Sense of place evolves through personal experiences, and defines how people view, interpret and interact with their world (Russ et al., 2015). People may attribute various meanings to the same place in relation to its ecological, social, economic, cultural, aesthetic, historical, or other aspects. Sense of place varies among people, in history, and over the course of one’s lifetime ( ). In short, “sense of place is the lens through which people experience and make meaning of their experiences in and with place” (Adams, 2013). Place attachment reflects a bond between people and places, and place meaning reflects symbolic meanings people ascribe to places. In environmental psychology, sense of place-how we perceive a place- includes place attachment and place meaning (Kudryavtsev, Stedman and Krasny, 2012). To see more chapters from the book, click here.In general, sense of place describes our relationship with places, expressed in different dimensions of human life: emotions, biographies, imagination, stories, and personal experiences (Basso, 1996). Then we explore how urban environmental education can help residents to strengthen their attachment to urban communities or entire cities, and to view urban places as ecologically valuable. In this chapter, we review scholarship about sense of place, including in cities. Our sense of place also reflects our historical and experiential knowledge of a place, and helps us imagine its more sustainable future. Sense of place-the way we perceive places such as streets, communities, cities or ecoregions-influences our well-being, how we describe and interact with a place, what we value in a place, our respect for ecosystems and other species, how we perceive the affordances of a place, our desire to build more sustainable and just urban communities, and how we choose to improve cities. Sense of place-including place attachment and place meanings-can help people appreciate ecological aspects of cities.Ī place may also conjure contradicting emotions-the warmth of community and home juxtaposed with the stress of dense urban living.
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