Sense of place in the neighborhood, in locations of urban revitalization

Every neighborhood has its particular sense of place, resulting from its physical structure and its sociological make-up. When new housing developments are built in or adjacent to old neighborhoods, a different sense of place will exist in the new development and in the adjacent old environment, with mutual effects between the two. This study has used ethnographic analysis of interviews with women living in six different new developments and in adjacent buildings in the old neighborhoods, to identify the behavioral and affective variables that make up the local sense of place. A methodology has subsequently been developed to determine the sense of place in any residential environment, based on ethnographic analysis of the descriptions of the residential environment by its residents, while focusing on the evaluation of a number of predetermined behavioral and affective variables that together define the sense of place. Comparison of the sense of place between different residential environments could enable the identification of the effects of various social factors and the physical environment on the sense of place, the conclusions of which could be of use in the planning of new housing developments, particularly if located in old neighborhoods.