Original Article

The characters of place in urban design

Marichela Sepea,* and Michael Pittb

a
Institute for Service Industry Research-National Research Council, Department of Architecture-University
of Naples Federico II, Via G. Sanfelice, 8, Napoli, 80134, Italy.
E-mail: [email protected]
b
University College London, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place, London, WC1H 0NN, UK.
E-mail: [email protected]
*Corresponding author.

Abstract Placemaking, in the sense of ‘the art of making places for people’, to paraphrase the definition given
in By Design: Urban Design in the Planning System, ‘includes the way places work and such matters as community
safety, as well as how they look. It concerns the connections between people and places, movement and urban
form, nature and the built fabric, and the processes for ensuring successful villages, towns and cities’. The city
thus becomes the outcome of complex intersections created by a number of operators who modify the system for
different reasons. It becomes necessary to identify a microsystem within the macrosystem of the city able to make
the urban variants intelligible: place is at once porous and resistant, a receptor for complex interactions. The con-
cept of place, in the sense of a space endowed with unique features that is fundamental for establishing the iden-
tity of the contemporary city, is meant as a key concept of urban design. We illustrate the environmental, historic,
symbolic, urban, perceptive, anthropological, sociological and psychological characteristics, extending as far as
virtual place and non-place. The extension of the concept of place is that of place identity which is considered ≪not
in the sense of equality with something else, but with the meaning of individuality or oneness≫. The concepts of
both place and identity will be illustrated in the article with reference to texts produced by architects, urban
planners, sociologists, geographers, environmental psychologists, anthropologists, historians and philosophers.
URBAN DESIGN International (2014) 19, 215–227. doi:10.1057/udi.2013.32; published online 8 January 2014

Keywords: Place; place identity; urban design; urban landscape; placemaking; contemporary city

Introduction tree I may have seen grow (that my father may

have planted the day I was born), the attic of my
The relationships linking the elements that make childhood filled with intact memories … Such
up the phenomenological world are complex and places don’t exist, and it’s because they don’t exist
in many cases contradictory. As Norberg-Schultz that space becomes a question, ceases to be self
has pointed out, phenomena may incorporate evident, ceases to be incorporated, ceases to be
others, while some phenomena constitute the appropriated. Space is a doubt: I have constantly to
environment in which others manifest themselves. mark it, to designate it. It’s never mine, never given
One term that can be used to define the environ- to me, I have to conquer it’ (Perec, 1997, p. 91, see
ment in which phenomena manifest themselves is also Bachelard, 1969).
‘place’, as the space in which events occur (or ‘take Places are the element of the existential place
place’) (Norberg-Schulz, 1980, p. 6). and constitute the primary unit. Berque (1999)
Place is not evident: it should be sought, identi- acknowledges the coexistence of two aspects in
fied and gained. ‘I would like there to exist places place, one quantitative and the other qualitative,
that are stable, unmoving, intangible, untouched which complement each other. Every place ‘neces-
and almost untouchable, unchanging, deep rooted; sarily possesses a part which is both material –
places that might be points of reference, of depar- physical and ecological – and measurable, and
ture, of origin: My birthplace, the cradle of my therefore commensurable with other sites. This
family, the house where I may have been born, the qualitative dimension is akin to the Aristotelian

© 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 19, 3, 215–227
www.palgrave-journals.com/udi/
 Sepe and Pitt

topos1 and Heidegger’s Stelle: as for the container, it outside and beyond what we experience’ (Rossi,
is the external limit of a thing in the universal space 1984, p. 103).
of an objectified environment. On the other hand, Starting from these premises, the article illus-
place is related no less necessarily to an immaterial, trates the characters of place, fundamental for
phenomenal and semantic – non-measurable – urban analysis and design (Cabe, Detr, 2000). All
dimension, and thus cannot be compared to other places have a character that is the world’s main
places. This qualitative and unique dimension mode of ‘supply’ a priori. ‘Character’ is at the same
makes it similar to Plato’s khora2 and Heidegger’s time a more general and a more concrete concept
Ort (Heidegger, 1962; see also, Heidegger, 1969): it than ‘space’. On the one hand, it denotes a general
is the condition of existence of the thing within the comprehensive atmosphere, and on the other the
sensitive world. These two aspects are combined concrete form and substance of the space-defining
trajectorively in the ecumene3 reality: every place is elements. Any presence is intimately linked with
not only a topos, but also a khora, and vice versa’.4 a character (Norberg-Schulz, 1980, pp. 13–14). In
Specifically regarding the quality aspect, place – place, we can recognize the infinite characters
as Healey (2010, pp. 33–34) asserts – is also related that it consists of (Sepe, 2010: Sepe, 2013a, b, c, d).
to the meaning that people give to their surround- Below, we will treat the environmental, historic,
ings and their capacity to influence them. Places symbolic, urban, perceptive, anthropological,
are not just a set of objects positioned on a site in sociological, psychological character until we reach
order to make up a part of a city or of a territory. the virtual and that of non-place, which is useful to
They assume a specific meaning in the moment in provide a framework for the topics in this article.
which we infuse them with a value. Indeed the term Furthermore, the definition of the concept of place
place – such as meant by Healey – does not concern identity and its components complete the article
the objective reality and their buildings, streets, (Sepe, 2007; Sepe, 2013b–d; Sepe and Pitt, 2013).
landscapes and facilities, nor is it considered as
necessarily coterminous with administrative juris-
diction. ‘Things may be co-located, and relations Character of Place
may overlay each other in physical spaces when we
feel that we have arrived somewhere, when we Environmental character, as Norberg-Schulz (1980)
sense an ambiance, when we feel that we are at affirms, is the essence of the place. It consists in
some kind of nodal space in the flows of our lives’. shape, in concrete things, the atmosphere in which
Places and people possess, according to Nor- these live. The first operation ‘to give life to a place’
berg-Schulz, a genius loci, a sort of guardian spirit is to give it a name in order to make it recognizable
that accompanies them to their death and deter- to the rest of the world around it, or construct it
mines their character. The genius corresponds to according to our own way of thinking and vision
what a thing is or what it wants to be. ‘Since of the world.
ancient times the Genius loci, or “spirit of place” According to an environmental–psychological
has been recognized as the concrete reality man approach, individual places should be treated by
has to face and come to terms with in his daily life positioning them in a wider system of places in
(…) and the task of the architect is to create mean- which they belong. As Bonnes and Secchiaroli
ingful places, whereby he helps man to dwell’ (1995, pp. 192–194) assert, the consideration with
(Norberg-Schulz, 1980, p. 5). which to start is the existence of organizational
Aldo Rossi recognizes in the choice of place a modalities with which the individual experiences
strong value in the classical world both for a single the place. Places are perceived as being intercon-
building and a city. ‘The “situation” – the site – nected at the individual or collective level.
was governed by the genius loci, the local divinity, Place is historical ‘from the moment when –
an intermediary who presided over all that was to combining identity with relations – it is defined
unfold in it. (…) To bring this idea into the domain by a minimal stability. This is the case even though
of urban artifacts, we must return to the value of those who live in it may recognize landmarks there
images, to the physical analysis of artifacts and which do not have to be objects of knowledge’
their surroundings; and perhaps this will lead us to (Augè, 1995, p. 44, see also Hayden, 1995).
a pure and simple understanding of the value of Rossi (1984, p. 106) refers to the study of Gallia
the locus. For such an idea of place and time is by Eydoux on ‘places that have always been
seemingly capable of being expressed rationally, considered unique, and he suggested further ana-
even if it embraces a series of values that are lysis of such places, which seem to have been

216 © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 19, 3, 215–227
 The characters of place in urban design

predestined by history. These places are real signs of reverse permanently the planetary catastrophe
space; and as such they have a relationship both to caused through our lack of knowledge about local
chance and to tradition. I often think of the piazzas places and the environment’.
depicted by the Renaissance painters, where the Through the analysis of places, a more detailed
place of architecture, the human construction, takes and qualitative interpretation of the city is carried
on a general value of place and of memory because out. This is not circumscribed to its aesthetic
it is so strongly fixed in a single moment’. essence, nor even to its physical geometry. The
Rossi theorizes on the historical method for the functional and symbolic interpretations of the ele-
study of the city that can be analysed from two ments of a place are the fundamental factors for
different perspectives: ‘In the first, the city was understanding its meaning (Migliorini and Venini,
seen as a material artifact, a man-made object built 2001, p. 129). ‘And as society changes, so does
over time and retaining the traces of time, even if in signfication. Meanings attached to the built envir-
a discontinuous way. Studied from this point of onment become modified as social values evolve in
view – archaeology, the history of architecture, and response to changing patterns of socio-economic
the histories of individual cities – the city yields organisation and lifestyles’ (Knox, 1984, cited in
very important information and documentation. Carmona et al, 2003, p. 93).
Cities become historical texts; in fact, to study Mumford (1961, pp. 9–10) states that the first
urban phenomena without the use of history is urban nucleus was constituted when Palaeolithic
unimaginable, and perhaps this is the only practi- hunters began to settle in some fixed gathering
cal method available for understanding specific places which, as they became meeting places
urban artifacts whose historical aspect is predomi- between groups that were no longer occasional,
nant. (…) The second point of view sees history as contributed to the formation of social groupings,
the study of the actual formation and structure of the basis for proto-urban settlements in the Neo-
urban artifacts. It is complementary to the first and lithic period. ‘Thus even before the city is a place of
directly concerns not only the real structure of the fixed residence, it begins as a meeting place to
city but also the idea that the city is a synthesis which people periodically return: the magnet
of a series of values. Thus it concerns the col- comes before the container, and this ability to
lective imagination. Clearly the first and second attract non-residents to it for intercourse and
approaches are intimately linked, so much so that spiritual stimulus no less than trade remains one
the facts they uncover may at times be confounded of the essential criteria of the city, a witness to its
with each other’ (Rossi, 1984, pp. 127–128). inherent dynamism, as opposed to the more fixed
Historical places can also become symbolic. and indrawn form of the village, hostile to the
Urban environments contain not just meanings outsider. The first germ of the city, then, is in the
and values but also symbols which are the fields ceremonial meeting place that serves as the goal for
of investigation of semiotics. ‘As Eco (1968, pp. 56– pilgrimage: a site to which family or clan groups
57) explains, semiotics studies “all cultural phe- are drawn back, at seasonable intervals, because it
nomena as if they were systems of signs”. The concentrates, in addition to any natural advan-
world is replete with “signs”, interpreted and tages it may have, certain “spiritual” or super-
understood as a function of society, culture and natural powers, powers of higher potency and
ideology. Following Ferdinand de Saussure, the greater duration, of wider cosmic significance,
process of creating meaning is called “significa- than the ordinary processes of life (…). Some of
tion”: “signifields” are what are referred to, sig- the functions and purposes of the city, accordingly,
nifiers are things that refer to them, and signs existed in such simple structures long before the
establish the association between them’.5 complex association of the city had come into
According to Magnaghi (2005, p. 37), ‘Place is a existence and re-fashioned the whole environment
cultural entity speaking to its contemporaries in to give them sustenance and support’.
the long process of anthropization of the land- The urban character of a place changes in part
scape, creating identity, memory, language, mate- with the change of time: the seasons, the passing of
rial culture, and symbolic and affective messages. the day, the weather conditions, resulting in differ-
As long as we treat places – in the wake of mass ent light, contribute to changing its character. This
industrial cultura – as beast of burden (without character is also ‘determined by the material and
loading them to death, making them carry a formal constitution of the place. We must therefore
sustainable weight), we will still have no idea of ask: how is the ground on which we talk, how is
their deep riches and we will hardly be able to the sky above our heads, or in general; how are the

© 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 19, 3, 215–227 217
 Sepe and Pitt

boundaries which define the place. How a bound- what surrounds us. The perception of the city can
ary is depends upon its formal articulation, which is be separate or partial and combined with other
again related to the way it is “built”. Looking at a feelings: the overall image is the union of all stimuli.
building from this point of view, we have to According to Lynch (1960, p. 3) ‘Structuring and
consider how it rests on the ground and how it rises identifying the environment is a vital ability
towards the sky. Particular attention has to be given among all mobile animals. Many kinds of cues are
to its lateral boundaries, or walls, which also con- used: the visual sensations of colour, shape,
tribute decisively to determine the character of the motion, or polarization of light, as well as other
urban environment’ (Norberg-Schulz, 1980, p. 14). senses such as smell, sound, touch, kinaesthesia,
Halbwachs (1992, p. 54) in his studies on collec- sense of gravity, and perhaps of electric or mag-
tive memory theorizes on the inter-relationship netic fields’.
that exists between a group and the space which it Indeed, as Relph (1976, p. 10) asserts, ‘Perceptive
occupies. ‘The group not only transforms the space space is a space of action centred on immediate
into which it has been inserted, but also yields and needs and practices, and as such it has a clearly
adapts to its physical surroundings. It becomes developed structure. (…) This structure can clearly
enclosed within the framework it has built. The be in no way understood as objective or measur-
group’s image of its external milieu and its stable able – rather distances and directions are experi-
relationships with this environment becomes para- enced as qualities of near or far, this way or that,
mount in the idea it forms of itself, permeating and even when these are made explicit as paths or
every element of its consciousness, moderating trails they are known with their special meaning.
and governing its evolution’. (…) ‘Thus we under- (…) Perceptive space is also the realm of direct
stand why spatial images play so important a role emotional encounters with the spaces of the earth,
in the collective memory. The place a group occu- sea, and sky or with built and created spaces’.
pies is not like a blackboard, where one may write Migliorini and Venini (2001, p.129) observe that
and erase figures at will’. ‘But place and group ‘the factors which determine the description of a
have each received the imprint of the other. There- place are the visual, tactile, smell, sound perceptions
fore every phase of the group can be translated into which are felt. Place, unlike space, is described by
spatial terms, and its residence is but the juncture objects which transmit specific cultural, historical or
of all these terms. Each aspect, each detail, of this socially meaningful values which are different for
place has a meaning intelligent only to members of each individual. As mentioned above, the dimen-
the group, for each portion of its space corresponds sion of a place is related to the way in which people
to various and different aspects of the structure live it. And the dimension can change following the
and life of their society, at least of what is most measure that derives from the description of the
stable in it’. events that can be played out’.
Expanding Halbwachs’s thesis, Rossi (1984) The anthropological place defined by Augé (1995,
states that the city itself is the collective memory p. 42) has a variable scale and at the same time ‘is a
of peoples, and that memory is linked with events principle of meaning for the people who live in it,
and places. The city is therefore the ‘locus’ of and also a principle of intelligibility for the person
collective memory. The value of history as collec- who observes it’. Anthropological places are iden-
tive memory, intended as society’s relationship titary, relational and historical. Michel de Certeau
with place and the idea of it, helps us to understand perceives the place, of whatever sort, as containing
the significance of the urban structure, and the the order ‘in whose terms elements are distributed
architecture of the city which is the shape of this in relations of coexistence’, and although he rules
individuality. The union between the past and the out the possibility of two things occcupying the
future is in the idea of the city which runs through same ‘spot’, although he admits that every element
it, and to become concrete it must take shape in of the place adjoins others, in a specific ‘ location’,
reality, which remains in its unique events, in the he defines the ‘place’ as an ‘instantaneous config-
idea that we have of them.6 uration of positions’, which boils down to saying
The sensory quality of a place consists of all the that the elements coexisting in the same place may
elements that can be perceived by the senses: smell be distinct and singular, but that does not prevent
and noise, but also sensations of touch, sight and us from thinking either about their interrelations or
taste. All of these, both individually and in their about the shared identity conferred on them by
overall perception, can influence our feelings, their common occupancy of the place’ (Augé, 1995,
actions, general well-being, and our appraisal of p. 44).

218 © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 19, 3, 215–227
 The characters of place in urban design

The anthropological place is also geometric. ‘It a well-defined territory in space and time, as if they
can be mapped in terms of three simple forms, were built inside a theatre. Representation of an
which apply to different institutional arrange- individual on the front can be considered as a way
ments and in a sense are the elementary forms of to show that his/her actions in that area follow
social space. In the geometric terms these are the certain rules, which in turn are grouped into two
line, the intersection of lines, and the point of categories: the way in which the actor treats the
intersection. Concretely, in the everyday geogra- public while engaged with them in a conversation
phy more familiar to us, they correspond to routes, or an exchange of gestures, a substitute for the
axes or path that lead from one place to another word; and the way in which the actor behaves
and have been traced by people; to crossroads and when he/she can be seen or heard by the public,
open spaces where people pass, meet and gather, but is not necessarily committed to talking to them.
and which sometimes (in the case of marketplace, Both contexts have temporal or historical qualities,
for example) are made very large to satisfy the of an everyday or exceptional nature.
needs of economic exchange; and lastly, to centres Place in the psychological sense sees an active and
of more or less monumental type, religious or central subject to its environment. The relation-
political constructed by certain men and therefore ships established between the observer and place
defining as others, in relation with other centres are reciprocal: a place can affect the person, his/her
and other spaces’ (Augé, 1995, p. 46). values and actions in the same way that the
Place has also sociological value. ‘It is difficult to intentions of the person and his/her actions can
conceive of “space” without social content and attribute meaning to a place.
equally, to conceive of society without a spatial As asserted by Healey (2010, p. 34), ‘A sense of
component. (…) The relationship is best conceived place and of place quality can be understood as
as a continuous two-way process in which people some kind of coming together of physical experi-
(and societies) create and modify spaces while at ences (using, bumping into, looking at, hearing,
the same time being influenced by them in various breathing) and imaginative constructions (giving
ways. Dear and Wolch (1989) argue that social meanings and values) produced through indivi-
relations can be: constituted through space (e.g. dual activity and socially formed appreciations’.
where site characteristics influence settlement Furthemore, Canter (1977) proposes a definition
form); constrained by space (e.g. where the physical of place based on its components: ‘(i) the activities
environment facilitates or obstructs human activ- which are understood to occur at a location and the
ity); and mediated by space (e.g. where the “friction reasons for them. Here we would add the consid-
of distance” facilitates or inhibits the development eration of the individuals – actors of these activities
of various social practices). Hence, by shaping that – as parts of the same component of activities; (ii)
built environment, urban designers influence pat- the evaluative conceptualizations, or, better the
terns of human activity and social life’ (Carmona representations which are held of the occurrence
et al, 2010, p. 133). of those activities and (iii) the physical properties
As identified by Maslow (1968), it is possible to of the place, as they are evaluated – or better
distinguish a five-stage hierarchy of human needs: represents – in relation to the activities’. In this
‘Physiological needs: for warmth and comfort; regard, Canter (1977, p. 8) affirms: ‘(…) places can
safety and security needs – to feel safe from harm; be readily distinguished from behaviour settings
affiliation needs: to belong – to a community, for and situations. Unlike behaviour settings (i) they
example; esteem needs: to feel valued by others; are not created by the investigator on the basis of
self-actualisation needs: for artistic expression and observing behaviour and (ii) they have distinct
fulfilment’. The needs – despite the existence of a evaluative and physical components. Unlike situa-
hierarchy – are related in a complex series of inter- tions, they have a distinct enduring existence as
relationships (Carmona et al, 2010, p. 134). well as being inevitably intertwined with the
Specifically on the relationship between public physical properties of their location’ (cited in
and private places and their interchangeability, Bonnes and Secchiaroli, 1995, p. 173).
Goffman (1959, pp. 22) notes that ‘a place can be Place also concerns an unconscious sense of
defined as an area bounded by barriers to percep- place that is related to the association of it to
tion’ and that not all areas have the same types of somewhere. ‘Place can be considered in terms of
obstacles, referring to the case of societies who live rootedeness’ and a conscious sense of association
mainly in indoor environments. Futhermore, or identity with a particular place. Rootedness
Goffman observes that performances take place in refers to a generally unconscious sense of place.

© 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 19, 3, 215–227 219
 Sepe and Pitt

(…) For Relph (1976, p. 38) it meant having ‘a system of social control and leading us to the
secure point from which to look out on the world, a promised lands of postmodern re-enchanment,
firm grasp of one’s own position in the order of where tax cuts for the rich magically benefit the
things, and a significant spiritual and psychologi- poor and social spending for the poor is seen as
cal attachment to somewhere in particular’ hurting those that receive it’.
(Carmona et al, 2010, p. 120). The increasing loss of meaning of place as a
Extending the concept of place to a broader recipient of social customs, historical memories
context, Castells (1989) refers to the place of flows and symbolic contents has led to the emergence of
as a real or virtual entity, which also includes places with provisional uses, linked to a contem-
electronic interconnections, where many temporal- poraneity that cares more about satisfying imme-
ities, as well as many simultaneities – which diate consumption than sedimenting traces of
become a-temporal – are allowed. With new tech- culture (Arefi, 1999). ‘If – as Augé (1995, p. 63)
nologies (Sepe, 2010), space is downsized to zero states – a place can be defined as relational,
and, recreated in a virtual dimension, no longer historical and concerned with identity, then a
constitutes an obstacle. These relationships are space which cannot be defined as relational, or
defined by Castells with the term cyberspace or historical, or concerned with identity will be a non-
virtual space, and are described by means of spatial place’. The word non-place identifies two different
language such as ‘information highways’, ‘sites’ aspects of the reality: spaces created in relation to
and ‘squares’. sites used for transport, transit, commerce or lei-
In the informational economy for example – as sure, and the relation between people and those
Castells (1989, pp. 169–170) asserts – the space of spaces. ‘Non-places are the real measure of our
organizations is increasingly considered a space of time; one that could be quantified – with the aid of
flows. ‘However, this does not imply that organiza- a few conversions between area, volume and dis-
tions are placeless. On the contrary, we have seen tance – by totalling all the air, rail and motorways
that decision-making continues to be dependent routes, the mobile cabins called ‘means of trans-
upon the milieu on which metropolitan dominance port’ (aircraft, trains and road vehicles), the air-
is based. (…) Thus, each component of the in ports and airway stations, hotel chains, leisure
formation-processing structure is place-oriented. parks, large retail outlets, and finally the complex
Nevertheless, the organizational logic of corpora- skein of cable and wireless networks that mobilize
tions and their satellite activities is fundamen extraterrestrial space for the purposes of a commu-
tally dependent upon the network of interaction nication so peculiar that it often puts the individual
among the different components of the system. in contact only with another image of himself
(…) While organizations are located in places, and (Augé, 1995, p. 64).
their components are place-dependent, the orga- Places and non-places often overlap and inter-
nizational logic is placeless, being fundamentally twine. And in any place, there is the possibility of
dependent on the space of flows that characterizes becoming a non-place and vice versa: ‘Places and
information networks. But such flows are struc- non-places are opposed (or attracted) like the
tured, not undetermined. They possess direction- words and notions that enable us to describe them.
ality, conferred both by the hierarchical logic of But the fashionable words are associated with non-
the organization as reflected in instructions given, places. Thus we can contrast the realities of transit
and by the material characteristics of the informa- (transit camps or passengers in transit) with those
tion system infrastructure. Organizations estab- of residence or dwelling; the interchange (where
lish flows according to their hierarchy within the nobody crosses anyone else’s path) with the cross-
limits set by the telecommunications and compu- roads (where people meet); the passenger (defined
ter infrastructure existing at a particular time in a by his destination) with the traveller (who strolls
particular place. The space of flows remains the along his route), the housing estate (“group of new
fundamental spatial dimension of large-scale dwellings”, Laurosse says), where people do not
information-processing complexes’. live together and which is never situated in the
In this regard, Soja (1996, p. 278) notes the social centre of anything (big estates characterize the so-
meaning of this new kinds of places. ‘A new mode called peripheral zones or outskirts), with the
of regulation seems to be emerging spontaneously monument where people share and commemorate;
from this diffusion of hyperreality, plugging us communication (with its codes, images and strate-
into the new economic machinery of virtual reality gies) with language (which is spoken)’ (Augè,
and cyberspace, protected by elaborately carceral 1995, p. 86).

220 © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 19, 3, 215–227
 The characters of place in urban design

The Place Identity that are not conventionally associated’. Indeed,

Watson and Bentley (2007, p. 6) observe that place
Places are termed places and not just spaces because identity matters a wide range of people. This is
they are endowed with identity. The identity of a easy to understand if we focus on the relationships
person consists, for example, in a set of elements between the identities related to humans and a
and patterns that determine the world he/she different set of meanings that affect the cultural
belongs to. On this point, Norberg-Schulz (1980, landscape: ‘for us, place identity is the set of
p. 21) states that: ‘This fact is confirmed by com- meanings associated with any particular cultural
mon linguistic usage. When a person wants to tell landscape which any particular person or group of
who he is, it is in fact usual to say: “I am a New people draws on in the construction of their own
Yorker”, or “I am a Roman”. This means some- personal or social identities’.
thing much more concrete than to say: “I am an Place identity is often viewed in relation to the
architect”, or perhaps: “I am an optimist”. We definition of space. As Bauman notes (2004,
understand that human identity is to a high extent p. 13–14): ‘there is always something to explain, to
a function of places and things. (…) It is therefore apologize for, to hide or on the contrary to boldly
not only important that our environment has a display, to negotiate, to bid for and to bargain for;
spatial structure which facilitates orientation, but there are differences to be smoothed or glossed
that it consists of concrete objects of identification. over, or to be on the contrary made more salient
Human identity presupposes the identity of place’. and legible. “Identities” float in the air, some of
one’s own choice but others inflated and launched
by those around, and one needs to be constantly on
Definition the alert to defend the first against the second;
there is a heightened likelihood of misunderstand-
The notion of identity is a fundamental phenom- ing, and the outcome of the negotiation forever
enon that is difficult to define although it is hangs in the balance. The more one practises and
possible to recognize many of its characteristics. In masters the difficult skills needed to get by in such
order to frame this notion within the aims of the an admittedly ambivalent condition, the less sharp
article, we will report the definitions which we can and hurting the rough edges feel, the less over-
find used in different way in the placemaking whelming the challenges and the less irksome the
practice and the relative components that contri- effects. One can even begin to feel everywhere chez
bute to their characterization. soi, “at home” – but the price to be paid is to accept
The starting definition is that asserted by Relph that nowhere will one be fully and truly at home’.
(1976, p. 45), who identifies the difference between Hague and Jenkins (2005, p. 20) highlight the
‘identity of’ and ‘identity with’, which is useful to existence of both individual and collective defini-
gain a clearer idea of this concept. ‘The identity of tions of place identity related to different ideas of
something refers to a persistent sameness and the area within which one lives. ‘In an increasingly
unity which allows that thing to be differentiated complex society, overlapping definitions of place
from others. Such inherent identity is inseparable identity exist –again both individual and collective.
from identity with other things; Erik Erikson (1959, The manifestation of these forms of social identity
p. 1029), in a discussion of ego identity, writes: is what has been termed “mind-maps” whereby
“The term identity … connotes both a persistent we register physical space mentally. Thus if asked
sameness with oneself … and a persistent sharing to describe, for instance, the area which they live
of some kind of characteristic with others”. Thus within, members of the same household will define
identity is founded both in the individual person this area differently based on their perception and
or object and in the culture to which they belong. It activities within it, and will use different physical
is not static and unchangeable, but varies as attributes to describe this. More than this, an
circumstances and attitudes change; and it is not individual household member is quite likely to
uniform and undifferentiated, but has several use different mind-map references when describ-
components and forms’. This is confirmed by Paul ing the same area to different people, and would
Gilroy, who asserts (cited in Watson and Bentley, probably describe the same place in different ways
2007, p. 3) ‘the sheer variety of ideas condensed with the passage of time’. This is demonstrated by
into the concept of identity, and the wide range of the fact that the experience of place assumes rela-
issues to which it can be made to refer, foster tional meanings rather than being merely subjec-
creative links between themes and perspectives tive. ‘This means that our capacity to identify a

© 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 19, 3, 215–227 221
 Sepe and Pitt

place as a place is shaped by what others tell us coincide with historical identity which is elaborated
about the place, and filtered by our socialization, as through continuous stratifications. ‘Whilst acknowl-
shaped by class, age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, edging the prevalence of the physical and material
professional education, etc. As Rose (1995, p. 88) dimension, similar importance is given to morphol-
commented, “although sense of a place may be very ogy of places, which contributes in no small way to
personal, they are not entirely the result of one the configuration of specific local characteristics,
individual’s feelings and meanings”. It is this pro- hence also to identity, in terms which must not be
cess of receiving, selectively reconstructing, and then understood in the sense of rigid environmental
re-communicating a narrative that constitutes iden- determinism, since it is easy to observe that very
tity and transforms a space into a place’ (Hague and different choices or interpretations can correspond
Jenkins, 2005, p. 5). Furthermore, Proshansky et al to similar morphologies. (…) Therefore identity
(1983) link the various kinds of relationships does not only refer to urban fabrics but to the whole
between people and their experiences: ‘Thus, place area, whose morphological, natural and cultural
identity is the result of a constant, and often sub- invariants – in the most detailed analyses and the
conscious negotiation between individuals and the most sensitive up-to-date approaches – take on the
potpourri of experiences, objects, and even idealized role of “strong”, structuring, recognisable elements’
places they encounter during their lives’ (cited in (Lo Piccolo, 1995, p. 15).7
Southworth and Ruggeri, 2010). On the other hand, as Magnaghi (2005, p. 46)
As regards, Southworth and Ruggeri (2010) pointed out, it is important not to confuse history
point out that Stokols and Shumaker (1981) coined with its evolutionary interpretation. ‘The identify-
the term ‘social imageability’, which derives from ing structure of place also grows because of the
the shared meanings generated by the involvement breaks between different civilization cycles. In
of individuals with a place. This terms leads to the conclusion, recognizing permanence, structural
concept of place attachment. ‘Researching the invariance and landscape features defining the
effects on identity of displacement and detachment identity of places must not lead to interpreting
from familiar places, sociologist Melinda Milligan place as the outcome of an unequivocal determi-
has identified what she calls “locational socializa- nistic relationship between the settled society and
tion”, through which one’s active involvement environmental structures: each territorialization
with a place generates shared meanings (1998; 2003, cycle is a cultural event affecting the same inher-
p. 383). These meanings are layered onto a place, ited environment, realizing, reifying and structur-
and it is in the very act of embedding these mean- ing in the territory specific differentiated forms of
ings that place identity and place attachment emerge settlements in the complex universe of potential
and are shared with others’ (cited in Southworth and random outcomes, but always shaping the
and Ruggeri, 2010). Place identity can also be related process as the result of a symbiosis between
to the concept of authenticity that Southworth and human and natural elements’. Place identity is
Ruggeri define as ‘the quality of a place being therefore the product of a continuous evolutionary
unique, distinctive, and rooted in the local. Geogra- process. ‘It is not a static image of its state, but is
pher Edward Relph describes authentic places as rather the result of concrete development over
being generated unselfconsciously and without the- time. This is due to the fact that identity is the
oretical pretense by individuals working alone or in outcome of the relationships established between
small community groups over long spans of time. people and their environments. By making their
“The end result is places which fit their context and mark on a region’s cultural heritage, they have
are in accord with the intentions of those who made every regional context unique and different.
created them, yet have a distinct and profound The uniqueness of places, area identity and the
identity that results from the total involvement of a stratifications of history cannot be represented
unique group of place-makers with a particular without running the risk of abstraction and crystal-
setting” (Relph, 1976, p.68). Ancient Italian hill lization, of the extraneousness of the product with
towns and preindustrial English villages epitomize the space-time context. Area identity can only be
these qualities’ (Southworth and Ruggeri, 2010). shown and communicated through the history
The close link that interrelates place identity which has shaped it, requiring continuous inter-
with the history of a place is identified by Lo pretative mediation’ (Carta, 1999, p. 151).8
Piccolo. Accordingly, the first definition which we In continuity with this assertion, place identity
can attribute to urban identity is that related to assumes significance also in relation to its public
physical aspects of the city, making urban identity meaning which in turn influences and stimulates

222 © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 19, 3, 215–227
 The characters of place in urban design

citizen participation. In this connection, South- and experiences of those who create and live in
worth and Ruggeri (2010) observe that ‘Place sig- them.
nificance may also result from historic or political 3. From the standpoint of behavioural insideness
events. But places with strong public identity need place is ambient environment, possessing quali-
not have strong visual identity. (…) While strong ties of landscape or townscape that constitute a
visual form is not essential for identity, it can primary basis for public or consensus knowl-
provide a framework for attaching meanings’. Place edge of that place.
identity has greatest power when visual form, 4. In terms of incidental outsideness, it is usually
individual and social meaning come together. selected functions of a place that are important
According to Lynch (1960), ‘(S)ense of place in and the identity of that place is little more than
itself enhances every human activity that occurs that of a background for these functions.
there, and encourages the deposit of a memory 5. The attitude of the objective outsider effectively
trace’. Castells (1997, p. 60) proposes that urban reduce places either to the single dimension of
movements are based on three factors combined in location or to a space of located objects and
different ways: ‘urban demands on living condi- activities.
tions and collective consumption; the affirmation 6. The mass identity of place is a consensus iden-
of local cultural identity; and the conquest of local tity that is remote from direct experience for it is
political autonomy and citizen participation. Dif- provided more or less ready-made by the mass
ferent movements combined these three sets of media. It is a superficial identity, for it can be
goals in various proportions, and the outcomes of changed and manipulated like some trivial dis-
their efforts were equally diversified. Yet, in many guise so long as it maintains some minimum
instances, regardless of the explicit achievements level of credibility. It is also pervasive, for it
of the movement’s participants, but for the com- enters into and undermines individual experi-
munity at large. And not only during the lifespan ences and the symbolic properties of the iden-
of the movement (usually brief), but in the collec- tities of places.
tive memory of the locality. Indeed, (…) this 7. For existential outsiders, the identity of places
production of meaning is an essential component represents a lost and now unattainable involve-
of cities, throughout history, as the built environ- ment. Places are all and always incidental, for
ment, and its meaning, is constructed through a existence itself is incidental.
conflictive process between the interests and
values of opposing social actors’. (…) The identity of place is not a simple tag that
can be summarised and presented in a brief factual
description. Nor can it be argued that there is a real
Components
or true identity of a place that relates to existential
insideness’.
The different definitions related to the concept of
As was pointed out by Montgomery (1998,
place identity reflect the many components that go
p. 100), it is possible distinguish ‘between “iden-
into it and the innumerable possibilities of combin-
tity”, what a place is actually like, and “image”, a
ing them. Relph (1976, p. 61) identifies three inter-
combination of the identity with perception of the
related components that can be expressed in any
place by the individual with their own set of
identifiable place, creating its specific identity:
feelings about, and impressions of, it. Furthermore
‘physical features or appearance, observable activ-
Pocock and Hudson (1978, p. 33) suggest that the
ities and functions, and meanings or symbols’. He
overall mental image of an urban environment will
observes: ‘In terms of our experiences this sharing
be: Partial: not covering the whole city; Simplified:
does display certain consistencies that make it
omitting a great deal of information; Idiosyncratic:
possible to distinguish a number of types of iden-
every individual’s urban image being unique: Dis-
tities of places.
torted: based on subjective, rather than real, dis-
1. From the individual perspective or sociality in tance and direction’ (Carmona et al, 2010, p. 88).
communion of existential insideness places are The components used for analysing the environ-
lived and dynamic, full with meanings for us that mental image are, for Lynch’s (1960, p. 8) identity,
are known and experienced without reflection. structure and meaning: they always appear con-
2. For empathetic insiders, knowing places temporaneously and are studied separately only
through sociality in community, places are for the purposes of analysis. ‘It is useful to abstract
records and expressions of the cultural values these for analysis, if it is remembered that in reality

© 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 19, 3, 215–227 223
 Sepe and Pitt

they always appear together. A workable image historical cities and structural invariants of long
requires first the identification of an object, which duration: in particular, infrastructures, agricul-
implies its distinction from other things, its recog- ture traces, building, urban and landscape types,
nition as a separable entity. This is called identity, and constructive and transformation rules) and
not in the sense of equality with something else, with anthropic ones (socio-cultural and identity
but with the meaning of individuality or oneness. patterns, artistic, productive and political cul-
Second, the image must include the spatial or tures). As a matter of fact, the process of territor-
pattern relation of the object to the observer and ialization, adding layers of territorializing acts
to other objects. Finally, this object must have some determined by different patterns of civilization,
meaning for the observer, whether practical or increases during the time the complexity and
emotional. Meaning is also a relation, but quite a richness of sedimented, stratified and interagent
different one from spatial or pattern relation’. The elements in the long term (territorial mass, mate-
structure of a place is also mentioned by Norberg- rial and cognitive sediments and identity of
Schulz (1980, p. 18). This, in the opinion of the places). The territorial and landscape typology
author, even while changing, maintains its identity that characterizes identity of a place – as well as
for a certain period of time. ‘Stabilitas loci is a the existence of a milieu – is the result of that long
necessary condition for human life. How then is process of co-evolution between settlement and
the stability compatible with the dynamics of environment (Magnaghi, 2005, p. 41–46).
change? First of all we may point out that any In this respect, Carta (1999, p. 112) asserts that
place ought to have the “capacity” of receiving communities change and transform, preserving
different “contents”, naturally within certain limits. certain invariants that are fundamental for recog-
A place which is only fitted for one particular nizing place identity. ‘We need to find these
purpose would soon become useless. Secondly it invariants and adapt them to contemporary situa-
is evident that a place may be “interpreted” in tions and conditions, and it is on this heritage of
different ways. To protect and conserve the genius specificity and intrinsic values (history, culture,
loci in fact means to concretize its essence in ever nature) that one can establish an effective, sustain-
new historical contexts’. able local innovation process, which can become a
According to Lo Piccolo (1995, p. 15), identity source of collective identity, a tool of communica-
can be interpreted in its relationship between tion between generations and a means of maximiz-
civitas and urbs, through which the social nature of ing opportunities’.10 Further components are
the architecture and public spaces, concrete and identified by Amundsen. These, variously com-
symbolic expressions of the city, may be recog- bined with each other, are present in the identity of
nized. ‘In other words, it is the way in which the a place: ‘spatial qualities that distinguish the place
city, as a set of citizens, is able to express its own from others – e.g. location, but also infrastructure,
character through its physical forms, in the present communication and architecture; characteristics or
historical moment, showing the relationship of qualities of the inhabitants that distinguish them
mutual belonging between inhabitants and places from inhabitants of other places – e.g. values,
within the respective cultural context, both present customs, physical appearance; social conditions
and past. (…) And it is precisely in this evolving and social relations between inhabitants; culture
relationship of attribution of value to extremely and/or history, seen as a unifying element that
different permanent elements, in this continuous again connects the inhabitants to tradition and
“tension between the long times of the stones and distinguishes them from “the other” ’11.
the so much briefer pace of social life”, which the On the other hand, Barbara and Perliss (2006)
wider but maybe at the same time more precise argue that issues related to the concept of identity
notion of urban identity has to be identified’.9 cannot nowadays only rely on local characteristics.
The territorialist approach defines the territorial The issue of identity may refer to the local scale for
heritage as the result of the historical process of elements which are an expression of the materials,
territorialization, whose identity is determined by the feelings that make one city different from
how its components are integrated. This approach another or bring them together.12 ‘In fact, the
is configured as a deposit of long duration that identity of a work may play on the “iconic lan-
specifies its own identity and character in the way guage” that no longer concerns the form, plants,
in which environmental components (neo-ecosys- gables, columns and decorations, but the colours,
tems produced by successive civilizations) are materials, smells and sounds which are recognized
integrated with built components (monuments, and shared emotional heritage’.

224 © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 19, 3, 215–227
 The characters of place in urban design

Conclusion affect its natural evolution. ‘As a result, design

integrity is seen as a sign of a healthy identity,
The characters of place were presented in order to while changes and adaptations are interpreted as
understand the complexity of the concept of place signs of an unhealthy, degraded place identity.
in urban design. The place, although complex, is Maintaining a gradient of identity is a much more
nonetheless a total phenomenon, a set of all the complex endeavour, as it cannot rely purely on the
individual characteristics that make it up. Man maintenance of an original form. It must include
receives the environment and focuses on buildings considerations of the social, economic and cultural
and things, things reveal the environment, and processes needed to successfully manage the evo-
show their character, becoming in turn meaning lution of the cities and neighbourhoods we design,
(Norberg-Schulz, 1980). allowing them to change and adapt to future
The role of place, then, is to embody the world of conditions, while maintaining their essence. Only
life and its value lies in representing the general this can insure that the place identity resulting
local essence, a space with unique characteristics. from our designs will be stronger, more imageable,
Recognizing the value of place as the key compo- and ultimately more sustainable’ (Southworth and
nent of a city’s identity becomes a basis of Ruggeri, 2010).
reference both for its design and the wishes of Finally, based on these interpretations, the role
the community. of identity should be understood within the project
Placemaking efforts need sensitivity towards of transforming the city, assessing the potential of
‘who lives where, what they do, what they know, design and planning tools as regards urban iden-
how they get on, how they relate to each other, tity, and integrating them (Neil, 2004).
what they care about and feel that they “need”.
This requires design at different dimensions both
of relations and scale in order to imagine the future
of a place’. Such a sensibility will be achieved by
Notes
taking into account a wider range of dynamics not
1 Aristotle in his Physica defines the concept of place as ‘the
necessarily contained within a determined terri- innermost motionless boundary of what contains’, see
tory boundary and able to grasp the contemporary Hussey (1983).
urban complexity (Healey, 2010, p. 35). 2 For the concept of Khora, refer to Plato’s dialogue Timaeus.
Accordingly, the various components that con- 3 Ecumene is the relationship between humanity and the
inhabited world. The feminine noun derived from the
tribute to the definition of place identity suggest, as
Greek oikoumene (ghê, namely, ‘inhabited earth’: defined as
was observed by Southworth and Ruggeri (2010), a relation, ecumene indicates not only the Earth as inhabited
that this concept ‘should be thought of as a by humanity, which is deployed in symbolic and technical
gradient that includes several dimensions and topologies, but also ‘humanity itself insofar as it inhabits the
should be as complex as the processes at play in Earth, which exists in the concrete space-time of its geograms’
(translated by the author from the French text by Berque et
every neighbourhood. It should account for aes-
al, 1999, pp. 58–59): Ecoumène. ‘Relation de l’humanité a
thetic appeal and imageability, but be expanded to l’étendue terrestre. Ce mot féminin vient du grec oikoumene
include social considerations, the discourses and (ge), “terre habitée”. Définie comme relation, l'éecoumene
meanings that are shared by community mem- est non seulement la Terre en tant qu’elle est habitée par
bers’. This means that other more nuanced defini- l'humanité, c’est-à-dire déployée en topologies d’ordre
symbolique et technique, mais encore l'humanité en tant
tions of place identity may be identified. ‘It can be
qu'elle habite la Terre, c’est-a-dire qu’elle existe dans
found by looking at a range of places, from the l'espace-temps concret de ses géogrammes’.
historic downtowns of our cities to the everyday 4 Translated by the authors from the French text by Berque
landscapes of suburbia, using a variety of methods, et al (1999, pp. 48–49): Chora/topos. ‘Il possède nécessairement
including physical form analysis, observations, un coté matériel, physique et écologique, mesurable, donc
commensurable à d’autre lieux. Cette dimension quanti-
interviews and other sociological methods. This
tative l'apparente au topos aristotélicien et à la Stelle
new definition should consider the need for mem- heideggerienne: tel un récipient, c’est la limite externe d’un
orable and imageable environments, expressions chose dans l'espace universel d’un environment objectivé.
of shared social values, new forms of non-place D’autre part, le lieu relève non moins nécessairement
communities, and the multiple mechanisms by d’une dimension immatérielle, pénoménale et sémantique,
non measurable, donc incommensurable à d’autres lieux.
which meanings are embedded and communi-
Cette dimension qualitative et singulieère l'apparente à la
cated in the landscape’. Indeed, in order for iden- chora platonicienne et à l'Ort heideggerien: c’est la condition
tity to be captured, it needs to establish a deep d’existence de la chose au sein du monde sensible. Ces deux
engagement with place and local life in order to aspects du lieu se conjuguent trajectivement dans le réalité

© 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 19, 3, 215–227 225
 Sepe and Pitt

de l'écoumène: chaque lieu est non seulement un topos mais Castells, M. (1989) The Informational city. Oxford: Blackwell.
encore une chora, et réciproquement’. Castells, M. (1997) The Power of Identity. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
5 Cited in Carmona et al (2003, p. 93); see also Barthes (1967) Choay, F. (1986) Urbanism and semiology. In M. Gottdiener and
and Choay (1986). A. P. Lagopoulos (eds.) The City and the Sign: An Introduction
6 ‘In this sense, the building, the monument, and the city to Urban Semiotics. New York: Columbia University Press,
become human things par excellence; and as such, they are pp. 160–175.
profoundly linked to an original occurrence, to a first sign, to Dear, M.J. and Wolch, J.R. (1989) The Power of Geography:
composition, permanence, and evolution, and to both How Territory Shapes Social Life. Boston: Unwin Hyman.
chance and tradition. As the first inhabitants fashioned an Eco, U. (1968) The City and the Sign. New York: Columbia
environment for themselves, they also formed a place and University Press.
established its uniqueness.The comments of the theoreticians Erikson, E.H. (1959) Identity and the Life Cycle; Selected Papers.
on the framing of the landscape in painting, the sureness New York: International Universities Press.
with which the Romans repeated certain elements in their Goffman, E. (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday life.
building of new cities, acknowledging in the locus the New York: Anchor Books Doubleday.
potential for transformation – this and many other facts Hague, C. and Jenkins, P. (eds.) (2005) Place Identity, Partecipa-
cause us to intuit the importance of certain artifacts; and tion and Planning. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
when we consider information of this type, we realize why Halbwachs, M. (1992) On Collective Memory. Chicago, IL: The
architecture was so important in the ancient world and in the University of Chicago Press.
Renaissance. It shaped a context. Its forms changed together Hayden, D. (1995) The Power of Place: Urban Landscapes as Public
with the larger changes of a site, participating in the History. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
constitution of a whole and serving an overall event, while Healey, P. (2010) Making Better Places. New York: Palgrave
at the same time constituting an event in itself. Only in this Macmillan.
way can we understand the importance of an obelisk, a Heidegger, M. (1962) Being and Time. Translated by John
column, a tombstone’ (Rossi, 1984, p. 106). Macquarrie and Edward Robinson. London: SCM Press.
7 Translation from the Italian text by the authors. Heidegger, M. (1969) Identity and Difference. New York: Harper
8 Translation from the Italian text by the authors. & Row.
9 Translation from Italian text by the authors. Hussey, E. (1983) Physics: Books III and IV. Oxford University
10 Translation by the authors. Press.
11 Amundsen (2001), cited in Hague and Jenkins, 2005, p. 13. Knox, P.L. (1984) Styles, symbolism and settings: The built
12 As regards, see also Hayden, 1995. environment and imperatives of urbanised capitalism. Archi-
tecture et Comportment 2: 107–122.
Lo Piccolo, F. (ed.) (1995) Identità Urbana. Gan-gemi, Roma,
References Italy: Materiali per un dibattito.
Lynch, K. (1960) The Image of the City. Massachusetts: MIT Press
Cambridge.
Amundsen, A.B. (2001) Articulations of identity: A methodo-
Magnaghi, A. (2005) The Urban Village: A Charter for Democracy
logical Essay and a report on Askim and Tidaholm, NoordXXI
and Local Self-Sustainable Development. London: Zed Books.
Report, 19, http://www.noordXXI.nl, accessed March 2005.
Maslow, A. (1968) Towards a Psycology of Being. New York: Van
Arefi, M. (1999) Non-place and placelessness as narrative of
Nostrand.
loss: Rethinking the notion of place. Journal of Urban Design 4:
Migliorini, L. and Venini, L. (2001) Città e legami sociali.
179–193.
Introduzione Alla Psicologia Degli Ambienti Urbani. Roma, Italy:
Augè, M. (1995) Non-Places: An Introduction to an Anthropology of
Carrocci Editore.
Supermodernity. London: Versoù.
Montgomery, J. (1998) Making a city: Urbanity, vitality and
Bachelard, G. (1969) The Poetics of Space. London: Bacon.
urban design. Journal of Urban Design 3: 93–116.
Barbara, A. and Perliss, A. (2006) Invisible Architecture. Milan,
Mumford, L. (1961) The Culture of Cities. New York: Harcourt
Italy: Skira.
Brace.
Barthes, R. (1967) Element of Semiology. New York: Hill and Wang.
Neil, W.J.V. (2004) Urban Planning and Cultural Identity.
Bauman, Z. (2004) Identity: Conversations with Benedetto Vecchi.
New York: Routledge.
Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Norberg-Schulz, C. (1980) Genius Loci. New York: Rizzoli.
Berque, A., Conan, M., Donadieu, P., Lassus, B. and Roger, A.
Perec, G. (1997) Species of Spaces and Other Pieces. London: Penguin.
(1999) Mouvance. Cinquante mots pour le paysage. Paris:
Éditions de la Villette. Pocock, D. and Hudson, R. (1978) Images of the Urban Environ-
Bonnes, B. and Secchiaroli, G. (1995) Environmental Psychology: ment. New York: Columbia University Press.
A Psycho-Social Introduction. London: Sage. Proshansky, H.M., Fabian, A.K. and Kaminoff, R. (1983) Place-
CABE, DETR. (2000) By Design: Urban Design in the Planning identity: Physical world socialization of the self. Journal of
System – Towards Better Practice. London: Thomas Telford. Environmental Psychology 3: 57–83.
Canter, D.V. (1977) The Psychology of Place. New York: Palgrave Relph, E. (1976) Place and Placelessness. London: Pion.
Macmillan. Rose, G. (1995) Place and identity: A sense of place. In:
Carmona, M., Heath, T., Oc, T. and Tiesdell, S. (2003) Public D. Massey and P. Jess (eds.) A Place in the World? Place,
Places-Urban spaces. Oxford: Architectural Press. Cultures and Globalization. Oxford: Open University/Oxford
Carmona, M., Heath, T., Oc, T. and Tiesdell, S. (2010) Public University Press.
Places-Urban spaces, 2nd edn. Oxford: Architectural Press. Rossi, A. (1984) The Architecture of the City. Cambridge, Mass:
Carta, M. (1999) L’armatura Culturale Del Territorio. Il Patrimonio MIT Press.
Culturale Come Matrice di Identità e Strumento Per Lo Sviluppo. Sepe, M. (2007) Sustainable walkability and place identity.
FrancoAngeli, Milano, Italy. International Journal of Social Sciences 1(3): 148–153.

226 © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 19, 3, 215–227
 The characters of place in urban design

Sepe, M. (2010) Place-identity and PlaceMaker: Planning the Sepe, M. and Pitt, M. (2013) Improving liveability and attractive-
urban sustainability, special issue ‘best practices on land ness by preserving place identity in emblematic thoroughfares:
management strategies’ del. Journal of Urban Planning and A method and a case study. Urban Design International1 18(3):
Development 136(2): 139–146. 229–249.
Sepe, M. (2013a) Planning the City: Mapping Place Identity. Soja, E. (1996) Thirdspace – Journeys to Los Angeles and other Real-
London-New York: Routledge. and-Imagined Place. Malden and Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Sepe, M. (2013b) Places and perceptions in contemporary city. Southworth and Ruggeri. (2010) Beyond placelessness, place
Editoriale, Urban Design International 18(2): 111–113. identity and the global city. In: Banerjee, T. and Loukaitou-
Sepe, M. (2013c) Preserving, reconstructing and enhancing the Sideris, A. (eds.) Companion to Urban Design. London,
place identity: identifying principles of urban sustainability New York: Routledge.
with placemaker method. International Journal of Sustainable Stokols, D. and Shumaker, S.A. (1981) People in places: A transac-
Planning and Development (in press). tional view of setting. In: J. Harvey (ed.) Cognition, Social
Sepe, M. (2013d) Cultural resources, innovation and sustain- Behavior, and the Environment. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
ability: two case of creative urban regeneration. International Watson, G.B. and Bentley, I. (2007) Identity by Design. Oxford:
Journal of Urban Sustainable Development (in press). Architectural Press.

© 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 19, 3, 215–227 227