterfront open space in small and medium-sized cities at the present stage, and takes the problem as a guide, combining urban design, place theory and other theoretical studies as a guide. Planning and design strategy for waterfront open space in small and medium-sized cities is proposed. This paper selects representative waterfront open spaces and open waterfront spaces for field research. It uses the waterfront open space planning strategy proposed in the paper as a guide to provide a basis for waterfront open space planning and design and, at the same time, selects typical lots for optimal design to verify the implementation ability of the strategy. This paper digs into the rich historical, and geographical information contained in the sample villages in each area summarises the site selection characteristics of traditional villages in Hebei at the mesoscopic level between different areas and analyses the characteristics of the overall layout of villages dominated by natural factors such as mountains, hills and plains, and human factors such as ancient defile post roads, military defences, industries and temples. The spatial skeleton structure of the single-axis type, multi-axis type, organic network type, regular network type, and the fortress-wall enclosed village is extracted. The characteristics of its subtypes are summarised with sample cases. The elemental composition of village centres and boundaries is summarised.

Jerusalem as the Central Place for Paul and Acts

In Galatians 1–2, Paul mentions several times that the apostles’ leadership is situated in Jerusalem. In Gal 2:1–2, he even designates it simply as “Jerusalem”. Paul acknowledges the centrality of the apostles in Jerusalem in his enterprise of the collection of the money for the saints in Jerusalem. Yet, the city is transformed into central theological concepts in Paul’s distinction between “the present Jerusalem” and “Jerusalem above” (Gal 4:25–26). Thus, despite his debates with Peter and James, Paul not only accepts that the early Christian leadership dwells in Jerusalem, but he also designates the center of the Jesus movement as “Jerusalem”. This means that the holiness of the city, its prophetic heritage, and messianic hopes as reflected in the Hebrew Bible are associated with the apostles’ community. Quite a similar picture is found in the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles. Jerusalem is mentioned in Acts fifty-nine times. Luke refers to the name of the city time and again, stressing that the apostles act and live in Jerusalem, that Paul comes to the city, and that other events happen there. Yet, the oft-repeated references to Jerusalem in Acts go far beyond accurate geographic descriptions. In Acts, the author stresses that the Jesus movement operates in/from the Jewish holy center, which accords the movement legitimacy as a Jewish movement. Jerusalem is “the place” of the apostles’ community. The community of apostles is identified with the city, as if they are Jerusalem. In a sense, Luke follows Paul (and most probably the apostles’ community) in associating the origin and center of the Jesus movement with Jerusalem. This association may be explored in light of the theory of place (which is related to the general theory of space or spatial theory). The apostles identify with Jerusalem to show other believers in Jesus that they are the leaders and center of the Jesus movement. It is an act of domination. At the same time, they claim to be “Jerusalem” while being persecuted. Hence their self-association with the city is also an act of resistance.