Matters of place : the making of place and identity

Abstract

Place is a key factor influencing individual and social behaviour, modes of living, and well-being (Halseth et al., 2010). Place-based development frameworks address this empirical imperative by their sensitivity to the existing assets and challenges experienced in a place. Some scholars and development practitioners recognize that “competitive advantage” comes from assets and resources nested in place. Others are drawn to place and place-making in response to fears of homogenization under such forces as globalization, urbanization, commodification, and the general “horrors of placelessness”. And yet, how are notions of place operationalized in place-based development and what are the social and political ramifcations of how place is defined and used? How might various conceptions of place inform understandings and practices of place-based development? Even more critically, what are the ramifcations, both intellectual and material, of ignoring, or at best, not fully exploring, the role of a more expanded and nuanced notion of place? This chapter first explores these concerns through an investigation of various notions of place; it particularly examines how identity is involved in place-making and creating individual and collective sense(s) of place, and likewise, how place is involved in identity-making. It then considers the signifcance of these place- and identity-making processes for development policy and practice.