IN-PERSON: Prague – Section B
Abstract
Cultural landscapes are composed of both tangible physical properties and intangible social characteristics including aesthetic attributes, cultural traditions, meanings and values associated with key features in landscapes. They also possess temporal layers reflective of different periods in time that collectively convey the character of places. Members of local communities that have continuously inhabited a particular cultural landscape can, over time, develop emotional bonds, or place attachments to certain features in those landscapes. The study of tangible and intangible properties associated with these place-features which transcend traditional definitions of ‘culture’ and ‘heritage’ can provide clues as to what is most important to be conserved to maintain the distinctive character of the place into the future. Over the last century, technological advancements and globalization have changed historically significant cultural landscapes. Contemporary cultures, in many cases, conflict with the cultural properties that have defined the same landscapes in the past times. This phenomenon is particularly apparent in India, which possesses some of the oldest cultural landscapes, yet is also one of the fastest-developing, and hence changing, nations in the world. This paper reports on a study of community-perceptions of place character and its transformation in the historic neighborhood of Pathuriaghata in Kolkata, India. Projective-mapping and photo-elicitation interviews with 156 long-time residents of the neighborhood revealed both tangible landscape features and intangible associations with these features, which were perceived as conveying the distinct character of this neighborhood. Analysis of this data helped to identify important heritage features that should be sustained for future generations.
Prerana Chatterjee graduated (B.Arch) in architecture from Jadavpur University and did post-graduation (MUD) in urban design from SPA New Delhi. She has worked on architecture, urban design and conservation projects across historic cities in India, particularly Delhi and Kolkata. She has had many research publications on urban/architectural conservation management in historic region of Chitpur in Kolkata. She is currently doing PhD research on continuity of place-character in cultural landscapes with case study of Pathuriaghata historic neighborhood along Hooghly riverfront in Chitpur Kolkata.
Ray Green (PhD) is a professor at the Melbourne School of Design at the University of Melbourne. He teaches design studios and research methods and leads multidisciplinary travelling design studios. He also supervises doctoral students researching various aspects of perceptions of landscape change. His research has focused on exploring environment-behaviour dimensions of land development and conservation, climate change and the health benefits associated with human contact with nature. He is the author of Coastal Towns in Transition: Local Perceptions of Landscape Change (2010) and co-authored Planning Housing and Infrastructure for Smart Villages (2019); Towards Low Carbon Cities in China: Urban Form and Greenhouse Gas Emissions (2015); The Green City: Sustainable Homes, Sustainable Suburbs (2005) and Design for Change (1985). He has received several large research grants, including a recently completed four-year, 1.9-million-dollar project funded by the Indian State Government of Assam to develop a “smart village” model for application to rural development in India and other developing countries. Before focusing on research, Ray spent over a decade in professional landscape architectural and planning practice and is credited with numerous landscape design, planning and conservation projects in the United States, Mexico, Asia, and Australia. In 2012 he was made a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects in recognition of his accomplishments in the profession.
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Thursday 29th June, 2023