Abstract
In this chapter I argue that place attachment in cities stems from constant (re-)negotiatons between individuals and groups in urban space and their interaction with the space’s materiality. Based on a case study from Darmstadt, Germany, I show how citizens and urban materiality engage in a process of co-creating place attachment. Empirical data from autoethnographic observation and photographic documentation of the Georg-Büchner-Platz, a centrally located urban square in Darmstadt, highlight this double-sided relation: on the one hand, people establish attachments to particular places in their environment by interacting with other people and the ambient materiality. On the other hand, materiality serves as means to stabilise attachments to places and as means to re-frame local belonging and place attachment. As a consequence of the constant interactions and reframings of attachment, place attachment can be understood as (1) processual in character, (2) only temporarily stable and (3) the result of an interplay of sociality and materiality. This example then is evidence for the broader argument followed in this chapter that place attachment should be understood as dynamic over time and fundamentally intertwined with the material qualities of spaces and has the potential to contribute to social cohesion in an urban society.
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Notes
- 1.
It is important to note that not everyone in Darmstadt feels attached to the Georg-Büchner-Platz, especially not with its current material-spatial design. During my fieldwork, I was told that the square now lacks niches where people can gather without being observed by others. The former design of the square included such niches, and this was portrayed to me as a key element why the square was so attractive during adolescence, being “the only location where we could be among ourselves in public” (informal interview, Darmstadt 2021).
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Many thanks to the OpenStreetMap contributors for providing the maps used in this publication. The license agreements can be found here: www.openstreetmap.org/copyright and here: www.opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl.
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Müller, AL. (2022). Place Attachment Through Negotiation. How Citizens and Materiality Co-create Urban Spaces in Darmstadt, Germany. In: Ilovan, OR., Markuszewska, I. (eds) Preserving and Constructing Place Attachment in Europe. GeoJournal Library, vol 131. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09775-1_7
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