A Hidden Dimension in Site Planning: Exploring Affective Experience as Part of Sense of Place on the Farm Kromdraai, Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site, South Africa
Uniqueness and distinctiveness of localities (referred to as genius loci or sense of place) are important to ensure people-s identification with their locality. Existing frameworks reveals that the affective dimension of environments is rarely mentioned or explored and limited public participation was used in constructing the frameworks. This research argues that the complexity of sense of place would be recognised and appropriate planning guidelines formulated by exploring and integrating the affective dimension of a site. Aims of the research therefore are to (i) explore relational dimensions between people and a natural rural landscape, (ii) to implement a participatory approach to obtain insight into different relational dimensions, and (ii) to concretise socio-affective relational dimensions into site planning guidelines. A qualitative, interdisciplinary research approach was followed and conducted on the farm Kromdraai, Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site. In essence the first phase of the study reveals various affective responses and projections of personal meanings. The findings in phase 1 informed the second phase, to involve people from various disciplines and different involvement with the area to make visual presentations of appropriate planning and design of the site in order to capture meanings of the interactions between people and their environment. Final site planning and design guidelines were formulated, based on these. This research contributed to provide planners with new possibilities of exploring the dimensions between people and places as well as to develop appropriate methods for participation to obtain insight into the underlying meanings of sites.
[1] Pampalon, R., Hamel, D., De Koninck, M. and Disant, M. (2007).
Perception of Place and Health: Differences between Neighbourhoods
in the Quebec City Region, Social Science and Medicine, (65), 95-111.
[2] Castells, M. (2010). The power of identity: The information
Age: Economy, Society and culture. Wiley-Blackwell.
[3] Relph, E. (1976). Place and Placelessness. Pion, London.
[4] Norberg-Schulz, C. (1980). Genius Loci: Towards a
Phenomenology of Architecture. Academy Editions, London.
[5] Carmona, M., Heath, T., Oc, T. and Tiesdell, S. (2003). Public places
Urban Spaces: The Dimensions of Urban Design. Architectural
Press, Oxford.
[6] Brinckerhoff, J.J. (1994). A Sense of Place, a Sense of Time. New
Haven: Yale University Press.
[7] Lynch, K. (1960). The image of the city. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T.
Press
[8] Cullen, G. (1964). The Concise Townscape. UK: Oxford
Architectural Press.
[9] Steele, F. (1981). The Sense of Place. Boston, MA: CBI Publishing.
[10] Punter, J. (1991). Participation in the Design of Urban Space.
Landscape Design, 200, 24-7.
[11] Montgomery, J., 1998: Making a City: Urbanity, Vitality and Urban
Design, Journal of Urban Design, 3, 93-116.
[12] Massey, D. (1994). Space, place and gender. Cambridge : Polity.
[13] Creswell, J.W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design : choosing
among five approaches, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks : Sage Publications.
[14] Babbie, E. & Mouton, J. (2001). The practice of social research.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[15] Leedy, P.D. & Ormrod, J.E. (2001). Practical research: planning and
design, 7th ed. New Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall.
[16] UNESCO, (2007). World Heritage: Vredefort Dome.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1162. Accessed 5 February 2007).
[17] Fleminger, D. (2008). Vredefort Dome: World heritage site of South
Africa. Johannesburg: 30┬░ South Publishers.
[18] Official website of the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP), (2005). United From:
http://www.unep wcmc.org/sites/wh/vredefort.html (Retrieved
November 30, 2008)
[19] Strategic Environmental Assessment (2006)
[20] Locker, Y. (1994). Business Skills. Houndmills, England : Macmillan.
[21] Nissani, M. (1995). Fruits, salads, and smoothies: A working definition
of interdisciplinary, Journal of Educational Thought, 29(2), 121-128.
[22] Saunders, C.D. (2003). The emerging field of conservation psychology,
Human Ecology Review, 10(2), 137-149.
[23] Bott, S., Cantrill, J.G. and Myers, O.E. (2003). Place and the promise of
conservation psychology. Human Ecology Review, 10, 100-112.
[24] Rose, G. (2001). Visual methodologies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[25] Catterall, M. & Ibbotson, P. (2000). Using projective techniques in
education research. British Educational Research Journal, 26(2),
245-256.
[26] Keller, C., Fleury, J., Perez, A., Ainsworth, B. & Vaughan, L. (2009).
Using visual methods to uncover context. Advancing Qualitative
Methods, (18), 428-435.
[27] Morgan, D.L. (1997). Focus groups as qualitative research:
Qualitative research methods Series 16. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.
[28] Clark-Ibanez, M. (2007). In Stanczak GC (Ed.). Visual research
methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[29] Stanczak, G.C. (2007). Visual research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.
[30] Weber, S. (2003). About Image Based Research.
www.iirc.mcgill.ca/about.html. (Accessed 20 November 2007).
[31] Burns, N. and Grove, S.K. (2001). The Practice Of Nursing Research.
Conduct, Critique & Utilization, Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders,
Philadelphia.
[32] Gay, L.R., Mills, G.E. and Airasian, P. (2006). Educational Research.
Pearson/Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
[33] Lincoln, Y.S. (1995). Emerging criteria for quality in qualitative and
interpretive research. Qualitative Inquiry, 1(3), 275-289.
[34] Lincoln, Y., & Guba, E. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills,
CA: Sage.
[35] Krefting, L. (1991). Rigor in qualitative research: The assessment of
trustworthiness. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy,
45(3), 1-19.
[36] Tuckett, A.G. (2005). Rigour in qualitative research: Complexities
and solutions. Researcher, 13(1), 29-42.
[37] Boyden, S., S. Millar, K. Newcombe, and B. O'Neill. (1981). The
Ecology of a City and Its People: The Case of Hong Kong. Canberra,
Australia: Autralian National University Press.
[38] Relph, E. (1997). Sense of place. In Hanson, S (Ed.). Ten geographic
ideas that changed the world, p.205-226. New Brunswick, NJ:
Rutgers University Press.
[39] De Young, R. (2000). Expanding and evaluating motives for
environmentally responsive behaviour. Journal of Social Issues,
56(3), 509-526.
[40] Kellert, S.R. & Wilson, E.O. (1993). The Biophilia Hypothesis.
Washington, DC: Island Press.
[41] Beringer, A. (2000). In search of the sacred: a conceptual analysis of
spirituality. Journal of Experimental Education, 23(3), 157-165.
[42] Davis, J. (2004). Psychological benefits of nature experiences: An
outline of research and theory. (Retrieved from
http://www.johnvdavis.com/ep/benefits.htm)
[43] Kaplan, S. (1987). Aesthetics, affect and cognition. Environment and
Behaviour, 19(1), 3-32.
[44] Kaplan, R. & Kaplan, S. (1989). The experience of nature: A
psychological perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press.
[45] Ulrich, R.S. (1993). Biophilia, biophobia and natural landscapes. In
Kellert SA, Wilson EO (Eds.). The biophilia hypothesis. Washington,
DC: Island Press/Shearwater, pp. 74 -137.
[46] Ittelson, W.H. (1973). Environmental perception and contemporary
perceptual theory. In W.H. Ittelson (Ed.), Environmental and
cognition (pp. 1-19). New York: Academic Press.
[47] Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: Towards an
integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15,
169-182.
[48] Gifford, D. (1995). Natural psychology: An introduction. Journal of
Environmental Psychology, 15, 167-168.
[49] Hartig, T., Mang, M. & Evans, G.W. (1991). Restorative effects of
environment experiences. Environment and Behaviour, 23910, 3-26.
[50] Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and
predicting social behavior. Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
[51] Anderson,E.N., 1996: Ecologies of the heart: Emotions, beliefs and
the environment. NY: Oxford University Press.
[52] Kals, E., Schumacher, D. & Montada, L. (1999). Emotional affinity
towards nature as a motivational basis to protect nature. Environment
and Behavior, 31(2), 178-202.
[53] Sumner, P. (2003). On the geomorphic evidence for a Late Quarternary
periglaciation of the main escarpment region of eastern southern
Africa. Thesis (Ph.D.)(Geography) University of Pretoria.
[54] Carayol, N. and Nguyen Thi, T. U. Why do Academic Scientists
Engage in Interdisciplinary Research?,
http://cournot2.ustrasbg.fr/users/beta/publications/2004/2004-17.pdf
(download 07-06- 2005), 2004.
[55] Hague, C. And Jenkins, P (eds), (2005). Place Identity, Participation
and Planning. Routledge, Oxfordshire.
[56] Bechtel, R.B. & Churchman, A. (2002). Handbook of environmental
psychology. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
[1] Pampalon, R., Hamel, D., De Koninck, M. and Disant, M. (2007).
Perception of Place and Health: Differences between Neighbourhoods
in the Quebec City Region, Social Science and Medicine, (65), 95-111.
[2] Castells, M. (2010). The power of identity: The information
Age: Economy, Society and culture. Wiley-Blackwell.
[3] Relph, E. (1976). Place and Placelessness. Pion, London.
[4] Norberg-Schulz, C. (1980). Genius Loci: Towards a
Phenomenology of Architecture. Academy Editions, London.
[5] Carmona, M., Heath, T., Oc, T. and Tiesdell, S. (2003). Public places
Urban Spaces: The Dimensions of Urban Design. Architectural
Press, Oxford.
[6] Brinckerhoff, J.J. (1994). A Sense of Place, a Sense of Time. New
Haven: Yale University Press.
[7] Lynch, K. (1960). The image of the city. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T.
Press
[8] Cullen, G. (1964). The Concise Townscape. UK: Oxford
Architectural Press.
[9] Steele, F. (1981). The Sense of Place. Boston, MA: CBI Publishing.
[10] Punter, J. (1991). Participation in the Design of Urban Space.
Landscape Design, 200, 24-7.
[11] Montgomery, J., 1998: Making a City: Urbanity, Vitality and Urban
Design, Journal of Urban Design, 3, 93-116.
[12] Massey, D. (1994). Space, place and gender. Cambridge : Polity.
[13] Creswell, J.W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design : choosing
among five approaches, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks : Sage Publications.
[14] Babbie, E. & Mouton, J. (2001). The practice of social research.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[15] Leedy, P.D. & Ormrod, J.E. (2001). Practical research: planning and
design, 7th ed. New Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall.
[16] UNESCO, (2007). World Heritage: Vredefort Dome.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1162. Accessed 5 February 2007).
[17] Fleminger, D. (2008). Vredefort Dome: World heritage site of South
Africa. Johannesburg: 30┬░ South Publishers.
[18] Official website of the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP), (2005). United From:
http://www.unep wcmc.org/sites/wh/vredefort.html (Retrieved
November 30, 2008)
[19] Strategic Environmental Assessment (2006)
[20] Locker, Y. (1994). Business Skills. Houndmills, England : Macmillan.
[21] Nissani, M. (1995). Fruits, salads, and smoothies: A working definition
of interdisciplinary, Journal of Educational Thought, 29(2), 121-128.
[22] Saunders, C.D. (2003). The emerging field of conservation psychology,
Human Ecology Review, 10(2), 137-149.
[23] Bott, S., Cantrill, J.G. and Myers, O.E. (2003). Place and the promise of
conservation psychology. Human Ecology Review, 10, 100-112.
[24] Rose, G. (2001). Visual methodologies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[25] Catterall, M. & Ibbotson, P. (2000). Using projective techniques in
education research. British Educational Research Journal, 26(2),
245-256.
[26] Keller, C., Fleury, J., Perez, A., Ainsworth, B. & Vaughan, L. (2009).
Using visual methods to uncover context. Advancing Qualitative
Methods, (18), 428-435.
[27] Morgan, D.L. (1997). Focus groups as qualitative research:
Qualitative research methods Series 16. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.
[28] Clark-Ibanez, M. (2007). In Stanczak GC (Ed.). Visual research
methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[29] Stanczak, G.C. (2007). Visual research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.
[30] Weber, S. (2003). About Image Based Research.
www.iirc.mcgill.ca/about.html. (Accessed 20 November 2007).
[31] Burns, N. and Grove, S.K. (2001). The Practice Of Nursing Research.
Conduct, Critique & Utilization, Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders,
Philadelphia.
[32] Gay, L.R., Mills, G.E. and Airasian, P. (2006). Educational Research.
Pearson/Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
[33] Lincoln, Y.S. (1995). Emerging criteria for quality in qualitative and
interpretive research. Qualitative Inquiry, 1(3), 275-289.
[34] Lincoln, Y., & Guba, E. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills,
CA: Sage.
[35] Krefting, L. (1991). Rigor in qualitative research: The assessment of
trustworthiness. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy,
45(3), 1-19.
[36] Tuckett, A.G. (2005). Rigour in qualitative research: Complexities
and solutions. Researcher, 13(1), 29-42.
[37] Boyden, S., S. Millar, K. Newcombe, and B. O'Neill. (1981). The
Ecology of a City and Its People: The Case of Hong Kong. Canberra,
Australia: Autralian National University Press.
[38] Relph, E. (1997). Sense of place. In Hanson, S (Ed.). Ten geographic
ideas that changed the world, p.205-226. New Brunswick, NJ:
Rutgers University Press.
[39] De Young, R. (2000). Expanding and evaluating motives for
environmentally responsive behaviour. Journal of Social Issues,
56(3), 509-526.
[40] Kellert, S.R. & Wilson, E.O. (1993). The Biophilia Hypothesis.
Washington, DC: Island Press.
[41] Beringer, A. (2000). In search of the sacred: a conceptual analysis of
spirituality. Journal of Experimental Education, 23(3), 157-165.
[42] Davis, J. (2004). Psychological benefits of nature experiences: An
outline of research and theory. (Retrieved from
http://www.johnvdavis.com/ep/benefits.htm)
[43] Kaplan, S. (1987). Aesthetics, affect and cognition. Environment and
Behaviour, 19(1), 3-32.
[44] Kaplan, R. & Kaplan, S. (1989). The experience of nature: A
psychological perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press.
[45] Ulrich, R.S. (1993). Biophilia, biophobia and natural landscapes. In
Kellert SA, Wilson EO (Eds.). The biophilia hypothesis. Washington,
DC: Island Press/Shearwater, pp. 74 -137.
[46] Ittelson, W.H. (1973). Environmental perception and contemporary
perceptual theory. In W.H. Ittelson (Ed.), Environmental and
cognition (pp. 1-19). New York: Academic Press.
[47] Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: Towards an
integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15,
169-182.
[48] Gifford, D. (1995). Natural psychology: An introduction. Journal of
Environmental Psychology, 15, 167-168.
[49] Hartig, T., Mang, M. & Evans, G.W. (1991). Restorative effects of
environment experiences. Environment and Behaviour, 23910, 3-26.
[50] Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and
predicting social behavior. Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
[51] Anderson,E.N., 1996: Ecologies of the heart: Emotions, beliefs and
the environment. NY: Oxford University Press.
[52] Kals, E., Schumacher, D. & Montada, L. (1999). Emotional affinity
towards nature as a motivational basis to protect nature. Environment
and Behavior, 31(2), 178-202.
[53] Sumner, P. (2003). On the geomorphic evidence for a Late Quarternary
periglaciation of the main escarpment region of eastern southern
Africa. Thesis (Ph.D.)(Geography) University of Pretoria.
[54] Carayol, N. and Nguyen Thi, T. U. Why do Academic Scientists
Engage in Interdisciplinary Research?,
http://cournot2.ustrasbg.fr/users/beta/publications/2004/2004-17.pdf
(download 07-06- 2005), 2004.
[55] Hague, C. And Jenkins, P (eds), (2005). Place Identity, Participation
and Planning. Routledge, Oxfordshire.
[56] Bechtel, R.B. & Churchman, A. (2002). Handbook of environmental
psychology. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:64933", author = "K. Puren and H. Coetzee and V. Roos", title = "A Hidden Dimension in Site Planning: Exploring Affective Experience as Part of Sense of Place on the Farm Kromdraai, Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site, South Africa", abstract = "Uniqueness and distinctiveness of localities (referred to as genius loci or sense of place) are important to ensure people-s identification with their locality. Existing frameworks reveals that the affective dimension of environments is rarely mentioned or explored and limited public participation was used in constructing the frameworks. This research argues that the complexity of sense of place would be recognised and appropriate planning guidelines formulated by exploring and integrating the affective dimension of a site. Aims of the research therefore are to (i) explore relational dimensions between people and a natural rural landscape, (ii) to implement a participatory approach to obtain insight into different relational dimensions, and (ii) to concretise socio-affective relational dimensions into site planning guidelines. A qualitative, interdisciplinary research approach was followed and conducted on the farm Kromdraai, Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site. In essence the first phase of the study reveals various affective responses and projections of personal meanings. The findings in phase 1 informed the second phase, to involve people from various disciplines and different involvement with the area to make visual presentations of appropriate planning and design of the site in order to capture meanings of the interactions between people and their environment. Final site planning and design guidelines were formulated, based on these. This research contributed to provide planners with new possibilities of exploring the dimensions between people and places as well as to develop appropriate methods for participation to obtain insight into the underlying meanings of sites.
", keywords = "Affective dimension, Sense of place, spatialplanning, Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site.", volume = "4", number = "6", pages = "1530-11", }
