Study of Place attachment
| Historical regions of River Vaigai within urban Madurai | Snippets
Dissertation | Sem IX
River and its culmination has been the genesis of human civilazition.The architecture embracing such rivers are product of human ineteraction and spaces of celebration of life itself.One such river is the River Vaigai ,though being non-perennial it has been the source of culture and civilization of the ancient temple city Madurai and is now facing issues of environmental pollution and much more.There has been extensive research on Place attachment and its implication in Urban planning .This study is about the Place attachment in the surrounding historical areas of River Vaigai within Madurai city limits.
Place attachment
Glossary
Place attachment is the meaning/belief one relates to a place due to memories,activities or duration of stay.
The meaning evolved in the place through people's experience, culture and the attachment created will affect the identity of the Place (Rapoport, 1997).
Activities
Vaigai in today's scenario
Area of study
Ghats structures also locally known as "Padithurai"
Padithurai or Ghat structures form the threshold between river and its adjoining areas,these thresholds are activity generators which are often places of interaction of social,functional, cultural activities or solitude.Though southern bank had traces of ghat structure (padithurai)these Ghat structures are replaced by bund roads in recent years. When the physical characters of an established identity as strong as a river changes,it disrupts the Place attachment of the community related to it.
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Above marked are the historic ghat structures which now remains only in the name of the streets where the structures once were.These streets are the places of study for place attachment on the southern banks of River Vaigai
Pechiamman Padithurai street
The street is vibrant throught the year due to the presence of Pechiamman temple The temple serves as node and activity zone . The street has mixed use typology with Commercial,institutional and residential buildings. The street is one among the major Ghats(padithurai) that connected the City through the river,temple processions even today take place in the river.
Anumar kovil padithurai street
The street offsets at the hanuman temple ,which acts as Nodal point to the street. The street has mixed use typology with Commercial,institutional and residential buildings.It is comparatively wider at commercial areas and has moderate degree of enclosure in residential areas with less wider street width and is one among the major Ghats(padithurai) that connected the City through the river.
Thirumalairayar padithurai street
The street with maximum commercial space and theater which acts as Nodal point to the street. It has mixed use typology with Commercial and residential buildings. It is one among the major Ghats(padithurai) that connected the City through the river and directly to the Meenakshi AmmanTemple precinct.
Process
Spatial analysis and Statistical analysis with SPSS
Changes in Street characteristics and activities and land use pattern of the streets were documented and analysed in relation to Questionnaire surveys and interviews conducted over 200 participants residing in and around the streets. Significant inter-dependency between Environmental, Cultural and Place Identity factors were identified and inter-dependency between the physical characteristics and emotional attributes of the people were confirmed.