Abstract
The intrinsic characteristics of built environments shape the way one identifies with any place. The dialectics of people and their physical settings over time negotiate and establish intricate bonds between the two; interweaved by belief systems, memories, experiences, and deep-rooted meanings. Peoples’ association with place depends not only on its tangible aspects but are profoundly ingrained in its intangibles, temporalities, depiction in narratives, semiotics, diverse forms of cultural manifestations and one’s varied experiences of such engagements. Accumulated meanings of place, passed on through generations, negotiated, partly eroded and transformed are the basis of a continuum of people–place ties forming ‘Place-Identity’ (PI). Scholars from across disciplines have defined and refined the theoretical construct of ‘Place-Identity’ (PI) and the processes of its formation. The objective of this paper is to theorize the construct of ‘Place-Identity’ through an in-depth literature review and deconstruct it into factors that can be observed and analyzed for documenting the same. A perception study conducted in various cities of the geographical subregion of Southern Asia has been used to evaluate these factors derived from literature. Extracts from this perception study are put forth in the paper to reinforce the theoretical narrative. In conclusion, this paper proposes a framework for systematically gathering the Place-Identity of a city.
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Nanda, G., Meel, A.K. (2023). Theorizing the Construct of Place-Identity. In: Kostopoulou, S., Herrera-Franco, G., Wood, J., Al-Kodmany, K. (eds) Cities’ Vocabularies and the Sustainable Development of the Silkroads. SRSTDCH 2021. Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31027-0_4
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