Place Identity and Sense of Place in the Context of Urban Spatial Transformation: A Case Study of Xiaozhou Village in Guangzhou, China
Received date: 2010-12-30
Request revised date: 2011-06-13
Online published: 2012-01-20
Copyright
The research on identity is very important within cultural and social studies. Identity represents the roles that individuals or social groups play within a social and cultural structure. It is connected with self-recognition and self-definition. On the other hand, place identity means that the meanings of place are taken as part of self-definition. Through place identity, individuals or social groups understand themselves through the constructive nature of place as a reference. In this paper, place and identity are exploited as the main axes around which this discussion is embarked. Taking Guangzhou's "Artist Village"—Xiaozhou Village as an example, the evolution of identities of both the local villagers and the newcomer artists is to be understanded, under the context of Guangzhou′s urban spatial transformation. In particular, the coexistence, juxtaposition, collision and even conflict between the two groups′ place-based identities are interested in. The research results suggest that there is an apparent status of fragmentation between the place identities of the two social groups. There is no sound proof in support of any progressive sense of place in either group′s place imagination, in which sense it can be believed that there will still be a long process before the two social groups are fully integrated in, regard of the construction of their place-based identities.
Key words: Xiaozhou Village; urban space; place; identity
ZHU Hong , QIAN Jun-xi , LU Xu-ping . Place Identity and Sense of Place in the Context of Urban Spatial Transformation: A Case Study of Xiaozhou Village in Guangzhou, China[J]. SCIENTIA GEOGRAPHICA SINICA, 2012 , 32(1) : 18 -24 . DOI: 10.13249/j.cnki.sgs.2012.01.18
Fig.1 Local villagers′cognitive map of Xiaozhou Village图1 村民小洲村意向图 |
Fig.2 Artists′cognitive map of Xiaozhou Village图2 艺术家小洲村意向图 |
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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