Place and Identity

This chapter focuses on acts of speaking, writing, and hearing verbalized accounts of Icelandic place, and their role in establishing a distinct Icelandic identity in Íslendingabók and Landnámabók. The chapter opens by considering how the landscape of Iceland is verbally mapped, and argues that this is a textual priority for the Icelanders. While many of the places featured in Íslendingabók and Landnámabók were historically real, verbalized topographies, which can collapse time, animate foundational events and actors, accomplish something more. Like pilgrimage and travel accounts, verbal topographies enable moving, affective experiences and provide admission to an aspirational Icelandic national space fusing real and imagined elements. This chapter demonstrates that through the combination of writing, oral performance of placelore episodes (on site and otherwise), and the resultant experience of living within a re-imagined, storied landscape of Iceland, important lessons about Icelandic identity are transmitted.

In this chapter, I draw on Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy to explore environmental embodiment—the various lived ways, sensorily and motility-wise, that the body in its pre-reflective perceptual presence engages and synchronizes with the world at hand, especially its architectural and environmental aspects. First, I consider Merleau-Ponty’s interpretation of perception, giving particular attention to his claim that perception involves a lived dynamic between perceptual body and world such that aspects of the world—for example, the heavy hardness of a granite block or the cool smoothness of a chrome railing—are known because they immediately evoke in the lived body their experienced qualities.

Second, I consider the architectural and environmental significance of what Merleau-Ponty calls body-subject—pre-reflective corporeal awareness expressed through action and typically in sync with and enmeshed in the physical world in which the action unfolds. I focus on the taken-for-granted sensibility of body-subject to manifest in extended ways over time and space. I ask how routine actions and behaviors of individuals coming together regularly in an environment can transform that environment into a place with a unique dynamic and character—a lived situation I term place ballet. For both perception and body-subject, I consider how qualities of the physical and designable world—for example, materiality, form, and spatiality—contribute to the lived body’s engagement with and actions in the world.

Note: This chapter was written in 2014 for a proposed edited collection on Merleau-Ponty and architecture. Unfortunately, the editors did not find a publisher(though I was never officially informed of this fact). The chapter has been rewritten, revised, and updated; see the above entry: "Merleau-Ponty, Environmental Embodiment, and Place" (2022)
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This article examines the conception of the everyday city as presented in the work of architect Christopher Alexander and architectural theorist Bill Hillier: Both thinkers suggest that, in the past, lively urban places arose unself-consciousty through the routine daily behaviors of many individual users coming together in supportive space and place. In different ways. both thinkers ask whether, today, a similar manner of vital urban district can be made to happen self-conscioustv through explicit understanding transformed into design and policy principles. The aim for both Alexander and Hillier is place-based urban communities marked by lively streets, serendipitous public encounters, and informal sociability. The article begins by examining commonalities and differences in Alexander and Hillier's conceptions of environmental wholeness and urban place. Next. the article considers implications for urban design and, last, indicates the considerable value that the two thinkers' ideas offer environmental philosophy, particularly for understanding environmental wholes.

Complete place visioning is an idea of designing active places in the city space. It is important part of urban design so as to act in accordance with inhabitants' needs and provide vivid and socially desired places. In the paper there is presented an idea of complete places visioning introduced into academic learning system within the urban planning course at the Faculty of Architecture of Poznan University of Technology. The presented example of collaborative and problem oriented learning seems to be a useful tool in solving real urban problems and aiming at improving a quality of a city space. In the paper, collaboration is considered also in terms of participatory planning. There is shown the case study of polish commune Tarnowo Podgórne in which the project of civic activity centre together with neighboring public space is designed and realized as the final result of long-term collaboration between academic institutes and municipality.

This paper focuses on population mobility dynamics in and around mining areas in the Peruvian Andes. We use a case study of Rio Tinto's La Granja exploration project in Cajamarca Region to highlight the complexity and fluidity of the population movements around that project and the significant level of agency exercised by local people, as well as how people have been impacted by corporate decisions. We argue that, far from being a relatively static system of social and production relationships, the Andes has long been a place of movement, where individuals and families have used a broad range of mobility strategies to improve their economic well-being and mitigate the impact of external shocks. In the case of La Granja, the use of such strategies has helped local people to cope with variations in the level of project activity, maintain a connection with the area (even while living outside of it), and to access project-related benefits such as jobs and compensation payments. At some points in the history of the project, corporate decisions and actions have had a clearly deleterious impact on the local community. However, in more recent times the project also revitalised La Granja as a place, at least for a time, and created new opportunities for individuals and families. In the final section of the paper, we address some broader questions about the role that spatial mobility and family networks can play in diffusing the impacts and benefits of mining projects.

In an Australian context, all engineering projects are built on Aboriginal lands that have their own diverse stories, peoples and designs; yet in many cases, fostering meaningful relationships between these Aboriginal communities and projects' potential outcomes (social, economic and the like) is a challenge that seems to sit outside the projects themselves. This paper will briefly discuss the challenges presented by i) project scopes or timeframes that often do not align with Aboriginal community needs, such that ii) an engagement's authenticity can be affected, restricted or put in the 'too hard' basket and not done.

The paper will then present an inclusive Aboriginal-led co-design methodology that involves the following Aboriginal Design Principles: a) any Indigenous content will be led by Indigenous people, b) community should be involved in the designing where possible, and c) ensuring authentic outcomes for Aboriginal people, project deliverers and clients.

The paper will present a case study that successfully included cultural design in project solutions, the Southern Program Alliance (Melbourne). The case studies will demonstrate how engaging authentically with local Aboriginal Design Knowledge leads to culturally and economically empowering Aboriginal communities while also providing strong built environment outcomes that incorporate the area's diverse viewpoints

today the society is aware of cultural tourism or more religious aspects such as pilgrimage, pay respect to sacred things, to enhance prosperity with receiving history knowledge, background, importance, and also seeing the way local art-folk culture community traditions including cultural heritage, folk wisdom. the cultural tourism trends have received attention due to tourist attractions and the cultural heritage of each community area. the Isan region is unique. there is a unique identifier such as myths, storytelling history, and importance. cultural tourism is to create a new experience together with travel agents and the important things are benefit, important understanding, myths, beliefs, rituals, as a study of knowledge in the community area at the tourist point, how important is it? what are the benefits and strategic points? such as resting points, important exchanges, learning areas with important historical and cultural features. there is a story about the development of the community, human society through history, which is related to culture, knowledge, and value of community society by valuable architecture is a natural environment that can show the beauty and benefits. can reflect the well-being of people in each era, whether it is economic, social or cultural conditions and religion. the value of cultural tourism was found to be connected. thus, resulting in the unique identity of Surin province. whether it is known, published by various media. when analyzing the value of the influence of tourism on the community in the belief of religion and the cultural exchanges that are a continuation of the community economy in order to produce more products in various fields which requires tourism area as an intermediary. the value found to create a local identity may be known as a learning center for religion. causing the income of the community to bring the spotlight to the area. can develop creativity in culture, tradition, and history. the value that comes from tourism makes the tourist faithful and not dare to make a mistake against religion and can help control the mind and behavior to a certain extent. the resulting in aesthetics, one way, the influence of tourism, the religious culture found that it is important to create power in various fields enabling people to follow and follow with faith, teachings, practices. especially the lifestyle that can make people follow the prohibition, follow the rules and regulations of the community society.

The aim of this paper is to situate the Sardinian village within the flux of contemporary social transformations that stand poised to redefine it. Specifically, it examines the highland village of Orgosolo, understanding it as a site that concentrates a clear set of cultural self-definitions that stand opposed to perceptions of life beyond the locality. A key element of local discourse is a view of the collective historical experience that
underscores the social, political, and cultural marginality of rural life in central Sardinia, and associates the village with a dissident identity that is reaffirmed by a social memory of violence suffered at the hand of powerful outsiders from Antiquity onwards. Yet, this perspective on the locality is not the sole one, and as such the village presents a contested site where the normative traditionalist vision holds little traction among an ascendant generation of urban-oriented youth who, for their part, reject the past and any definition of village identity explicitly associated with it.

An authentic pronouncing dictionary of Maori place names throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Archival voice recordings of many well known Maori speakers from various Tribes and dialect groups.
Author: Hugh Young; prepared & published with assistance by Aoraki Press and others. Copyright the Author, and availability information on the web-site:

http://www.top.net.nz/~hugh/ingoa/index.html

W niniejszym artykule została podjęta próba wskazania wybranych, odnoszących się do marketingu miejsc tendencji, które wydają się istotne z punktu widzenia promocji i rozwoju społeczno-gospodarczego jednostek terytorialnych. W tym ujęciu marketing miejsc można rozumieć jako odpowiedź na zapotrzebowanie w obszarze profesjonalnego zarządzania jednostkami terytorialnymi. Na wstępie zostały przedstawione teoretyczne aspekty marketingu miejsc, w dalszej części scharakteryzowano poszczególne tendencje, wśród których przykładowo można wymienić markowe produkty turystyczne, promocję miejsca poprzez sport, spa&wellness, turystykę konferencyjną, zintensyfikowaną promocję gospodarczą. W ramach podsumowania zaprezentowano wybrane korzyści wynikające ze stosowania rozwiązań wpisujących się w marketing miejsc.

استدلال این است که تجربه مکان در استخراج ارزش و درستی محیط در معماری مهم است. مکانی که کاربران در آن قرار می‌گیرند، به آن‌ها تجربه‌ای از آن مکان می‌دهد که توسط ویژگی‌های کالبدی محیط و تجارب فرد شکل می‌گیرد. لذا می‌توان اظهار کرد دو عامل مهم در تجربه مکان موثر است: ویژگی‌های کالبدی محیط و ادراکات فرد تجربه کننده. در این تحقیق رویکردها بیشتر بر پا‌یه‌ی تجربه است و تلاش شده است تا روابط بین ویژگی‌های فضایی در یک نرم افزار ارزیابی و تجربه‌ی فضایی کاربران مطالعه شود. به منظور مطالعه سیستماتیک، شرح کلی فضا و خواص رفتاری مربوط به فضا و روابط متقابل آن‌ها مورد نیاز بوده است. در این پژوهش که بر روی پارک شفق محله یوسف‏آباد انجام‌گرفته،  از روش تحقیق مبتنی بر مورد پژوهی بر اساس داده‌های بدست آمده از نرم افزار آیزوویست (isovist) و همچنین مطالعات میدانی در قالب پرسشنامه استفاده شده است. برای تحلیل نتایج نیز یافته های حاصل از برنامه آیزوویست با داده های بدست آمده از پرسشنامه مبنی بر تجربه مکانی افرادی که برای اولین بار در این فضا قرار می‌گیرند، مورد مقایسه قرار گرفت. به نطر می رسد تجربه مکان و عامل هدایت‌کننده و رفتار کاربران با اندازه‌های به دست آمده از تجزیه و تحلیل آیزوویست ارتباط چشمگیری دارند. نتایج به طور کلی نشان می‌دهد که داده‌های حاصل از نرم افزار  آیزوویست می تواند مرجع امیدوارکننده‌ای برای پیش‌بینی تجربه مکان در معماری باشد.

Research conducted between 2006 and 2009 within the Indigenous community of Inala, located in Brisbane's outer South-West, has examined the maintenance, and innovation of placemaking for an urban Indigenous community. Specifically, it has examined place meaning, attachment and identity in Inala, activities which have result in it becoming a significant Indigenous place since it was established as a suburb over sixty years ago. Places outside Inala, especially people's home countries, continued to have significance for people in the Inala Indigenous community. Additionally, Inala itself has became a significant place for many of its Indigenous residents, not only as a home, but as a place of memories and traditions which have been accreted over the decades of modern Indigenous inhabitation of Inala. Inala became a holder for unique, personal, group and community sets of places which have meaning for Indigenous people. Some places overlapped in significance with other cultural groups. The diversity of opinions and attachments to places for Inala people indicated that there is no typical Inala Indigenous person, community, or relationship to place, but a dynamic and personal set of associations which linked with places and communities. People who have traditional links elsewhere did established places of significance within Inala, to create a cultural landscape which reflected a desire to be rooted in place, similar to traditional Indigenous relationships to land and country.

Much work in the field of Appalachian Studies seems to require the assumption that there is something that it is to be an Appalachian person. This paper draws on Paul Ricoeur’s account of personal identity as narrative identity to attempt to understand what Appalachian identity is. Ricoeur argues that, although there is a pre-narrative quality to human life itself, a narrative is required to synthesize the many different heterogeneous elements that make up our lives into a coherent whole. In creating the narratives that are our life stories, we draw not only on the pre-narrative character of life, but also on larger social and historical narratives.
From this account of Ricoeur’s, I move on to discuss the way that narratives about Appalachia form and inform a concept of identity.  I then compare and contrast this account of Appalachian narrative identity with other accounts of identity formation. I argue that we can only understand Appalachian identity as a type of narrative identity; it is through the historical, fictional, sociological, and artistic stories we tell about Appalachia that we understand what it means to be an Appalachian person or institution. I then turn to the work of Edward Casey on place to sketch out the way in which the lived experience of place intertwines with and informs narratives. I conclude with an account of Appalachian identity that accounts both for the narrative formation of identity and the place-based nature both of these narratives and of the experiences which inform them.

We can observe two important changes that involve many territorial realities. On the one hand their identity is constantly changing, causing a progressive loss of the sense of belonging. On the other, tourism industry registers an increased interest in experiences which involve at the same time natural, cultural and social aspects of the place. In this context, the communication design for urban environment needs to find new paradigms in order to deal with the ongoing changes. The direction suggested in this paper regards the topic of the ‘communicative access’, intended as a tool to make the urban space comprehensible. In this sense, communication design becomes a meeting point between a functional communication (for the orientation) and the design of in-depth contents at different levels - from the cartographic representation to the ‘perceived space’. Therefore, the suggested design approach is focused on the development of formats and tools for the re-semanticization of places by means of unconventional points of view. The design effort regards content and languages, searching for new interlinks between storytelling and physical spaces.

The intimate dance of being, buildings, bodies and psychotherapy



The interrelationships between emotions and environment are intrinsic to human existence.  The way we feel about our surroundings affects deeply, how we feel about ourselves and others. Our bodies embody our feelings, perceptions, thoughts, and memories.  The experience of the body moving through space and responding to the built environment on myriad levels simultaneously is an essential aspect of body psychotherapy. 

Writing within the framework of Biodynamic Body Psychotherapy and my work as an Architectural Designer and Educator, the primary focus of this article is on the intimacy of the body being in space and the psychotherapeutic implications of this. Relationships between the invisible and the visible, and between emotions and environment are explored.  Through making links between philosophical, phenomenological, and psychological aspects of existence, I then discuss levels of reality that become manifested in the realm of the visible, the architectural, the physical, and the practicality of lived experience.


Keywords:  being, building, body, psychotherapy, space, emotions, environment.

Abstract: This article expands on the research methodology I developed for my master’s thesis in Human and Social Development at the University of Victoria’s Studies in Policy and Practice Program. The title of my thesis is “Lateral Violence as a Process in First Nations Institutions”. In the methodology chapter, I incorporated a Coast Salish formal introduction protocol, which is an act of acknowledging who I am, what tribe I come from, and my lived experience as a Coast Salish person, through text and painting acrylic on canvas. In this article I explore how to incorporate Coast Salish research methodology into
an interdisciplinary framework, as part of my philosophy doctorate in the Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program at the University of British Columbia. I also elaborate on the oral history in the Coast Salish formal introduction.

The concept of cultural heritage offers an idea about recognising and appreciating culture. This idea considers culture as a representation of human civilisation inherited through generations. It is interesting to explore how a concept, which is initially introduced by an international platform, is relevant to the local culture. Regarding this, Indonesia is the best example in explaining this situation because this country has evolved this concept for many years since the colonial period. This inquiry is addressed in a theoretical study regarding the development of cultural heritage concept in Indonesia. A reflection on case studies articulates theories with the context. At the end of this paper, this study proposes an approach inquiring cultural heritage from the global and local perspective.

In Shakespeare's classic work Romeo and Juliet, one of the key characters Juliet Capulet, famously ponders one evening on her balcony, 'What's in a name?'. This question has been the central focus of this thesis, although rather than directing attention to personal names, as was Juliet, the doctoral research program sought to uncover the essential constructs and explore the functions of toponyms (place names). The central tenet of the thesis was founded on the principle that whilst toponyms are utilised by people on a daily basis, their central importance in daily social functions had previously mostly been overlooked by academic researchers. Whilst the main focus of prior academic research had been directed towards exploring the socially and culturally constructed meanings of physical and emotional places, it was hypothesised that toponyms also play an important role in symbolising historical cultural identity and provide a means of locating and differentiating places from each other. As previous research has shown that people form attachments to places because they are important to daily functioning, the research program set out to investigate whether similar attachments to toponyms may be said to occur. Essentially, the aim was to discover whether the existing theories on place attachment, identity and dependence could be extrapolated to explain the social and cultural roles of toponyms, or whether new theories were required. The doctoral research program utilised the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park name restoration program of 1989/1990 as a case study through which to explore the key thesis questions. The National Park was selected as the case study area because in 1989 the Government of the State of Victoria, Australia, proposed to restore Indigenous names (and thereby remove non-Indigenous names) for the park and various features within it. This proposal was met with large-scale public reaction, with those opposing the idea essentially stating that removing the non-Indigenous names would cause confusion and be tantamount to erasing colonial history in the area, whilst those who supported the proposal asserted that it would give recognition to the importance of Indigenous cultural heritage and provide a boost to tourism in the area. iii The research program involved gathering information published at the time of the proposal and undertaking surveys and interviews with those involved in the debate to collate a collection of data through which to investigate the key thesis questions. This thesis determines whether the participants had formed attachments, identities or dependencies with the toponyms central to the name restoration proposal. The theory of toponymic identity and its key components of history, community, emotions and actions is rationalised and an introduction to the proposed theory of toponymic dependence is provided through discussion of its key components location, promotion and identification. The ultimate intention of the thesis is to propose the meta-theory of toponymic attachment, which is comprised of toponymic identity and dependence, and to explore ways in which it is related to, but distinct from, existing widelypublished theories on place attachment. iv Statement of Authorship Except where explicit reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. No other person's work has been relied upon or used without due acknowledgement in the main text and bibliography of the thesis.

Pedagogy of the Place –
the Local Culture in Case of Modern Human’s Identity Formation
This paper is devoted to scratching problems, which are undertaken by one of trends in the modern pedagogy – pedagogy of place. Anthropologically considered local place evoking a cultural identity is included here in the perspective of a post-modern transformation, which leads to a change of traditional places’ status, their hybridization, lass and disappearance. The subject of researching interest is a problem concerning the construction of young people identity on the basis of locality. This process, in the light of pedagogy of place, appears to be important, it must be realized with respecting some necessary postulates.

Þórólfrgab derLandzungezwischendem Vigrafjordund Hofsvágr den Namen Þórsnes, "Thors Landzunge". Auf dieser Landzungebefindet sich ein Berg; fürd iesen Berg hatte Þórólfre ine so großeV erehrung, dass kein Mann ungewaschen seinen Blickd orthin richten sollte und manauf demBergnichts undniemandentötensollte, wederViehnoch Menschen, außerwennesselbstwegginge. Diesen Berg nannteerHelgafell,den "heiligen Berg", und glaubte, dasserdorthin gehenwürde,wenn er stirbt, undebensoalleseine Verwandten aufder Halbinsel. Die Eyrbyggja saga über Þórólfr Mostr-Bart,den ersten Landnehmerauf Þórsnesauf derHalbinselSnaefellsnes, und seinen heiligen Berg Helgafell.

This article examines the role that locality, cultural specificity and authentic voice play within current television industry shifts and transnational developments. Focussing on Top of the Lake, I explore its thematic and aesthetic preoccupation with place, voice and nation by spotlighting issues of accent and vocal in/authenticity, detailing the controversy sparked when US star Elisabeth Moss was cast as New Zealand native, detective Robin Griffin. The adopted Antipodean accent furnished by Moss creates a highly ambivalent foregrounding and re-negotiation of the national within the particularly transnational space of post-broadcast ‘quality’ television. Presenting a ‘sonic spectacle’ (Holliday, Christopher. 2015. “The Accented American: The New Voices of British Stardom on US Television.” Journal of British Cinema and Television 12 (1): 63–82), Moss’ wobbly accent makes audiences doubly aware of the effort being expended to cue regional specificity and locale. In the following discussion, Moss’ vocal crafting in Top of the Lake is linked to the increasing importance given to authentic place and on-location shooting within post-broadcast television, as a means of fostering emotional pull and deep levels of viewer engagement. In Top of the Lake, links between place and authenticity are further interrogated via its self-aware invocation of touristic imagery and desires – made all the more nuanced due to Campion's presence as auteur and New Zealand's role as media-tourism mecca.

One aspect of the contemporary interest in ‘local’ foods has been the appearance of products based on Australian native plants. In this article, I explore the place identities presented in the packaging of these products. How are the intimate connections between land and ingredients implicit in the idea of native foods represented in contemporary commodity culture? And how are these relationships between food and place situated within larger discourses of national identity and territory? While native foods present a unique and potent way of engaging with local foods, I argue that the consumer culture of native foods reinforces a naturalised conception of place that un-reflexively conflates the local with the national. Place is conceived of in largely natural terms, ignoring historical and social factors, including, crucially, the Indigenous Australian traditional knowledge on which native food production rests.

This article discusses the relationship between Native American art and place as a curatorial strategy in the recent exhibition Before and After the Horizon: Anishinaabe Artists of the Great Lakes. It is argued that while the Anishinaabe connection to the Great Lakes region as a spiritual, cultural, and epistemological center is essential to the art of the exhibition, the curators present this place as timeless and unchanging. The result is an interpretation of the Native American relationship to place that is idealized, ahistorical, and inaccurate to the tumultuous legacy of colonialism. Rather, as the art on display makes clear despite the curatorial context, the relationship to place is dynamic and changing. Other recent exhibitions of indigenous art show that these curatorial decisions were not unavoidable and that Native American art can be exhibited to show that its relationship to place has adapted and changed while still being maintained.

Christopher T. Green, "Anishinaabe Artists, of the Great Lakes? Problematizing the Exhibition of Place in Native American Art," ARTMargins 4:2 (2015), 80-96.

book reviews:
* Philip Graus (2017) Place and Placelessness Revisited, Urban Policy and Research, 35:3, 369-371, DOI: 10.1080/08111146.2017.1329802
* Yiwei Huang (2020) Place and placelessness revisited, Journal of Cultural Geography, 37:2, 254-255, DOI: 10.1080/08873631.2020.1761581

This study investigates the relationship between architecture
and the construction of identity in Singapore. Since independence
in 1965, Singapore’s image changed rapidly from a
third-world country to a world-class advanced economy. Such
change is clearly expressed in its architecture What are the
political, social and economic forces that created the backdrop
for such transformation? What is the role of architecture in
reflecting the collective identity of SIngapore? How is the political
and social agenda of constructing a new identity reflected
in architecture?Looking at Singapore’s transformation from a
third-world country to a world-class city, this paper will illustrate
the gains, losses of in SIngapore’s search of a new identity.

Kwame Anthony Appiah (London, 1954) is one of the most renowned philosophers of contemporary thought. His work in the field of ethics and moral reach diverse subjects as sexual orientation, nationalism, social discrimination on ethnic or religious reasons and responsibility of governments and international organizations in development and poverty eradication.

A discussion of the range of ways in which we are connected to the world through place - neurological, sense and memory of place, geographical places, roots, first experiences, home, particularity, placemaking. It also considers the more compiclated relationships with place involved in multi-centred experiences, phantasmagoric places, forms of disconnection, non-places, branding, and electronic connections. It concludes with a discussion of an open sense of place that can connect our origins and experiences in particular places with the intelligence that understands how these are effected by and influence what goes on elsewhere in the world.

This paper proposes a framework for understanding what novelist Georges Perec has called “the rest” that we live through, the qualities of experience and meaning-making in everyday, in-between spaces, and the ways in which people make sense of the big world through the small. The work explores how common neighborhood places are essential to people’s lives, and its framework of “layered dynamics” suggests ways of understanding an individual epistemology of everyday place. The paper grapples with what Doreen Massey has called a “global sense of the local” and how the meanings we make in our most common places relate to our understanding of the larger world, as well as the reciprocal process by which place helps shape us. Drawing on environmental psychology and differing theoretical conceptions of the individual, as well as innovative methods involving neighborhood tours and photographs with residents of a small neighborhood in Oakland, California, this work explores how, through emergent and often conflicting experiences, the everyday physical world around us derives a variety of individual significances. This paper suggests that these spaces are crucial for study and concern, not only for environmental psychologists and geographers but also for planners. The framework proposed here is a range of dynamic and emergent layers that let us understand the complexity of what neighborhoods are really for: as the sites where individual and place meanings are made through a reciprocal dynamic process.

That talk is never disinterested complicates the relationship between the environment and the claims people make about it. Talk about place, and one's self in it, is particularly complex when the environment poses risk or is otherwise problematized. This study, a secondary analysis of interview data, seeks to extend discursive work on place-identity by examining the ways in which 14 residents of a small English village talk about themselves and their locale. The locale accommodates an active quarry, and many residents had lodged complaints to the quarry about dust, noise and vibrations from blasting. Attention to the interactional context of the interviews illustrates the ways in which (simply) interviewing people about their locale can threaten self- and place-identity. When asked about life in the village, interviewees oriented to two main dilemmas in protecting self- and place-identity: (1) how to justify continued residence in a challenging environment and (2) how to complain about the locale whilst maintaining positive place-identity. Discursive responses to these dilemmas drew upon typical identity processes, such as self- and place distinctiveness and the formulation of out-groups, as well as upon constructions of localized power-sharing and morally obligated tolerance of risk. We suggest that research on problematical places, and of environmental risk, needs to be sensitized to how it may constitute a threat to self- and place-identity, and how this may mediate formulations self and place, as well as of environmental risk.