Local Identity on a Regional Level

Approaches and methodology of managing suburban cultural landscapes in New Jersey

Authors

  • Wolfram Höfer Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Department of Landscape Architecture

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36249/4d.69.4326

Keywords:

cultural landscape, environmental planning, suburbia, sense of place

Abstract

The interaction of people and place creates local identity, providing orientation in a complex world and a sense of place for residents. Over time, as the cultural interactions of a group creates links between narratives and places, local identities evolve. These identities are impacted by urban expansion: meaningful places are included, changed or completely built over completely by urban sprawl. Additionally, changes within the population may result in a fading narrative, because the group that originally created the narrative moved away. The flux of place-related cultural stories will be discussed in the context of suburban development in the US, where growth in suburban areas is driven by economic goals and guided by land-use planning. Middlesex County, New Jersey, is situated in the New York metropolitan area and will serve as a case study for the question of how environmental planning on a regional scale can support local identity within a changing environment. This includes the story of the Hungarian community of New Brunswick as an example of a sense of place that was strong in the first half of the twentieth century, but that faded over time.

Author Biography

  • Wolfram Höfer, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Department of Landscape Architecture

    professor, PhD

    e-mail: whoefer@sebs.rutgers.edu

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Published

2023-12-11

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Section

Articles

How to Cite

Local Identity on a Regional Level: Approaches and methodology of managing suburban cultural landscapes in New Jersey. (2023). 4D Journal of Landscape Architecture and Garden Art, 69, 2-9. https://doi.org/10.36249/4d.69.4326

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