A 'placeful' station? The community role in place making and improving hedonic value at local railway stations. (December 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Alexander, Matthew; Hamilton, Kathy
• Is Part Of: Transportation research. Volume 82(2015)
• Page Start: 65
• Page End: 77
• Publication Date: 2015-12
• Subjects: Railway stations -- Community -- Placelessness -- Placefullness; Transportation -- Research -- Periodicals; 388.011
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2015.09.006
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0965-8564

Abstract

Highlights: We explore the local community role in regenerating railway stations. Community appropriation of stations leads to an increased sense of ownership. Through community involvement a sense of place is engendered and developed. Station adoption results in place transformation and feelings of placefullness. Abstract: In recent years, railway stations have come to be seen as non-places within society, points of transit and nothing more. The role of the station in place making is disputed with stations seen as both creating and destroying a sense of place within a community. Our study is located within the railway stations of Scotland and explores how local communities have been empowered to reclaim, customise, and re-appropriate stations to simultaneously create a sense of place and better promote their community to the outside world. Drawing on ethnographic research we refute the notion that stations are somehow 'placeless'. We show how through a process of legitimisation, a sense of ownership and appropriation of the station environment, communities are able to transform the station, improving hedonic value and recapturing a sense of place.