Place and Experience
Place and Experience is one of five new research groups established by the School of Architecture and Cities in 2021. The Place and Experience Research Group focus on tourism and events research with specialisms in city tourism and mega events, the tourist and destination community experiences, and sustainability.
We have a shared concern of the social, environmental as well as business challenges that bringing people to places pose. We are interested in broader analyses of tourism and events and how they link with understandings of place and experience in architecture and urban design, development studies, and geography. Much of our work is inter/trans-disciplinary and is internationally focused, reflecting the cosmopolitan profile of our staff and host city.
We have a supportive environment for our PhD students and welcome new applications from research students interested in pursuing projects linked to our work. We disseminate our work widely through seminars, symposia, conferences, published articles and books, and regularly host events. We host visiting researchers and have several visiting research fellows, visiting professors and an Emeritus Professor (Robert Maitland) who all play an active role.
For more about the Place and Experience Research Group go here.
In this presentation, I explore small-scale civic gatherings in Finsbury Park and their spatial configurations. Using the lens of conviviality I study how comfortable park users are around difference, and the values of inter-ethnic interaction in public parks. Using the lens of conviviality I study how comfortable park users are around difference, and the values of inter-ethnic interaction in public parks.
Pale is the Old English word for fence, and to go beyond the pale means to have gone beyond the limits of acceptable action. In this presentation, I discuss whether the installation of temporary fencing in public parks to secure ticketed festivals is now beyond the pale. Fences restrict access, but they also affect how spaces are perceived, used and managed. I use photographs taken in London’s parks to illustrate the materiality of these temporary structures, but also their symbolic significance and wider effects. My analysis emphasises the (often overlooked) importance of fences, and the splintered and sequestered nature of contemporary cities – where citizens are increasingly ‘fenced off’.
With a local/regional focus, we asked 4 speakers to present on “resilience, recovery, and rejuvenation” and what it means for present and future tourism professionals. A key focus of the discussion was around the ways tourism education and industry can work together to build a better future for tourism.
In each location, we heard from a key industry player, a DMO, an academic, and a graduate alumnus, followed by an open forum discussion.
Smith, A., Osborn, G. and Quinn, B. (Eds.) Festivals and the City: The Contested Geographies of Urban Events. London: University of Westminster Press. Pp. 1–15. London: University of Westminster Press.
This edited collection explores how festivals and events affect urban places and public spaces with a particular focus on their role in fostering inclusion. The book focuses on Western European cities and features 15 chapters written by 28 contributing authors and edited by Andrew Smith, Guy Osborn and Bernadette Quinn. There are chapters by some of the worlds’s leading festival experts (including a Chapter on Venice by John and Maggie Gold), as well as contributions from some of the best early career academics in the field. We’re proud that the work of several PhD students is featured too.
You can download the 308 page book for free by clicking on URL below.
Journal of Sustainable Tourism https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2022.2108041
This article explores the intersect between the human right to water, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the reality of hotels water use. Our qualitative study was based on semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and focus groups with hoteliers, government agencies and community stakeholders in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It examines the challenges faced by hoteliers to respect the human right to water and why hotels do not voluntarily adopt the Guiding Principles. The impeding factors identified include a lack of awareness, a lack of substantive voluntary schemes, the water tariff, the absence of data management; return on investment, profit and
We are pleased to share one of the outputs of our HERA funded FESTSPACE project which examines the ways festivals and events affect the inclusivity of London’s parks. In collaboration with a local film maker we have produced a 21 minute film that illustrates how festivals can contribute to, rather than detract from, the publicness of park settings. The film focuses on one event – Latino Life in the Park – which was staged in Finsbury Park, London, in August 2021.
Integrating Gender Equality in Tourism Operations: Why and How? (for more details please see the image below)