URBAN VERNACULAR DISTRICTS: METHODOLOGY OF IDENTIFICATION BASED ON THE ANALYSIS OF MENTAL MAPS
Keywords:
vernacular district, city, mental map, perceptual portrait of the territory, research methodology
Abstract
Vernacular regions/districts are areas distinguished based on the analysis of their perception by thepeople (local residents, tourists, residents of other regions, etc.). Interest in this kind of regionalizationhas been stipulated recently by the development of the behavioural approach in geography, shift of thegeography research focus on the local identity problems and, especially in Ukraine, by management practicechallenges, namely the formation of economically and socially integral and self-sufficient territorialcommunities. The article substantiates the expediency of using mental maps for the identification andsubsequent investigation of urban vernacular districts, shows the principal stages of regionalizationtechnique with an emphasis on the collection of empirical material and the interpretation of mental maps.The discussion presents the author’s view on the problem of objectivity of urban vernacular districts, as well as the interpretation and use of research results. A mental map is a source of primary information obtainedin a generalized and deliberately withholding form directly from a city resident or another person. Being asimplified representation of the urban landscape, such a map displays the most recognizable and popularobjects among local residents. Among the images that residents display on mental maps, vernaculardistricts occupy a special place since they are those parts of the city within which their everyday lifetakes place: commuting to work, receiving services, recreation, entertainment, communication, etc. Thestudy of vernacular districts involves, inter alia, their identification, classification by functional features,and analysis of their perceptual portraits (identities). The limitations of the method are related to theselection of a sample of respondents (authors of mental maps), as well as to the difficulties of interpretingmental maps. At the same time, mental maps as a method of investigating vernacular districts have theirundeniable advantages, since they are source of unique information about the perception of urban space.
References
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[Lazarenko, V. (2019). “Placeless” cities: perception of cities by migrants from Donbas. Politychna Krytyka. Retrieved from: https://politkrytyka.org/2019/11/28/bezmistsevi-mista-spryjmannya-mist-ukrayinypereselentsyamy-z-donbasu/ (In Ukrainian)].
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13. Bale, J. (1983). Mapping vernacular regions in the classroom. Journal of Geography, 82(6): 274–276. Doi: 10.1080/00221348308980418.
14. Benkő, M. (2012). Evaluating factors in the image of housing estates. Architecture, 43(1), 33–36. Doi: 10.3311/PPar.7155.
15. Brennan-Horley, С. (2010). Mental mapping the ‘creative city’. Journal of Maps, 6(1), 250–259. Doi: 10.4113/jom.2010.1082.
16. Dolata, M., & Kotus, J. (2006). Social production of urban space (a case study of ‘bad’ areas in Poznań). Geographia Polonica, 79(2), 5–22.
17. Garnaga, A.F., & Yarulin, I.F. (2020). Urban environment as a result of the interaction of social groups (on the example of vernacular districts of the city of Khabarovsk). IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 753(4), 753 042015.
18. Gnatiuk, O., Kononenko, O., & Mezentsev, K. (2022). Kyiv metro and urban imageability: a student youth vision. Acta Universitatis Carolinae Geographia, 57(1), 255–268. Doi: 10.14712/23361980.2022.2.
19. Gnatiuk, O., & Melnychuk, A. (2019). Identities with historical regions – are they adapting to modern administrative division? The case of Ukraine. European Spatial Research and Policy, 26(1), 175–194. Doi: 10.18778/1231-1952.26.1.09.
20. Hale, R.F. (1971). A Map of Vernacular Regions in America. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.
21. Hollenstein, L. (2008). Capturing Vernacular Geography from Georeferenced Tags. Master Thesis, Institute of Geography, University of Zurich. Retrieved from: https://www.geo.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:c5b291f0-22fa-4fcc-8d79-723648dfe5c5/msc_livia_hollenstein_2008.pdf
22. Jordan, T. (1978). Perceptual regions of Texas. Geographical Review, 68(3), 293-307. Doi: 10.2307/215048.
23. Kasala, K., & Šifta, M. (2017). The region as a concept: traditional and constructivist view. AUC Geographica, 52(2), 208–218. Doi: 10.14712/23361980.2017.17.
24. Liesch, M., Dunklee L.M., Legg, R.G., Feig, A.D., & Krause, A.J. (2015). Use of business-naming practices to delineate vernacular regions: a Michigan example. Journal of Geography, 114(5), 188–196. Doi: 10.1080/00221341.2014.965187.
25. Liu, Y. (2015). A Study of Colloquial Place Names through Geotagged Social Media Data. Master’s Thesis. University of Tennessee. Retrieved from: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/3336.
26. Lloyd, R. (1976). Cognition, preference, and behavior in space: an examination of the structural linkages. Economic Geography, 52, 241–253. Doi: 10.2307/143271.
27. Lynch, K. (1960). The image of the city. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
28. Marek, P. (2020). Transformation of the identity of a region: theory and the empirical case of the perceptual regions of Bohemia and Moravia, Czech Republic. Moravian Geographical Reports, 28(3), 154–169. Doi: 10.2478/mgr-2020-0012.
29. Melnychuk, A., Gnatiuk, O., & Rastvorova, M. (2014). Use of territorial identity markers in geographical researches. Scientific Annals of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi. Geography Series, 60(1), 157–184.
30. Murphy, A. (1991). Regions as social constructs: the gap between theory and practice. Progress in Human Geography, 15(1), 23–35. Doi: 10.1177/030913259101500102.
31. Nawrocki, T. (2017). The usefulness of mental maps for sociological research of the city. Architecture, Civil Engineering, Environment, 10(3), 19–31. Doi: 10.21307/acee-2017-032.
32. Nieścioruk, K. (2019). Cartographic delimitation of the city centre using mental sketches. The Cartographic Journal, 56(4): 355-367. Doi: 10.1080/00087041.2018.1547472.
33. Osóch, B., & Czaplińska, A. (2019). City image based on mental maps – the case study of Szczecin (Poland). Miscellanea Geographica, 23(2), 111–119. Doi: 10.2478/mgrsd-2019-0016.
34. Paasi, A. (2009). Regional geography. In R. Kitchen, N. Thrift (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, volume 9 (pp. 214–227). Amsterdam and Oxford: Elsevier. Doi: 10.1016/B978-008044910-4.00736-7.
35. Pánek, J. (2016). From mental maps to geoparticipation. The Cartographic Journal, 53(4), 300–307. Doi: 10.1080/00087041.2016.1243862.
36. Pred, A.R. (1984). Place as historically contingent process: structuration and the timegeography of becoming places. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 74(2), 279–297. Doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8306.1984.tb01453.x.
37. Purves, R.S., & Derungs, C. (2015). From space to place: place-based explorations of text. International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing, 9, 74–94. Doi: 10.3366/ijhac.2015.0139.
38. Simacek, P., Šerý, M., Fiedor, D., & Brisudová, L. (2020). To fear or not to fear? Exploring the temporality of topophobia in urban environments. Moravian Geographical Reports, 28, 308–321. Doi: 10.2478/mgr-2020-0023.
39. Šifta, M., & Chromý, P. (2017). The importance of symbols in the region formation process. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift, 71(2), 98–113. Doi: 10.1080/00291951.2017.1317285.
40. Topcu, K.D., & Topcu, M. (2012). Visual presentation of mental images in urban design education: cognitive maps. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 51, 573–582. Doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.08.208.
41. Twaroch, F., Jones, C., & Abdelmoty, A. (2008). Acquisition of vernacular place names from web sources. In I. King, R. Baeza-Yates (Eds.), Weaving Services and People on the World Wide Web (pp. 195–214), Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. Doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-00570-1_10.
42. Vukosav, B., & Fuerst-Bjeliš, B. (2016). Labels of interest groups as indicators of a vernacular region: a case study in Croatia. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 107, 454-467. Doi: 10.1111/tesg.12168.
43. Whittlesey, D. (1954): The regional concept and the regional method. In P.E. James, D. Whittlesey (Eds.), American Geography: Inventory and Prospect (pp. 19–68). Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press.
44. Yoshimura, Y., He, S., Hack, G., Nagakura, T., & Ratti, C. (2020). Quantifying memories: mapping urban perception. Mobile Networks and Applications, 25, 1275–1286. Doi: 10.1007/s11036-020-01536-0.
45. Zelinsky, W. (1980) North America’s vernacular regions. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 70(1), 1–16. Doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8306.1980.tb01293.x.
2. Баранский Н.Н. (1927). Экономическая география СССР: Обзор по областям Госплана. Москва, Ленинград: Государственное издательство. [Baranskij, N.N. (1927). Economic Geography of the USSR: Overview of the Gosplan Areas. Moscow, Leningrad: Gosudarstviennoje Izdatielstvo (In Russian)].
3. Вербицький, І., Тищенко, І., & Поднос, В. (2016). Оболонський район: потенціал до громадотворення. Режим доступу: https://cedos.org.ua/researches/obolonskyi-raion-potentsial-dohromadotvorennia/[Verbytskyi, I., Tyschenko, I., & Podnos, V. (2016). Obolonskyj District: Potential for Community Building. Retrieved from: https://cedos.org.ua/researches/obolonskyi-raion-potentsial-dohromadotvorennia/(In Ukrainian)].
4. Влах, М., & Гудзеляк, І. (2019). Перцепційний підхід у суспільно-географічних дослідженнях міського простору (на матеріалах Львова). Економічна та соціальна географія, 82, 50–56. Doi: 10.17721/2413-7154/2019.82.50-56. [Vlakh, M., & Hudzelyak, I. (2019). Perceptional approach in socialgeographical research of the urban space (on the example of Lviv). Ekonomichna ta Sotsialna Geografiya, 82, 50–56. Doi: 10.17721/2413-7154/2019.82.50-56. (In Ukrainian)].
5. Гнатюк, О., & Мельничук, А. (2019). Ідентичність визначних локацій міста Вінниці. Науковий вісник Херсонського державного університету. Серія Географічні науки, 11, 16-24. Doi: 10.32999/ksu2413-7391/2019-11-2. [Gnatiuk, O., & Melnychuk, M. (2019). Place identity of selected locations in the city of Vinnytsia. Scientific Bulletin of Kherson State University. Series Geographical Sciences, 11, 16-24. Doi: 10.32999/ksu2413-7391/2019-11-2. (In Ukrainian)].
6. Колосовский, Н.Н. (2006). Избранные труды. Москва: Ойкумена. [Kolosovskij, N. N. (2006). Selected works. Moscow: Oikumena. (In Russian)].
7. Лазаренко, В. (2019). «Безмісцеві» міста: сприймання міст переселенцями з Донбасу. Політична критика. Режим доступу: https://politkrytyka.org/2019/11/28/bezmistsevi-mista-spryjmannyamist-ukrayiny-pereselentsyamy-z-donbasu/
[Lazarenko, V. (2019). “Placeless” cities: perception of cities by migrants from Donbas. Politychna Krytyka. Retrieved from: https://politkrytyka.org/2019/11/28/bezmistsevi-mista-spryjmannya-mist-ukrayinypereselentsyamy-z-donbasu/ (In Ukrainian)].
8. Мезенцев, К.В. (2005). Суспільно-географічне прогнозування регіонального розвитку. Київ: Видавничо-поліграфічний центр «Київський університет». [Mezentsev, K.V. (2005). Forecasting of Regional Development in Human Geography. Kyiv: Kyjivskyj Universytet (In Ukrainian)].
9. Мирошниченко, В.В. (2013). Вернакулярные районы Харькова. Псковский регионологический журнал, 16, 61–69. [Мирошниченко, В.В. (2013). Vernacular districts of Kharkiv. Pskov Journal of Regional Science, 16, 61–69. (In Russian)].
10. Мірошніченко, В.В. (2014). Оцінка ступеня престижності вернакулярних районів міста Харкова. Вісник ХНУ імені В. Н. Каразіна, 1104. Серія «Екологія», 10, 117–125. [Miroshnichenko, V.V. (2014). Estimation of degree of prestige of vernacular districts of Kharkiv. Visnyk of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Series «Еcоlogy», 10, 117–125. (In Ukrainian)].
11. Платформа розвитку міст. (2015). Поділ Львова на мікрорайони на основі дослідження. Режим доступу: http://www.urbanua.org/ideyii-proekty/miski-proekty/155 [City Development Platform. (2015). Research-based division of Lviv into microdistricts. Retrieved from: http://www.urbanua.org/ideyi-i-proekty/miski-proekty/155(In Ukrainian)].
12. Садовський, В. (1932). Світове господарство. Курс лекцій. Подєбради. [Sadovskyj, V. (1932). World economy. Course of lectures. Poděbrady. (In Ukrainian)].
13. Bale, J. (1983). Mapping vernacular regions in the classroom. Journal of Geography, 82(6): 274–276. Doi: 10.1080/00221348308980418.
14. Benkő, M. (2012). Evaluating factors in the image of housing estates. Architecture, 43(1), 33–36. Doi: 10.3311/PPar.7155.
15. Brennan-Horley, С. (2010). Mental mapping the ‘creative city’. Journal of Maps, 6(1), 250–259. Doi: 10.4113/jom.2010.1082.
16. Dolata, M., & Kotus, J. (2006). Social production of urban space (a case study of ‘bad’ areas in Poznań). Geographia Polonica, 79(2), 5–22.
17. Garnaga, A.F., & Yarulin, I.F. (2020). Urban environment as a result of the interaction of social groups (on the example of vernacular districts of the city of Khabarovsk). IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 753(4), 753 042015.
18. Gnatiuk, O., Kononenko, O., & Mezentsev, K. (2022). Kyiv metro and urban imageability: a student youth vision. Acta Universitatis Carolinae Geographia, 57(1), 255–268. Doi: 10.14712/23361980.2022.2.
19. Gnatiuk, O., & Melnychuk, A. (2019). Identities with historical regions – are they adapting to modern administrative division? The case of Ukraine. European Spatial Research and Policy, 26(1), 175–194. Doi: 10.18778/1231-1952.26.1.09.
20. Hale, R.F. (1971). A Map of Vernacular Regions in America. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.
21. Hollenstein, L. (2008). Capturing Vernacular Geography from Georeferenced Tags. Master Thesis, Institute of Geography, University of Zurich. Retrieved from: https://www.geo.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:c5b291f0-22fa-4fcc-8d79-723648dfe5c5/msc_livia_hollenstein_2008.pdf
22. Jordan, T. (1978). Perceptual regions of Texas. Geographical Review, 68(3), 293-307. Doi: 10.2307/215048.
23. Kasala, K., & Šifta, M. (2017). The region as a concept: traditional and constructivist view. AUC Geographica, 52(2), 208–218. Doi: 10.14712/23361980.2017.17.
24. Liesch, M., Dunklee L.M., Legg, R.G., Feig, A.D., & Krause, A.J. (2015). Use of business-naming practices to delineate vernacular regions: a Michigan example. Journal of Geography, 114(5), 188–196. Doi: 10.1080/00221341.2014.965187.
25. Liu, Y. (2015). A Study of Colloquial Place Names through Geotagged Social Media Data. Master’s Thesis. University of Tennessee. Retrieved from: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/3336.
26. Lloyd, R. (1976). Cognition, preference, and behavior in space: an examination of the structural linkages. Economic Geography, 52, 241–253. Doi: 10.2307/143271.
27. Lynch, K. (1960). The image of the city. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
28. Marek, P. (2020). Transformation of the identity of a region: theory and the empirical case of the perceptual regions of Bohemia and Moravia, Czech Republic. Moravian Geographical Reports, 28(3), 154–169. Doi: 10.2478/mgr-2020-0012.
29. Melnychuk, A., Gnatiuk, O., & Rastvorova, M. (2014). Use of territorial identity markers in geographical researches. Scientific Annals of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi. Geography Series, 60(1), 157–184.
30. Murphy, A. (1991). Regions as social constructs: the gap between theory and practice. Progress in Human Geography, 15(1), 23–35. Doi: 10.1177/030913259101500102.
31. Nawrocki, T. (2017). The usefulness of mental maps for sociological research of the city. Architecture, Civil Engineering, Environment, 10(3), 19–31. Doi: 10.21307/acee-2017-032.
32. Nieścioruk, K. (2019). Cartographic delimitation of the city centre using mental sketches. The Cartographic Journal, 56(4): 355-367. Doi: 10.1080/00087041.2018.1547472.
33. Osóch, B., & Czaplińska, A. (2019). City image based on mental maps – the case study of Szczecin (Poland). Miscellanea Geographica, 23(2), 111–119. Doi: 10.2478/mgrsd-2019-0016.
34. Paasi, A. (2009). Regional geography. In R. Kitchen, N. Thrift (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, volume 9 (pp. 214–227). Amsterdam and Oxford: Elsevier. Doi: 10.1016/B978-008044910-4.00736-7.
35. Pánek, J. (2016). From mental maps to geoparticipation. The Cartographic Journal, 53(4), 300–307. Doi: 10.1080/00087041.2016.1243862.
36. Pred, A.R. (1984). Place as historically contingent process: structuration and the timegeography of becoming places. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 74(2), 279–297. Doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8306.1984.tb01453.x.
37. Purves, R.S., & Derungs, C. (2015). From space to place: place-based explorations of text. International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing, 9, 74–94. Doi: 10.3366/ijhac.2015.0139.
38. Simacek, P., Šerý, M., Fiedor, D., & Brisudová, L. (2020). To fear or not to fear? Exploring the temporality of topophobia in urban environments. Moravian Geographical Reports, 28, 308–321. Doi: 10.2478/mgr-2020-0023.
39. Šifta, M., & Chromý, P. (2017). The importance of symbols in the region formation process. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift, 71(2), 98–113. Doi: 10.1080/00291951.2017.1317285.
40. Topcu, K.D., & Topcu, M. (2012). Visual presentation of mental images in urban design education: cognitive maps. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 51, 573–582. Doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.08.208.
41. Twaroch, F., Jones, C., & Abdelmoty, A. (2008). Acquisition of vernacular place names from web sources. In I. King, R. Baeza-Yates (Eds.), Weaving Services and People on the World Wide Web (pp. 195–214), Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. Doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-00570-1_10.
42. Vukosav, B., & Fuerst-Bjeliš, B. (2016). Labels of interest groups as indicators of a vernacular region: a case study in Croatia. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 107, 454-467. Doi: 10.1111/tesg.12168.
43. Whittlesey, D. (1954): The regional concept and the regional method. In P.E. James, D. Whittlesey (Eds.), American Geography: Inventory and Prospect (pp. 19–68). Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press.
44. Yoshimura, Y., He, S., Hack, G., Nagakura, T., & Ratti, C. (2020). Quantifying memories: mapping urban perception. Mobile Networks and Applications, 25, 1275–1286. Doi: 10.1007/s11036-020-01536-0.
45. Zelinsky, W. (1980) North America’s vernacular regions. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 70(1), 1–16. Doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8306.1980.tb01293.x.
Published
2023-01-11
Pages
36-49
Section
SECTION 1 SOCIO-GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCHES
