BOOK OF

PROCEEDINGS
EDITED BY:
ISABEL MARTINHO DA SILVA,
TERESA PORTELA MARQUES,
AND GONALO ANDRADE

PEER REVIEWED PROCEEDINGS

E C L A S 2 0 1 4 CO N F E R E N C E
L A N D S C A P E : A P L AC E O F C U LT I VAT I O N
SCHOOL OF SCIENCES, UNIVERSIT Y OF PORTO
PORTO, PORTUGAL

CO P Y R I G H T
Every scientific paper published in these Conference Proceedings was peer reviewed.
All explanations, data, results, etc. contained in this book have been made by authors to their best knowledge and were true and accurate at the time of publication.
However, some errors could not be excluded, so neither the publisher, the editors, nor the authors can
accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors and omissions that may be made.
All rights reserved. No part of these proceedings may be reproduced by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
Cover Design: Studio Andrew Howard
Copyright2014 by the authors
ISBN 9789729607677
Edited by the School of Sciences, University of Porto
Porto, Portugal
Porto 2014

ECLAS 2014 | LANDSCAPE: A PLACE OF CULTIVATION

Special Places and Attachment as Drivers for Cultivating

Well-Being
COSTA, SANDRA Birmingham City University, Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, United Kingdom
COLES, RICHARD Birmingham City University, Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, United Kingdom
BOULTWOOD, ANNE Birmingham City University, Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, United Kingdom

place attachment | special place | well-being | sensory experience | personal constructions

INTRODUCTION

The paper aims to explore the meanings individuals give to

particular places in gardens/parks and their effect on senses of
well-being. The study was carried out with selected participants,
in urban green spaces of Portugal and the UK, who were invited
to engage in self-narrated walks. Findings suggest that feelings
perceived by individuals to particular places are associated
with the sensory qualities and attractiveness of the place and
with personal constructs such as memories and expectations.
These aspects are crucial to reshape experiences, reassure
attachments and to foster personal well-being. Research
furthers our understanding of the sensory qualities of nature
and its ability to prompt and construct life course attachments
and produce bridges to positive states of being. It employs
mobile methods in landscape research that contribute to
developing insights of place perception while in movement.

Green urban spaces provide urban dwellers with ready access

to nature (Maller et al. 2006), with special places (Schroeder
2002) and privacy refuges (Hammitt 2002). They offer
opportunities for respite from the demands of everyday life
(Hartig 2007) and foster mental restoration (Kaplan 1995) and
stress reduction (Ulrich et al. 1991). Sense of place and place
attachment are concepts that explore peoples relationships with
the place. Tuan (1977, p.6) argued that space becomes place
as we get to know it better and endow it with value. Steele
(1981, p.9) emphasizes the personal dimension of sense of
place, describing it as an experiential process created by the
setting, combined with what a person brings to it." (p.9). Low
& Altman (1992) draw attention to the affective dimension of
place attachment the bond between people and place. These
authors refer to a positive emotional attachment that develops
between place and the individual in a sensitive way (Stedman
2003). In this paper we explore meanings individuals gave to
certain places in gardens/parks and their effects on senses of
well-being. We look at how individuals model the process of
interaction and negotiate their experience towards positivity
based on self constructs and place.
METHODOLOGY

Leach (2005) suggests there has been a tendency to perceive

space as isolated from the body and its sensations, privileging
the visual and weakening our understanding of space. This
study is based on phenomenology which calls for a heightened
receptivity of all the senses (Leach 2005, p.102) and emphasizes
the use of narratives (Wylie 2005; Potteiger & Purinton 1998;
Ward Thompson et al. 2010). So, we developed the self-narrated
walk technique which is a sensory experience and a method
of recording first-person experiences, in-situ, in-movement
and in-the-moment. A dictator was used for voice recording
and a GPS with an incorporated camera allowed collecting
movements and imagery. Individual walks have taken place
ECLAS 2014 | LANDSCAPE: A PLACE OF CULTIVATION

131

along a prescribed route. Participants were in control of their

movements, pace and time.
These walks were conducted in 2 green spaces, in Portugal
and in the United Kingdom comprising at least 2 contrasting
seasons. Participants, users and landscape architects, were
identified and given exactly the same tasks and guidance. In
total 42 participants performed the self-narrated walk, from
which 30 did the walk alone and 12 walked in small groups with
a close relation between them, e.g, mother and child.
Data analysis followed an interpretative approach. At this
stage the 2 groups of participants are being analysed as single
group.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

It is suggested that the experience of landscape involves

positive and negative associations, emotions and feelings
which affect and are affected by the ways individuals access to
and interact with place. These are induced in distinguishable
ways and linked to moments of satisfaction or dissatisfaction,
impact on lasting feelings, create layers of memories and
ultimately, impact on senses of well-being and desires to revisit
the experience. Here, it is outlined 2 perspectives of personenvironment interactions: the place itself underpinned in its
physical and sensorial qualities; and the personal constructions,
in particular memory and personal expectations.
Place qualities

And part of the reason for it [the cottage garden] being a

favourite spot is that it's sort of like a secret garden all these
lovely big plants... it's cottagey and I can just sit and lose myself
in here. Beautiful colours the leaves of the trees... There's
these beautiful campanulas and fox gloves and I think that
combination is beautiful,... and the shape of the flowers are
similar and yet that's a lovely contrast, which I think is great.
[John]
The diversity of features and sensorial attributes of place
are aspects that contribute to make a place attractive and
positive. These qualities encourage permanence in place and
its enjoyment, and were identified while participants stated
preference and affinity for particular areas. Seasonality also
enhances place sensorial qualities; landscape changes bring
diversity, novelty and renewal of images, sounds and smells.
Place and its sensorial qualities seem to prompt moments of
joyfulness and happiness, peacefulness and relaxation as well
as feelings of safety, mysteriousness and intimacy, expressed
through the richness of the language. Yet, the experience is not
only grounded in place per se but is influenced and amplified
by personal values and introspections.
Personal constructs

This always has been one of my favourite places, the rock

garden. Again I think it reminds me my dad's garden where he
had waterfalls and a lovely rock garden... and just the sound of
that running water is really peaceful. [Joanne]
In situ qualities of place evoked memories of participants
life experiences. Special places are constructed and shaped in
relation to life experiences and personal expectations (Coles
& Millman 2013), such as memory recollections, and are
assigned value and significance. The quote above reflects one
participants experience with regards to one of her favourite
132

ECLAS 2014 | LANDSCAPE: A PLACE OF CULTIVATION

FIGURE 1.

places at the botanical gardens, which she associates with the

memory of her Dad, who passed away. While this particular
place has a role in evoking and mediating feelings associated
with his absence, it also grew into important emotional
attachment. Indeed, the qualities of the place offered the
necessary external stimuli and afforded transcendent and
meditative experiences.
REMARKS

In the experience of landscape there are positive and negative

interactions, associations and reactions. Movements towards
positivity include a process of negotiation in which the
individual tries to gain advantage to himself upon reactions and
actions, such as remaining or moving away from place. This
process of negotiation towards positivity involves the person
constructs and the place qualities and cues.
Participants responses were individual. Higher positive state
was associated with slower pace and stationary positions (e.g.
sitting, standing), with greater interaction with the landscape,
through body movements and haptic experiences (e.g. picking
the gravel). In addition, positivity was linked to immersive
and introspective moments such as the recollection of happy
memories. Places individuals show high affinity for had also a
positive effect. When place qualities are aligned with peoples
interests and expectations (Coles et al. 2013) they become
special and part of their lives, and thus, they mediate, cultivate
and reinforce well-being experiences, which are crucial to
generate dialogues with and long lasting attachment with
landscapes.

 Using mobile methods and narratives contribute to ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

developing insights of landscape perception in transition from Research funded by Portuguese Foundation for Science and
the user point of view.
Technology (FCT).
We are interested in developing further analysis in person- Collaboration by Serralves Foundation and Birmingham
place interactions concerning the process of negotiation of the Botanical Gardens.
experience and movements towards positivity, pursuing how A special thanks to all the research participants in Portugal
the process occurs.
and in the UK.

REFERENCES

Coles, R., Millman, Z.K. & Flannigan, J., (2013). Urban

landscapes - everyday environmental encounters, their meaning
and importance for the individual. Urban Ecosystems, 16(4),
pp.819839;
Coles, R. & Millman, Z.K., (2013). Landscape, Well-Being
and Environment. In R. Coles & Z. K. Millman, eds. Landscape,
Well-Being and Environment. Routledge, pp. 200217;
Hammitt, W.E., (2002). Urban forests and parks as privacy
refuges. Journal of Arboriculture, 28(1), pp.1926;
Hartig, T., (2007). Three steps to understanding restorative
environments as health resources. In C. W. Thomson & P.
Travlou, eds. Open space: People space. London: Taylor &
Francis, pp. 163179;
Kaplan, S., (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: Toward
an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology,
15(3), pp.169182;
Leach, N., (2005). Rethinking architecture: a reader in cultural
theory, London and New York: Routledge;
Low, S.M. & Altman, I., (1992). Place attachment: a conceptual
inquiry. In Place Attachment. Springer;
Maller, C. et al., (2006). Healthy nature healthy people:
contact with nature as an upstream health promotion
intervention for populations. Health promotion international,
21(1), pp.4554;
Potteiger, M. & Purinton, J., (1998). Landscape Narratives:
design practices for telling stories, John Wiley and Sons;
Schroeder, H.W., (2002). Experiencing Nature in Special
Places: Surveys in the North-Central Region. Journal of Forestry,
100(5), p.7;
Stedman, R.C., (2003). Is It Really Just a Social Construction?:
The Contribution of the Physical Environment to Sense of Place.
Society Natural Resources, 16(8), pp.671685;
Steele, F., (1981). The sense of place, CBI publishing company
inc;
Tuan, Y.-F., (1977). Space and Place: The Perspective of
Experience, University of Minnesota Press;
Ulrich, R. et al., (1991). Stress recovery during exposure to
natural and urban environments. Journal of Environmental
Psychology, 11(3), pp.201230;
Ward Thompson, C. et al., (2010). Landscape quality and
quality of life. In C. W. Thompson, P. Aspinall, & S. Bell, eds.
Innovative approaches to researching landscape and health Open space: People space 2. Abingdon: Rroutledge, pp. 230
255;
Wylie, J., (2005). A single days walking: narrating self and
landscape on the South West Coast Path. Transactions of the
Institute of British Geographers, 30(2), pp.234247.

ECLAS 2014 | LANDSCAPE: A PLACE OF CULTIVATION

133