Phenomenological Encounters With Place: Cavtat to Square One

Historic preservation, significance, and age value: A comparative phenomenology of historic Charleston and the nearby new-urbanist community of I'On

“…These elements were associated with perceiving the landscape as layers and the mental process of peeling back these layers to discover what lay beyond resulted in a sense of discovery and mystery that drove informants to explore their environments. This sense of mystery and discovery is remarkably similar to what Stefanovic (1998) described in the way she experienced the ancient town of Cavtat; what is different in the present study, however, is that the experience of an essentially new communitydI'Ondalso engendered these same feelings, which was the opposite of the experience Stefanovic reported for a typical (i.e., non-new urbanist) suburban development in Toronto. One can therefore conclude that physical age is not required for catalyzing a sense of mystery or discovery in places; rather, the layered quality of the landscape is perhaps one of the most important factors.…”

“…While phenomenology may be "of particular relevance when dealing with the questions of significance for [historic] preservation" as Jack Elliott (2002, p. 54) advocates, there are few instances of such work in the literature. Two examples include Farmer and Knapp's (2008) study of historical interpretation programs at the West Baden Springs Hotel in West Baden, Indiana (noteworthy for its mixed-method design) and Stefanovic's (1998) comparison of the ancient town of Cavtat, Croatia and a recent suburban development in Toronto, Canada. This later study in particular has much in common with the comparison of the two places that will be presented in this paper in its description of how the ancient town has a sense of mystery and discovery absent from the much newer suburban development.…”

Residents’ sense of place and landscape perceptions at the rural–urban interface

“…The concept provides opportunities to examine the social and cultural processes affecting environmental and landscape valuation, including a broader range of voices and values, especially those of residents, in landscape planning and policy (Cheng et al, 2003;Relph, 1985;Saar & Palang, 2009;Soini, 2007). As sense of place is expected to translate into harmony between people and nature, as well as care for the place, thereby contributing to the aesthetic quality of the landscape (Birkeland, 2008;Cross, Keske, Lacy, Hoag, & Bastian, 2011;Davenport & Anderson, 2008;Kaltenborn, 1998;Relph, 1985;Soini, 2007;Stefanovic, 1998;Tuan, 1977;Walker & Ryan, 2008), it provides an informative concept in an environment with heterogeneous expectations for landscape management (Eisenhauer, Krannich, & Blahna, 2000;Soini, 2007). Still relatively few studies have been carried out on the relationship between sense of place and landscape perceptions in rural areas, or on the relationship between sense of place and willingness to contribute to rural landscape management (Kaltenborn, 1998;Walker & Ryan, 2008).…”

A deeper meaning of place

“…Understanding place has been repeatedly supported as a phenomenological process (Relph 1985;Seamon 2000;Stefanovic 1998;Tuan 1975Tuan , 1977. Such a phenomenological approach to understanding place could shed the necessary light on that which is to be transformed and that which is to be conserved within the context of a particular place.…”