2022 年 10 巻 2 号 p. 148-167
‘Inclusiveness’ or partnership with shared visions and goals from all stakeholders is one of the most significant factors in the sustainable development process. This paper examines the local inhabitant sense of place, as opposed to the professionals’, regarded as a crucial factor for the place-making process. It investigates the sense of place of a small old town in northern Thailand, Lamphun, through the eyes of its inhabitant and the professionals aiming to show that a sustainable place-making process should comprehend the inhabitants’ perception, not only the professionals’. Adopting the components of a ‘sense of place’: activities, physical attributes and meanings, the research unfolds the district legibility and boundaries through the eyes of both groups. In addition, the inhabitants' experiences of place were investigated through questionnaires and participatory meetings. It was found that physical appearance is a primer for professionals, while for inhabitants it is a social practice. Conversely, meaning is consequential for the locals but not for visitors. Activity differs, for the locals as users in their daily routine, while only some activities are relevant to visitors as observers. This stresses that the differences between the two groups’ perceptions are very significant, especially the subtle ‘meaning’ of the place. All in all, in addition to being inclusive, living historic city development should consider not only physical characteristics but also activities and other intentions in order to become truly sustainable for all.
The concept of sustainable development has emerged as an important principle since the publication of the Brundtland Commission’s Our Common Future (Howarth, 1997). One of the most significant factors for sustainable development is ‘inclusiveness’, or the partnership at all levels in the development process built upon a shared vision and shared goals from every stakeholder in society (United Nations, 2021).
For Hamdi (2010), participation is an integral part of making design and planning efficient and effective. It also puts experts or professionals in a very different relationship to people and to place. Experts become skill providers and opportunity advisers to imagine the future that begins now and to cultivate change, then sustain it all socially and economically. This gives a very different picture of the expert.
Regarding the significance to the local inhabitants, this paper investigates the similarities and differences between the local inhabitants’ and the professionals’ sense of place of a small living historic city in northern Thailand, Lamphun. Adopting the components of a ‘sense of place’: activities, physical attributes and meanings (see, for example, Garnham, 1985; Relph, 1976; Schulz, 1980; Canter, 1977; and Punter, 1993), the research unfolds the district legibility and boundaries through the eyes of both groups as boundaries distinguish members from nonmembers and provide emotional safety (McMillan, 1996). Moreover, members are attracted to a community in direct relation to their emotional sense of it. In terms of the physical aspect, the distinctive character of the neighbourhoods can be incorporated in suggestions for development guidelines. Also, this is hoped to raise awareness of the ‘inclusive place-making process’. The paper begins with a brief introduction to Lamphun. It will then introduce the theoretical background of the place and sense of place and their application to the research. The third part describes the research methodology, then the results are discussed and conclusions drawn.
The results clearly show that there are differences between the sense of place and sense of belonging between the two groups. However, an effective place-making process requires both formal planning policy as well as informal daily practices, so that policy and practice come closer together. In other words, both groups’ senses of place are complementary to the sustainable place-making process. This research, all in all, emphasises the inhabitants’ significance in the place-making process, and the need to take their perspective into account when designing in cities - usually only in the hands of the professionals.
Lamphun is an over-1,250 year old small living historic city in Northern Thailand, once named Haripunchai - a glorious city-state of the ancient Mon Davaravati kingdom during the 8th to late 13th century A.D. (Ongsakun, 2000). The wealth and cultural richness of the city came from its role as the centre of commerce for inland and forest products with other, southern, city-states. Haripunchai was first ruled by Cham Devi, a Mon queen who was said to be asked by the locals to rule the city because of the lack of an appropriate local ruler (Settakul, 2009). During its golden period, Haripunchai expanded its territories to the Chao Praya River Basin of present-day central Thailand. However, towards the end of the 13th century, the city declined and was conquered by King Mungrai of Chiang Saen in 1281, before he built Chiang Mai. Haripunchai then became one of the members of the Lanna Kingdom, of which Chiang Mai acted as the political centre, while Haripunchai kept its leading role as the centre of Buddhism, which was reflected much in its arts and culture. For over 200 years, between 1558 - 1774 A.D., after the Lanna Kingdom was defeated by the Burmese, it seems the history of the city vanished. Not until the beginning of the Chakri Reign, when the liberation war succeeded, did the city revive again. Throughout that time Lanna cities were ruled by their own kings under the patronage of Bangkok. Lanna royal families’ powers gradually reduced after Siam became centralised during the reign of King Rama the Fifth. The city then became a province of Thailand when the bureaucratic system changed.
Lamphun is now a small living historic city near Chiang Mai with its distinctive art and culture. The strategic plans at all levels, from national to municipal, stress the significance of Lamphun as a city with high cultural and social capital and that the city should conserve its tangible and intangible assets as well as develop its potential towards cultural and creative tourism. The 0.648 square kilometre conch form, walled city was designated as an old city for conservation in 2010 (Thailand, Office of National Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning, 2010). Its major axis lies from north to south and continues 26 kilometres further to the north of the old city to connect to Chiang Mai (see Figure 1), mostly canopied by tall dipterocarp trees (Lonely Planet, 2020).
Figure 1. A bird's eye view of Lamphun Old City in 1953 from the southeast, clearly shows the city walls, city moats and the Kwang River to its east and Prathat Haripunchai Temple (upper and centre left) at the centre of the city and Chamdevi Temple (below left) to the old city’s far west. (Birds eye view source: Ongsakun, 2000)
During the period of the fourth National Economic and Social Development Plan (1977-1981), Thailand chose to distribute growth through setting industrial estates away from the Bangkok Metropolitan Region to every other region of the country. Thus, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand started the industrial estate in Lamphun Province in 1983. Unfortunately, the location of the estates were only 2 to 4 kilometres from the old city (Figure 2). Since then, Lamphun has faced a dual image, a historic city and an industrial site, and the industrial estate has affected the development of Lamphun old city greatly. The old city has become a typical ‘under use’ historic city (Ashworth, 1991), with a lack of economic activities and vitality. The city became quiet, except around the Haripunchai Temple, one of the most popular tourist attractions of Lamphun, and the population in the municipality has declined since 2008 (Thailand, Department of Provincial Administration, 2019). The new economic nodes lie outside the old city as they are better connected to the industrial estates (Figure 3). Moreover, the image of the city is not fully legible and the significant places are lost in visitors’ mental maps. The city also has no development strategies to bring about its full potential. Regarding these problems, it is clear that Lamphun needs good development guidelines to achieve a new balance that on the one hand conserves the tangible and intangible assets of the city, and on the other hand, increases its economic value through public participation for true livable and sustainable development.
Figure 2. The planned land-use of Lamphun, the old city (in light brown) -to the west of the Kwang River and the industrial estates (in purple) to the east of the Kwung River.
(Source: Thailand, Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning, 2012)
Figure 3. A conceptual diagram of Lamphun’s growth pattern where the new nodes appear outside the old city. (Source: Tansukanun et al., 2019)
Place is one of the most important terms for geography, as well as many other disciplines (Cresswell, 2015). It is perhaps the key term for interdisciplinary research in arts, humanities and social science in the twenty-first century (Jeff Malpa, 2010 cited in Cresswell, 2015). Place also plays a major role in the emergence of ‘New Localism’ this century, where climate, culture and traditional form sensitivities are more important. An understanding of the holistic reality and being attuned to locality - in its physical, climatic, ecological and socio-cultural aspects - is of the essence (Day, 2014).
As place concerns the identity of a locale, it is significant for the fields of place-making and maintaining the spirit of a place in a living historic city. Though place is a complex term that has been defined in many ways, almost all definitions share two significant elements which are geographic entity and meaning (Massey & Jess, 1995). A mere geographic entity of ‘place’; a space, a location of somewhere, a site, locality, locale or locus, does not generate a ‘place’, it is the meaning that makes a distinction between a geographic location from a ‘place’ (Amdur & Epstein-Pliouchtch, 2009; Tuan, 1979).
Furthermore, ’place’ is a complex entity, a mixture of the past and its ongoing nature and culture (Relph, 1976). It is viewed as a socio-cultural continuous process (Lukermann, 1964). Concepts about place are centred around location, localisation, elements of nature and culture, connectedness, emergence and becoming and meaning. Places are also connected with flows of people and goods (Massey, 2005). The flows of people in their daily routine, ‘space-time routinisation’, are the social interactions of an individual through their daily routine in different ‘locales’ and are associated with the identity of place (Giddens, 1991). These settings for people’s daily lives generate a less conscious experience of a place (Graham, Mason, & Newman, 2009). Consequently, place is a locale for meeting. We can identify it as a locus of activities and social relations of specific groups of people. Moreover, this process of events in place can be newly reconstructed from new arrivals bringing a new situation to the place at all times. In other words, the place is always under construction (Massey & Jess, 1995).
A sense of place refers to a sense of belonging, socially and emotionally, through collective attachment (Rose, 1995 cited in Wise, 2015). ‘Sense of place’ can be defined as “the collection of meanings, beliefs, symbols, values, and feelings that individuals and groups associate with a particular locality” (Williams & Stewart, 1998). A ‘sense of place’ has been a fundamental concept in urban design and planning and sustainable urbanism for decades (Salah Ouf, 2001). It is widely associated with “a good city” and a city with its distinctive identity (Montgomery, 1998; Sharp, 1946 as cited in Jive´n and Larkham, 2003).
Additionally, sense of place has a dynamic nature and reflects experience with places as well as the historical, religious, cultural, and personal meanings of places, also the economic relationships shaping historical and contemporary interconnections with places (Chapin & Knapp, 2015). ‘Sense of place’ or the ‘Genius Loci’ has become apparent from the concept of new aesthetic appreciation of landscape, the term has now been used to describe the quality of the atmosphere incorporated with the material things giving rise to the meaningful ‘places’ in cities (Jive´n & Larkham, 2003). Thus, place and sense of place are important for, and contribute to, sustainable urban living. Inhabitants’ sense of place and sense of belonging can play a pivotal role in place-making and maintaining the spirit of a place in a historic neighbourhood. In addition, an understanding of the link between the professionals’ and inhabitants’ perceptions can make a significant contribution to the place-making and maintaining the spirit of a place in a historic neighbourhood.
The perspectives of place can also be used to analyse and give a deeper understanding of neighbourhood (Orum & Chen, 2003; Manzo & Devine-Wright, 2014; Stephenson, 2010 cited in Wise, 2015). These neighbourhoods are ‘city villages’, developing sustainable living that is inclusive of the inhabitants traditions, culture, learning, as well as health. It is one of the desired aspects for sustainable city-states by the United Nations (2014). A city should also be considered as consisting of socially constructed places both inherited and created by the local residents, without which, understanding ‘sense of place’ in the urban context would not be complete (Adams et al., 2016).
In summary, ‘place’ concerns the identity of a locale arising from its space-defining elements as well as events, flows of people and goods and meaning. Place is also socially constructed and unfixed (Giddens, 1991; Massey, 2005; Massey and Jess, 1995; Relph, 1976; Schulz, 1980). A sense of place refers to a sense of belonging, socially and emotionally, through collective attachment (Rose, 1995 cited in Wise, 2015).
Thus, place and sense of place are important and contribute to sustainable urban living and the place-making process. Through the concepts mentioned above the paper will search into the professionals’ and local inhabitants’ senses of place of Lamphun, a small, living historic city in northern Thailand.
The designation of districts in the Lamphun Municipality was made through ‘place defining’ based on three main factors: (1) physical features and appearances; (2) observable activities and functions; and (3) user factors of memory, image, meanings and symbols. This is to draw boundaries between districts in the study area in order to compare with the boundaries drawn by the local inhabitants for their sense of place/sense of community.
Physical features and appearancesPhysical features and appearances are built forms, townscape, landscape as well as furniture, locations and the relations between these components. Distinctions between places are primarily made through physical features (i.e., Relph, 1976) and the expression of self and group identity (Rapoport, 1990). This aspect is critically important for many scholars, especially urban designers (see, for example, Bacon, 1974; Cullen, 1995; Kostof, 1999;Day, 1990).
Therefore, a visual survey of physical appearance was conducted during June-July 2018. It includes age and styles of architecture; townscape characters from the width of the streets and other townscape elements; settlement patterns and grain of the settlements from figure and ground analysis (Figure 4 - right); as well as the locations and relationships of those elements. The survey also recorded valuable architecture for conservation, especially houses of people as the ‘ordinary urban heritage’ (Figure 4 - left), since it is one of the most significant characteristics of Lamphun Municipality.
|
|
|---|---|
|
Figure 4. Examples of the ‘‘ordinary urban heritage’ of Lamphun (left), figure and ground analysis (right). (Source: Tansukanun et al., 2019) |
|
Observable activities and functions mean interactions between people and place and how cultural institutions in the society react to the place as well as how people use it to create a different sense of each place. These activities and functions include land uses, pedestrian flows, behaviour patterns, noises and smells, as well as vehicle flows (Punter, 1993). As mentioned earlier ‘place’ can be seen as ‘meeting place’, a locus of activities and social relations of specific groups of people, thus, observable activities and functions are a part of the spatio-temporal social reproduction that creates a ‘place’.
The Lamphun activities and functions were identified through mapping the detailed existing land uses during April-May 2018. The land uses or functions of the area were categorised into nine items compatible with the Lamphun Comprehensive Plan, which are: residential (yellow), commercial (red), religious (grey), governmental (blue), education (olive green), industrial (deep purple), warehouse (purple), recreation (light green) and agriculture (green). During the survey, researchers found many areas of the vacant land without any use, so another category was added: unused, represented in white. In addition, the mixed uses of residential and commercial are shown in dark brown on the map (see Figure 5).
Memory, image, meanings and symbolsMemory, image, meanings and symbols are abstract conceptions or intangible attributes that contribute to creating place. These elements result from the intentions and experience of humans. Place created through memory and meaning is associated with physical characteristics as well as activities and functions of the place, and also with the mental process of users in interpreting and remembering. The image of a place is created from an amalgamated cognition and perception as well as the individual, group and cultural ‘personality’. It is a set of feelings and impressions about that place (Spencer & Dixon 1983 cited from Montgomery, 1998). Meanings also change according to people's activities and the physical settings of the place.
Figure 5. The existing land uses of Lamphun Municipality 2018.
(Source: Tansukanun et al., 2019)
Consequently, the researchers drew an image map of the five elements of the city (Lynch, 1960) from an overall synthesis of physical appearances, activities and the daily life of the local people to represent this category (Figure 6).
Using the sense of place concept, researchers defined districts in the Lamphun Municipality. These ‘locales’, to be discussed in the next section, embody a sense of place and meaningful districts as a basis for appropriate development guidelines.
Local inhabitants’ place: settings for daily lifeArguably, a place as perceived by professionals (i.e., architects, planners, designers) is different from that perceived by users or laypersons. This is because professionals are mostly practised in emphasising the aesthetic aspects of a place that can be captured by senses, while laypersons tend to relate a place to emotions or connect it to other places (Rapoport, 1990). Moreover, professionals' abstract thinking leads them to view places from “the height of a tower” and seek order and discipline in the city, whereas its users may prefer to find vague, creative or poetic meanings in it and users will ask themselves whether the place creates a sense of familiarity or security, or gives a feeling of ‘a home’ (de Certeau, 1999 cited in Amdur & Epstein-Pliouchtch, 2009). These theorists not only stress the difference between the modes of thought of professionals and non-professionals, but also argue that these differences deter the design of satisfactory places. In addition, as mentioned above, people’s daily lives give rise to a less conscious experience of a place. Consequently, it is important to look into the local inhabitants’ sense of place through their feelings, attachments, likes and dislikes as well as uses in daily life.
|
|
|---|---|
|
Figure 6. The image map of Lamphun Municipality as seen by professionals and the inhabitants. ( Left image source: Tansukanun et al., 2019 ) |
|
The researchers circulated 300 qualitative questionnaires randomly to the local inhabitants who have resided in Lamphun for at least one year, in all 17 official communities of the Lamphun Municipality (see Figure 7). The number of samples in each community was in proportion with its population. The questionnaire asks about the sense of belonging to the communities as well as places of likes and dislikes and of uses in their daily lives. In addition, during the face-to-face participatory meetings, researchers also asked the representatives of the communities about places of likes and dislikes, of pride and of frequent uses in their daily routine. The results will be discussed in the next section.
Figure 7. The 17 official municipality community boundaries.
(Source: Lamphun Municipality)
From the researchers' points of view, the Lamphun Municipality can be divided into three distinctive districts according to their physical appearances, uses and activities and meaning, these are the old north, the old area within the city wall and the new south districts (Figure 6).
The first district, to the north of the old city wall, the old north, has all the characteristics of an old settlement with its fine grain in its figure and ground analysis, small roads, many religious places and vernacular houses as well as landmarks of Lamphun city such as the railway station, Ku Chang - Ku Ma (Elephant and Horse of Queen Chamdevi Stupas), Sanpayang Luang Temple and the provincial secondary school - Chakkam Kanathon School (Figure 8). The most significant path is the Chareonrat Road, a north-south old road connecting Chiang Mai and Lamphun, dividing the north area into the east and the west sub-districts (Figure 9).
Figure 8. The landmarks of the Old North: the railway station (upper left & right), Ku Chang - Ku Ma (below left) and Sanpayang Luang Temple (below right)
(Upper left & right source: googleimage.com)
Figure 9. A part of Chareonrat Road with its mixed character (left), and the San Muang Road with a small stream alongside (right). (Source: Tansukanun et al., 2019)
Figure 10. Significant elements of Lamphun inside the city wall: Prathat Haripunchai Temple (upper left-centre), Chao Yod Ruen Museum (upper right), the city hall (below left) Chao Raja Sampantawong Museum (lower centre) and the governor's house (lower right)
(Source: Tansukanun et al., 2019)
Along the road lie many old shophouses, Buddhist temples, a Christian church, the provincial secondary school and many commercial facilities. These give a mixed character of old and new along the way but, when entering closer to the north city gate where many old shophouses are located, the character of an old city is more distinguished.
The east sub-district is older and is the location of all landmarks of Lamphun mentioned earlier, while the west sub-district was previously at the edge of the settlement, clearly shown in Figure 1, which at present is mainly residential, except for the areas along the main road. As Northern Thailand has rugged geography, with the settlements in the valleys between those hills and mountains, and with many small streams, one of the traditional settlement characteristics is a small stream beside the road in front of the houses, with a small wooden bridge to enter each house. Luckily, this feature is still found at the edge of the west municipality boundary, called San Muang or the Ridge-along-a-stream Road (Figure 9). From the outsiders’ points of view, this unique character should be enhanced to promote the area along the stream as a meeting place, a small recreation area and as ‘green infrastructure’ of the city. The municipality and the residents were surprised, and welcomed the idea of conserving them during all levels of the participatory meetings.
The second and most legible district of Lamphun old town is the area within the city wall. The area is distinctively an old settlement with strong edges where the city walls and city moats surround it. To the east of the city lies the Kwung River, acting as another strong edge and a natural boundary of the old city. Moreover, the area within the city wall is the location of one of the most significant attractions of Lamphun, Prathat Haripunchai Temple, and the other six temples, plus the city hall, governor's house, the city market - Nongdok, and previous palaces for the royal families but which nowadays have become museums (see Figure 10).
Figure 11. Modern architecture on the almost vacant Inthayongyot Road
Figure 12. The path along the Kwung River to the east of the old city is much lower than the road along it.
The main north-south road, Inthayongyot - connecting Chareonrat Road from the north to the new south district, is where most significant elements are located: the governor's house, Prathat Haripunchai Temple, Changsi Temple, Sri Boonrueng Temple, the city hall and the Haripunchai National Museum. Furthermore, banks, old restaurants, other commercial facilities, the only department store in the old city, as well as almost all ‘modern’ shophouses are located on this road. It could be stated that Inthayongyot Road has been the centre of urban life of the Lamphun Old Town for a long time, but, unfortunately, at present, life has been moved away from where it used to be (Figure 11).
Figure 13. The wide major roads (upper left and centre) of the new south flanked with characterless concrete shophouses (upper right), the old community atmosphere inside the blocks (lower left and centre), and the clock tower, the only landmark of the district (lower right).
The area along the Kwung River is another scenic area with high potential for recreation and meeting areas for both inhabitants and visitors, as well as for cultural events. Regrettably, as the public physical and visual access to the area are low, it does not efficiently support its potential uses (Figure 12).
The third district is the new south which most visitors see as a characterless new extension of the old city. It is the location of rather new facilities, for example the provincial stadium, a bus terminal, Lamphun Technical College and many governmental offices. The district is better described as a functional, not memorable, area. The two major roads in this area are enormous compared to the other old parts of the city. They are flanked with characterless concrete shophouses, as appear in many other parts of the country (see Figure 13). However, there is a clock tower at the junction of Pratu Lee and Sanam Keela roads, to the southeast of the area, which can be counted as the only landmark with special character in this district. Moreover, the old communities within this district are along the Kwung River to its east and near the temples within the big blocks of the new south.
It should be noted that there is another strong landmark to the far west of the city wall, the Chamdevi Temple (see Figure 7). The temple is unique in its archaeological and architectural style but is isolated from the city wall with no legible connections. The design and management of the path between the Chamdevi Temple and the old city wall district could enhance a sense of a place in the old city of Lamphun.
Questionnaire for local inhabitants as usersThe questionnaires show that the communities consisting of the 12,210 inhabitants of Lamphun Municipality are close-knit communities as most people know every other person. Table 1 shows that 33% of respondents know at least 10 people in the communities, and 24% and 26% know almost everyone or everyone in the communities respectively. Interestingly, for the sense of security and level of trust, up to 35% said that they were close to every member of the communities. Only 3% said that they do not have any reliable neighbour to help them if they have problems.
The questionnaires also point out that most respondents (98%) feel that the official community boundaries (from Figure 7) represent a sense of community and a sense of belonging to the communities (see Figure 6). It can be summarised that, for the residents, the official communities also act as neighbourhoods or districts of Lamphun, even though one can see that the perceived community boundaries and the settlement patterns as appearing in Figure 7 are not compatible, many of which include vacant land within the community boundaries (i.e. as in communities number 1, 2, 3, 4 or 11, 15 and 17) or across the strong edge (i.e. as in community number 9). This sense of community likely comes from social relationships and a long-term social practice of the local inhabitants within the community boundaries.
Table 1. Sense of place and sense of belonging of the 300 inhabitants in Lamphun Municipality from the questionnaires
| Social relationship | Number (people) | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Belonging to a community | ||
| Yes | 259 | 89.3 |
| No | 41 | 13.7 |
| Sense of place boundaries same as official community boundaries | ||
| Yes | 294 | 98.0 |
| No | 6 | 2.0 |
| Number of close neighbours | ||
| Less than 5 | 157 | 52.3 |
| 5-10 | 28 | 9.3 |
| Everyone | 105 | 35.0 |
| None | 10 | 3.3 |
| Number of known neighbours | ||
| Less than 5 | 27 | 9.0 |
| 5-10 | 18 | 6.0 |
| More than 10 | 105 | 33.0 |
| Almost all | 73 | 24.0 |
| Everyone | 78 | 26.0 |
| None | 4 | 1.3 |
The most significant place in the daily routine for Lamphun residents was the market, while the temple and convenience stores came second and third. 64% of the respondents stated that they visit a market in their daily routine. Within these numbers, the market was the first choice for 44%, second choice for 18% and third choice for 3%. The temple was the next most significant place for Lamphun residents; 37% stated that they go to the temple in their daily routines, some of the respondents stated that the temple was a place they often visit when they have free time (the third place). 18% of the respondents said that they went to a convenience store in their daily routine and most of them went to the ‘Chaemfah’ store, on the Inthayongyod Road within the city wall, the only store in town owned by locals.
Researchers also asked the respondents to map the locations of their homes and regular routes to places in their daily routines. They are divided into two categories: sacred route, to the temple, and profane route, to the market and the third place. The maps are shown in Figure 14.
|
|
|---|---|
|
Figure 14. The locational mapping of houses and familiar routes to the temples (left) and to the market and the third place (right). |
|
The study shows that places in the daily routine of the residents are mostly in proximity to their homes. This reaffirms the previous finding that the official community boundaries represent a sense of place and sense of belonging for the residents, even though the daily routes to the temple are not solely confined to the temple near their homes, but also to other temples further away. Among these, the Prathat Haripunchai Temple is the most mentioned as the second temple regularly visited, if not the first. It is clear at this point that the Prathat Haripunchai Temple is significant to both visitors and locals. The temple also acts as a third place, not only a place for worship, for many Lamphun citizens. This diversity of uses and users should be considered in the design and planning for the Lamphun Municipality development.
One of the participatory workshop meetings asked 139 representatives of the various communities about ‘a sense of place’ meaning which are places of pride and the third place - places they normally visit when they have free time. Figure 15 shows the locations of houses of the participants (in blue), places of pride (in yellow) and the third places (in green).
From the map in Figure 15, it is clear that the houses are scattered through the built-up area and through every community of the Lamphun Municipality. Places of pride cover the city landmarks as sacred places, such as Prathat Haripunchai Temple, Chamdevi Temple, Mahawan Temple, the Ku Chang - Ku Ma, or as archaeological sites, such as the city walls, the city moats, as well as other local sacred sites, such as Pratu Lee Temple, Sandonrom Temple etc. Unquestionable, these elements have special meaning for the local residents.
Figure 15. The locational mapping of houses, places of pride and third places.
(Source: Tansukanun et al., 2019)
Some of the third places mapped by the residents are similar to places of pride, for example, Prathat Haripunchai Temple, while some are outside the first category, such as the footbridge across the Kwung River from Prathat Haripunchai Temple to the east side of the river - the Khuamung, and the area along the Kwung River itself.
Comparing the professionals’ image map (Figure 6) with the significant places for the participants from the meeting (Figure 14), the results agree with the questionnaire findings, that the professionals give importance mainly to physical appearance, while residents value cultural meaning and use in their daily life. The two maps show similar elements which are Prathat Haripunchai, Ku Chang - Ku Ma, Chamdevi Temple, Mahawan Temple and the statue of Queen Chamdevi. The functional elements that residents give a great weight to in terms of their daily uses are the Nongdok Market, at the south of the city wall, and the Lamphun Stadium, while visitors give much lesser significance to these.
To our surprise, one of the strongest image elements of Lamphun for researchers, the Sanpayang Luang Temple (below right in Figure 8 and see the map in Figure 6) in the old north district, has been absent from the residents’ mental maps, not as a place of pride nor a third place. The extraordinary physical appearance that caught the visitor's eyes does not have a meaning to the people of Lamphun.
In summary, the results clearly show that professionals as visitors can only define place or distinguish different characteristics of the district at the macro level mainly through physical appearances, without experiencing places in daily life, neither acknowledging their long history nor the attached meaning of the places. Without significant landmarks or edges, the old city of Lamphun is homogenous and it is not easy to define different places or districts for visitors. Thus, only three districts are designated. In contrast, for the local inhabitants as long-term residents and daily life users, social practice is one of the main measures defining places. As a result, there are up to seventeen neighbourhoods, compatible with the official community boundaries (Figure 6). We can state that social practice has overcome physical appearance for the local inhabitants.
For the place types, the temple, a strong physical appearance and cultural meaning element, is valued by both visitors and local inhabitants. Nevertheless, some cases show that strong physical appearance can be paid no attention by the residents. We suggest that these values should be incorporated closely into place-making for sustainable urban living environments. The market, by contrast, with its functional significance in the daily routine of the residents, is less involving for visitors, although they may perceive the bustling character of the place. Likewise, the convenience store is almost lost in the image map of visitors but is a place of regular visits for residents. The use or activity then is important for both groups - visitors as observers and local inhabitants as users.
Consequently, within the three components of place: physical appearance is important for visitors, while less significant for local inhabitants; use or activity is important for both groups in a slightly different way; meaning is much important for the local inhabitants as long term users - for short term visitors it is more difficult to perceive the attached meaning of the place. Hence, increasing visiting tourists’ awareness of place meaning for the local inhabitants is significant to gain a more respectful attitude and practice to the place.
These clearly show that sense of place - sense of belonging between the two groups, is different. However, in the place-making process, we can summarise that they are ‘the complementarity of the opposites’ (Hamdi, 2010). For Hamdi (2010), the active design and planning process is a continuum of the ‘order’, the professional plan with rules and laws, and of the ‘disorder’ of progress, the creative and adaptive mess of the informality by the inhabitants. The place-making practice is about making things happen and solving problems. An effective process requires planning forwards inclusively and informing policy from daily practices, so that policy and practice come closer together. In other words, the order of place and the disorder of progress are complementary processes.
For the endnote, the research agrees with Kropf (1996: 247 cited in Jive´n & Larkham, 2003) that it is essential to put any account of physical characteristics within the context of other aspects such as activities and intentions in order to move towards a better account of character. Living historic cities should also aim at the creation of enjoyable urban experiences instead of only a place of authentic urban history (Salah Ouf, 2001). As experience has clearly shown, the design of the built environment only cannot create a fully functioning neighbourhood. On the contrary, policies that are responsive to the existing context, with a compatible mix of uses, appropriate buildings for activities, suitable locations and accessibility are more likely to develop the conditions for sense of place and sense of belonging for local inhabitants (Barton, Grant, & Guise, 2003). The research also suggests that all living historic cities should incorporate the values and views of the people occupying or using places, rather than just places of scenery only for tourists. Therefore, the place-making for any living historic city should develop more based on theoretically informed conceptions of sense of place and character. Furthermore, it should be informed to a much wider extent by the views of the people, both directly and indirectly involved, because sense of place must be understood by all interdisciplinary research practitioners (Ryfield et al., 2019). Then the living historic cities, large or small, may become truly sustainable for all.
The author would like to express her sincere thanks for the support of Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI) in conducting this research. Her deep gratitude goes to the Lamphun Municipality for their active cooperation and to the people of Lamphun for their extremely kind and eager participation. Her heart was full of joy working with them all.
