Description
How do people construct a sense of place out of ordinary, undifferentiated urban space?
Although the intentional construction of place has received considerable attention by scholars and place professionals alike, much less attention has been devoted to the far more common problem of how people living in very un-place-like urban spaces create a sense of place out of their everyday environments. Using the rich descriptive accounts of people living in Palms, a notably unremarkable neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, this innovative new work uncovers the underlying discursive structures that inform our concepts of place.
Author Info
Christopher D. Campbell is Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington.
Reviews
“Has the Yogaization of the West really overtaken the McDonaldization of the East? Has a worldview associated with 'the God Within' really achieved a greater salience than one associated with 'the God of the Book'? If so, How and Why? This is a powerful, well-argued and carefully researched historical narrative that boldly throws down a gauntlet to scholars, believers and skeptics alike. Agree or disagree, it's a damned good read.”
—Eileen Barker, Professor Emeritus of Sociology with Special Reference to the Study of Religion, London School of Economics