Bridging the Gap between Planning and Environmental Psychology: An application of sense of place for visioning of public policy

Abstract

This paper aimed to explore a new methodology for vision-making and sharing in a local municipality. The study explored using the residents' sense of place as a key element of the vision for the local town in order to ease the conflict or discomfort that can arise among diverse populations of merged municipalities. A method named Visioning with Sense of Place was developed for this study. Analyses identified that the visioning process stimulated the participants to develop a broader sense of place in the new town.