Place and voluntary activity in inter-war England: topophilia and professionalization

Abstract

ABSTRACT:During the inter-war period, the formation of amenity groups marked a new phase in the way place was conceived and shaped and their establishment and relationship with newly empowered local authorities remains an under-examined aspect of the management of towns and cities at the time. Focusing on the motivations for group formation in Birmingham and Norwich, we explore how complex relationships of attachment to place, or topophilia, entered into dialogue with professionalizing approaches to urban development and shed new light on attitudes to urban conservation and planning in the inter-war period. The article also adds a historical perspective to work on affective relationships with place.