Tabula non-rasa: go-along interviews and memory mapping in a post-mining landscape designated for urban expansion

Abstract

Peri-urban areas have long and diverse histories but when targeted for large scale housing expansion, they are at risk of becoming a blank slate for development, a potential loss to both existing inhabitants and potential newcomers. In this paper we develop a method to recover and narrate the sense of place of members of the pre-existing local community and map those memories onto specific locations and views within the landscape. Situated in a post-mining landscape on the edge of the city of Edinburgh, designated for urban expansion, our case study reveals the rich and diverse memories associated with seemingly ordinary landscape features; a stark contrast with the generic selling slogans and housing typologies presented by the developers. Deployment of methods like ours can help planners of urban redevelopment and expansion to better appreciate the sense of place of long-term residents and stimulate the process of place-making on new housing estates.