Topophilia is “the feeling of affection which individuals
have for particular places” (Tuan, 1961).
The term was first coined in 1947 by the American poet, W.H. Auden, and
became popularized, at least among academic geographers, by Yi-Fu Tuan’s book, Topophilia: a study of environmental
perception, attitudes, and values, which was published in 1974
(Prentice-Hall).
Recent work in geography along the lines of how people
develop affections and attachments to places has occurred under the broader
title of emotional geography (Davidson,
et al. 2007). Emotional geography incorporates cognitive theories on how people
“know” and relate to places through their senses, bodily movements and
emotions. It includes not just what people say about place experiences, but also
the many different ways that they perform, function and experience place with
their entire physical being. How this leads
to feelings of topophilia and place attachment is one component of emotional
geography.
The connections of topophilia and emotional geographies to
tourism are obvious. Tourism destinations
want visitors to like them. They want to create topophilic relationships. They offer services and attractions that titillate
the senses through site, sound, taste, touch and movement. Though the emphasis is often on somewhat
superficial sensory experiences, sometimes turning places into thematic amusement
parks, the ultimate goal is almost always to touch that deeper sense of topophilia.
Aspects of cognitive emotional geographies that tourism
destinations should consider in their efforts to create topophilic
relationships with tourists include the following (adapted from Ogunseitan,
2005):
- Landscape Diversity – A place should contain a variety of different landscape features that are blended together to offer visual and other sensory stimulation.
- Sensory Coherence – Colors, smells, sounds, light, touch (including the sense of movement) all need to be considered and should blend in a logical and pleasing manner.
- Environmental Familiarity – Tourists visiting a new place need things that ground them and which make them feel comfortable and safe, including identifiable objects, spaces of privacy, and open spaciousness.
- Cognitive Challenges – Tourists also need to be challenged by the places that they visit, through varying degrees of complexity, mystery, surprise and exhilaration
In essence this is finding the right balance between sensory
dissonance and rationality, and between cognitive safety and risk. These are the tourism destination’s tools of topophilic
place making. How does your community
compare on these measures?
References cited
Davidson, J., Smith, M., and Bond, L. (eds.) 2007. Emotional Geographies. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.
Ogunseitan, O.A. 2005. Topophilia
and the Quality of Life. Environmental Health Perspectives 113(2):
143–148. - Published online 2004 November
22. doi: 10.1289/ehp.7467, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1277856/
Tuan, Y-F. 1961. Topophilia. Landscape 11 (Fall): 29-32.
(This entry is also posted at: http://hospitality.blognotions.com/2011/12/20/ tourism-topophilia-and-emotional-geographies/)
