Paper short abstract:

In what ways can art practice respond to the co-option of 'sense of place' as a 'unique selling point', by developing 'strategies of placemaking', which engender a 'global sense of place' by acknowledging and attributing value to the multiple identities and practices of specific places?

Paper long abstract:

'Sense of place' is not a straightforward concept. Like 'place' itself, its meanings are contested and co-opted to serve specific ideologies and agendas. This paper explores some of the debates surrounding sense of place within the wider context of 'placemaking', specifically in relation to the role of art and culture.

Described by urbanist Jane Jacobs as the accumulation of idiosyncracies that give a place its "flavour'" (1957), sense of place often refers to notions of "identity, memory" and "tradition" (Landry, 2004). However, as geographer David Harvey notes, the historical, visual and social specificities embodied by a sense of place often become detached from their original significance and repackaged as "unique selling points", as places are forced to differentiate themselves in increasingly competitive and antagonistic ways (1990). Within this context, placemaking is widely understood as a strategy for fabricating a sense of place within particular locations, often employing artists to 'add value' through the contribution of physical aesthetics and social engagement.

Drawing on geographer Doreeen Massey's concept of a "global sense of place" (1994), in which place is concieved as a process of social relations rather than a site of fixed identity, I posit an alternative model of placemaking as an empowering or radical activity. Furthermore, I examine how art practices, particularly those described as 'socially engaged' might employ what anthropologies Akhil Gupta and James Furgurson describe as "strategies of placemaking" (1997), to engender a 'sense of place' that acknowledges and attributes value to the multiple identities and practices of place.