Paper short abstract:

The paper examines local people-place relations in Reykjavík’s centre. By way of walking interviews, offering direct physical encounter with the built environment, the research seeks to capture assessments and obtain understandings of residents’ place attachment in the heart of the nation’s capital.

Paper long abstract:

The city-centre of Reykjavík forms the oldest part of the city. In terms of buildings, the area is a diverse mix of small colourful wooden houses and larger scale concrete, steel and glass buildings. Side by side, new and old houses, buildings under construction, ones that have been relocated or recently renovated, as well as replicas of old houses make up central Reykjavík.

The paper explores the subjective connection residents have with the area. The paper addresses people-place relationships with a special focus on place-attachment with regard to the material aspects of the city-centre. Particular attention is paid to emotional connections to older buildings with the aim of shedding light on the value of built heritage in the minds of ordinary residents. The objective is to give insight into how locals form place attachment to this part of the city.

The research is based on qualitative research with residents, who live in or have frequented the city-centre for extended periods of time. Walking-interviews were conducted with several informants, following a particular route through the city-centre, with the objective of capturing the multifaceted experiences and effects that are mobilised in direct physical encounter with the material aspects of the urban environment, and are added to layers of individual experiences, memories, preferences and meanings. The paper charts the ways the participants are emotionally attached to the area and how their place-attachment is influenced by personal experiences and memories that shape their attitudes in conjunction with authorised narratives on local material heritage.