People’s perceptions of places – a series of vignettes #4
Indigenous eyes
Primary students from Brisbane’s inner city suburb of Fortitude Valley were encouraged to explore their place using ICT resources. They walked through the suburb gathering material using digital and disposable cameras, sketchbooks and notepads. They constructed annotated e-collages as webpages reflecting their particular representation of the Valley seen through the eyes of these predominantly Murri children (Hutchinson, 2012, 41).
Primary students from Brisbane’s inner city suburb of Fortitude Valley were encouraged to explore their place using ICT resources. They walked through the suburb gathering material using digital and disposable cameras, sketchbooks and notepads. They constructed annotated e-collages as webpages reflecting their particular representation of the Valley seen through the eyes of these predominantly Murri children (Hutchinson, 2012, 41).
Residents and visitors
Another study from Knoxville, Tennessee showed that the perception of the built environment of a place varied considerably depending on whether the people interviewed were permanent residents or visitors to the city. The respondents were asked to assess what they liked and disliked visually. The residents thought the industrial areas needed improvement but the visitors most disliked the billboards and signs (Golledge & Stimson, 1997).
Another study from Knoxville, Tennessee showed that the perception of the built environment of a place varied considerably depending on whether the people interviewed were permanent residents or visitors to the city. The respondents were asked to assess what they liked and disliked visually. The residents thought the industrial areas needed improvement but the visitors most disliked the billboards and signs (Golledge & Stimson, 1997).
Home on the street
The word ‘casa’ in Portuguese signifies both a house and to feel at home. Street kids, particularly male ones, from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil’s third most populous city treat the streets of the city centre as their workplace, their place of economic survival and their home. They prefer to live on the streets of the wealthy suburbs where the tourists come. By way of contrast, “The Brazilian middle class children grow up ‘behind bars’ in their closed condominiums and spend most of their time inside of private homes, private schools, and semi-public commercial playgrounds and shopping centres, always under adult supervision” (Ursin, 2011, 225).
The word ‘casa’ in Portuguese signifies both a house and to feel at home. Street kids, particularly male ones, from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil’s third most populous city treat the streets of the city centre as their workplace, their place of economic survival and their home. They prefer to live on the streets of the wealthy suburbs where the tourists come. By way of contrast, “The Brazilian middle class children grow up ‘behind bars’ in their closed condominiums and spend most of their time inside of private homes, private schools, and semi-public commercial playgrounds and shopping centres, always under adult supervision” (Ursin, 2011, 225).