Influences of Risk Perception and Sense of Place on Landslide Disaster Preparedness in Southwestern China

The effects of risk perception and sense of place on disaster preparedness have been widely reported.However, most studies have only demonstrated weak relationships and it is unknown whether these are applicable to China. This study investigated such relationships in hazard-threatened areas of the Three Gorges Reservoir area in southwestern China. Data were collected from 348 farming households in landslide-prone areas. Binary logistic and Tobit regression models were constructed to determine whether risk perception and sense of place influence landslide preparedness. The results show that:(1)Farming households' awareness of the need to prepare for disasters was relatively low, and disaster preparedness behaviors were mainly based on self-learning. Among the348 sampled households, 67% exhibited no disaster preparedness behavior, and only 2% adopted four of the five types of disaster preparedness behaviors. About a quarter of farming households consciously learned disaster-related knowledge.(2) Risk perception and sense of place had important influences on disaster preparedness. Respondentswho received higher scores on the perception of the probability of a landslide, the threat of a landslide, and the place dependence variables were more likely to adopt a greater number of disaster preparedness behaviors.Respondents with higher scores on the perception of controllability in the case of a landslide were less likely to adopt a greater number of disaster preparedness behaviors.Additionally, individual and household socioeconomic characteristics—education, loss, distance from hazard site,information acquisition channel, and housing material—were all related to household disaster preparedness behavior. This study contributes to the current literature by improving the understanding of the relationships of risk perception and sense of place to disaster preparedness in farming households threatened by geological disasters in southwestern China.

Influences of Sense of Place on Farming Households' Relocation Willingness in Areas Threatened by Geological Disasters:Evidence from China

Scholars from environmental psychology,geography, disaster science, and sociology have recently focused attention on evacuation and relocation behaviors and influencing factors in hazard-threatened areas. However, existing studies are mainly focused on developed countries and the influence of individual characteristics,household characteristics, and the perception of risk of urban households on evacuation and relocation behaviors.Few studies examine developing countries and the influence of farmers' sense of place in geological hazardthreatened areas. Using statistics of farming households in an area threatened by landslides, this is a pilot study to explore the relationship of sense of place to the relocation willingness of farming households while controlling for other variables. The results show that:(1) Households with higher scores of place identity and place dependence are less willing to relocate, whereas place attachment has no significant relationship to household relocation willingness;(2) Risk perception dimensions, including probability,threat, and controllability have a significant relationship to household relocation willingness, while worry and fear of the unknown have no significant relationship;(3) Household characteristics, including income, whether a household has experienced economic loss from landslides, and social support are significantly correlated with household relocation willingness, while gender, age, experience, distance to hazard sites, size of household, children, older people, and housing material are not. The results for information and education are not robust. This study contributes to the current literature by improving the understanding of the relationship of sense of place to the relocation willingness of farming households in villages threatened by geological disasters in rural China.

The Best of Both Worlds——Building Gardens With a Sense of Place

The last decade in China has been a period of great growth and renewal.More and more public garden has been built,many those gardens are built with Western-influenced styles and lack of Chinese factor.A garden with a strong sense of place will clearly put the visitor in a specific locality by astute use of design to support a distinctive regional character.Here the author gives several examples of famous gardens about how to keep the sense of place and try to give some useful suggestion on Chinese garden build.

A structural relationship between place attachment and intention to conserve landscapes–a case study of Harz National Park in Germany

Place attachment is an important motivation for people to spend more time outdoors and to protect landscapes.This study explores visitors' intention to conserve natural landscapes based on the relationship with their place attachment to National Park landscape. Structural equation modelling(SEM) was used to determine the relationship between landscape conservation and place attachment. A survey with a structured questionnaire was administered to visitors to the seven designated hiking courses of Harz National Park in Germany. The path coefficient of 0.77 revealed that place dependence positively and significantly affected place attachment, whereas place identity did not. Place attachment had a significant effect on both affective appraisals and visiting satisfaction. Higher place attachment led to higher emotional reaction to landscapes on site and higher satisfaction of visiting the park. Among the variables, visiting satisfaction, but not affective appraisals, played a statistically significant mediating role between place attachment and conservation intention. With a path coefficient of 0.86, conservation intention was highly affected by visiting satisfaction. These results suggest that the managers of National Parks should focus on increasing visiting satisfaction based on how visitors are emotionally bonded with their visiting places, in order to enhance the intentions to conserve the landscape of the visitors to National Parks.

Communities and the Poetic Imaginary：A Folklore Essay on the Poetry of the Wild Project

Poetry of the Wild is an ongoing artistic and literary project that according to originator Ana Flores＇ conception, invites the public ＂out for a walk＂ to freshly experience their world through word, sound, and image. Inspired by birdhouse design, these unique configurations of ＂poetry boxes＂, combining art and poetry are located in various communal open spaces. Each new project solicits a public response from us all to become catalysts for exploring our environs and questioning how a sense of place informs our consciousness. A folkloristic perspective shapes this discussion about the many variations of this collaborative and public project of poetry boxes, installed on trails, in parks, along rivers, and in library stacks over the past ten years. The primary concerns of folklore interpretation such as tradition, identity, cultural creativity, performance, and narrative analysis, are just a few of the dynamics that can be teased out from investigating a project with such interesting cultural parameters. In this context, cultural sustainability and poetic sensibility deepen our understanding of sense of place, environmental aesthetics, shrine markers, and the scope of individual and communal creative action.

The Avenue of Sphinxes： Restoration of a Legend

The redevelopment of historic cities is often challenged by intricate--and in many cases contradictory--missions. From one side, there is the urge to comprehensively preserve cultural resources. At the same time, opportunities of economic growth should be made available and needs of contemporary living maintained and nourished. The main aim of this paper is to reconcile probable incompatibilities between such missions through promoting ＂sensitive＂ redevelopment approaches in historic cities. The paper focuses on the city of Luxor, Egypt with its immensely capturing yet quite undermined legend： the Avenue of Sphinxes. In Luxor, the injection of nonintrusive interventions presents itself as a highly potential candidate in protecting and enhancing the experience of the avenue while meeting contemporary needs of living. Adopting less sensitive development approaches can lead the quality of experiencing the whole city to be worsened for the increasing numbers of tourists and locals.

Approaches to sustaining people-place bonds in conservation planning:from value-based,living heritage,to the glocal community

This review paper explores approaches to sustaining the enduring connection between communities and heritage places in conservation planning.Amidst global overtourism,the gradual outmigration and sudden displacement of local communities from heritage places disrupt not only physical ties between people and places but also shared traditions,memories and emotional bonds.These intangible qualities constitute the social dimension of heritage and are pivotal to its cultural significance.However,existing conservation approaches to safeguarding this social dimension often rely on the continued presence of local communities,which may yield limited effectiveness in restoring people–place bonds amidst challenges posed by overtourism and displacement.This review unpacks the term‘social value’within the framework of value-based assessment and progresses towards a dynamic conception of‘sense of place’.In response to the changing social composition of‘local communities’at heritage places,this review examines approaches for conserving the social dimension of heritage,aiming to sustain the enduring continuity of people–place bonding.It proposes a broader definition of‘sense of place’that transcends the preconceived notion of stakeholder groups as a geographically defined community and suggests leveraging digital social platforms to re-establish these bonds.The review concludes by advocating for the‘glocal community’approach,acknowledging the personal emotional connections that individuals form with a heritage place regardless of their places of residence.This approach has the potential to complement existing methods,such as value-based assessment and the living heritage approach,which are commonly practised in contemporary conservation efforts.

Visitors＇ perceptions on the important factors of atrium desisn in shopping centers： A study of Gandaria City Mall and Ciputra World in Indonesia

Atriums as quasi-internal public spaces in shopping centers play an essential rote as an identity provider and offer spatial orientation in shopping center architecture. This study aims to examine the significant factors of atrium design, which can provide a sense of place for shopping center visitors. The research was conducted with the sequential exploratory method, which involved a qualitative study, followed by a quantitative study. The objects of this research were two shopping centers located in the two largest cities in Indonesia, namely, Gandaria City Matt in Jakarta and Ciputra World in Surabaya. A total of 43 informants were a part of the qualitative data collection, and 350 respondents served as survey participants. The survey research shows that the design factors considered by visitors at the Gandaria City Malt are atrium legibility, atrium decoration, event decoration, social image and interaction, and event ambience, whereas the visitors at Ciputra World considered atrium legibility, social image and interaction, atrium ambience, and atrium decoration.