Urban identity: Spatial aspects
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34680/urbis-2024-4(2)-169-182
Natalia Fedotova
Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University, Veliky Novgorod, Russia
ORCID: 0000-0003-4225-3666
ABSTRACT
The article is devoted to the study of urban identity, which is formed by citizens through understanding and “experiencing” their connection with the city via the sense of belonging to it. The author explicates the research direction of the city identity structuring processes, which is based on the urban space determination as an important aspect of citizen-city identification connections emergence. The study focuses on the empirical cross-section of spatial aspects of urban identity through the prism of the analysis of those places in the city that have an impact on the identification of citizens. A place acts as a unit of cognition of urban space, influencing the identification of a citizen through images, emotions, values, and beliefs that arise among city residents about diverse spatial aspects: from visual appearance to the perception of the atmosphere of the place. The article presents the results of the empirical study of the urban identity spatial aspects, which was conducted in Ve-liky Novgorod. The study used a qualitative approach to obtaining information through the structured interview technique. The study involved 52 Novgorodians with a quota by age, time of residence in the city, gender, and field of activity to identify how the modern city is perceived and understood. One of the blocks of questions for residents of Veliky Novgorod concerned the spatial aspects of urban identity and was devoted to identifying images, associations of citizens, their emotions, and peculiarities of attitude to certain places of the city: a) places that express the spirit and character of the city; b) places connected which citizens’ positive emotions and personal aspects of experiencing the city as “yours”; c) places that cause negative emotions.
KEYWORDS: urban identity, urban space, city place, cultural heritage, Veliky Novgorod.
References
Anisimova, A. A., & Echevskaya, O. G. (2012). Siberian identity: Prerequisites of formation, context of actualization. Novosibirsk State University. (In Russian).
Augé, М. (1992). Non-lieux, introduction à une anthropologie de la surmodernité. Seuil.
Augé, М. (1992). Non-lieux, introduction à une anthropologie de la surmodernité (A. Yu. Kononova, Trans.). New Literary Observer. (In Russian).
Avanesov, S. S. (2016). Visual semiotics of cities. The perspective of urban texts studies. ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ (Praxema). Journal of Visual Semiotics, 4(10), 9–22. (In Russian).
Avanesov, S. S. (2018). Urban space as an anthropological phenomenon. ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ (Praxema). Journal of Visual Semiotics, 2(16), 10–31. (In Russian).
Avanesov, S. S., & Fedotova, N. G. (2022). City: In search of identity. Aletheia. (In Russian).
Ellard, C. (2016). Places of the heart. The psychogeography of everyday life (A. Vasilieva, Trans.). Alpina Digital.
Evstifeev, R. V. (2019). Local identities in the global world: Peculiarities of the urban identities of residents of Russian historical cities. In M. G. Pugacheva (Ed.), Russia’s paths, politics boundaries. (pp. 161–171). Publishing House “Delo” of RANEPA. (In Russian).
Fedotova, N. G. (2017). The formation of urban identity: Factorial and institutional aspects. Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology, 20(3), 32–49. (In Russian).
Gornova, G. V. (2019). City identity: Philosophical and anthropological foundations. Amphora. (In Russian).
Hauge, Å. L. (2007). Identity and place: A critical comparison of three identity theories. Architectural Science Review, 50(1), 44–51.
Hussein, F., Stephens, J., & Tiwari, R. (2020). Cultural memories and sense of place in historic urban landscapes: The case of Masrah Al Salam, the demolished theatre context in Alexandria, Egypt. Land, 9(8), 264.
Lalli, M. (1992). Urban-related identity: Theory, measurement, and empirical findings. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 12(4), 285–303.
Nedoseka, E. V., & Anufrieva, T. V. (2015). Peculiarities of the urban identity of the youth in Murmansk. Urban Sociology, 3, 22–31. (In Russian).
Norberg-Schulz, Ch. (1980). Genius loci, towards a phenomenology of architecture. Rizzoli.
Ozerina, A. A. (2018). The structure of urban identity of the Volgograd youth. Logos et Praxis, 17(3), 90–98. (In Russian).
Radina, N. K. (2015). City in space and time: Problems of territorial identity in the context of socio-economic changes. DECOM. (In Russian).
Shub, M. L. (2022). Specificities of the urban identity of industrial city residents in the southern Urals (based on the materials of a mass survey). Sphere of Culture, 3(9), 13–20. (In Russian).
Speshilova, E. I. (2024). Comprehending the city: From perception to imagination. ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ (Praxema). Journal of Visual Semiotics, 2(40), 103–119. (In Russian).
Zherdeva, Yu. A. (2015). Sense of place as a concept of social memory. International Journal of Cultural Research, 2(19), 5–11. (In Russian).
Information about the author
Natalia G. Fedotova
Cand. Sci. (Philosophy) Associate Professor of the Research and Educational Centre for Humanitarian Urbanistics
Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University
41, Bolshaya Sankt-Peterburgskaya St.,
Veliky Novgorod, 173003, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0003-4225-3666
Web of Science ResearcherID: AAN-9678-2021
Scopus AuthorID: 557210828722
e-mail: [email protected]
For citation:
Fedotova, N. G. (2024). Urban identity: Spatial aspects. Urbis et Orbis. Microhistory and Semiotics of the City, 4(2), 169–182. https://doi.org/10.34680/urbis-2024-4(2)-169-182
