Your place or mine?: The effect of place creation on environmental values and landscape meanings

The creation of place is predicated on two factors: (1) the social and cultural contexts in which people describe and define a space into a place and (2) the nature of a given space, much of which may not be readily recognizable or categorizable. This qualitative inductive analysis illustrates the concept of place creation through the voices of rural residents as they describe how they believe the resources within a local river drainage should be managed. The results of the interviews indicate that personal experience of a place can alter the values, beliefs, and wisdoms that individuals normally share with their primary social group. However, individuals may be reluctant to share their feelings of emotional ties to a place in traditional public involvement frameworks. Exposure of these conflicting values suggests the importance of using methodologies and public involvement programs conducive to expression of the creation of place.