Sense of Place Dynamics in Public Places

Abstract

This study aims to explore the sense of place of people who are members of Crow Island Beach Park Management Society (a Community-Based Organization). These people volunteer to co-create a recreational place in Crow Island, Sri Lanka. Contemporary academics and policy analysts contend that place-making is most effective when it is built on collaborative and place-centered approaches. However, there has not been much as to how agencies can incorporate sense of place into place management. Further, the sense of place phenomenon has primarily been undertaken by quantitative approaches with short answer interview design. To fill these research gaps, sixteen in-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed through an iterative qualitative analysis process for this interpretive investigation. The findings of the research strengthen the existing conceptualization of sense of place. By studying Crow Islanders' relation to place, it was possible to capture both the individual sense of place and the group’s shared sense of place. The findings also have implications for place-making, collaborative planning, and management by providing a more exacerbated sense of place-based approach for collaborative place-making.