On one of the first occasions when we gave a major presentation on tourism and character of place, a professor of sociology from Cornell University commented that “getting ready for this I decided to review the literature on place-based tourism. There is none.” That statement is a bit of an exaggeration, but it remains true that not much has been written about the issues we are discussing. Architects approach questions that are relevant to places, but rarely focus on them. Cultural geographers, in the last generation and largely under the influence of one man, Yi Fu Tuan, have begun looking intensively at places in a new way. And a few thinkers have also taken more than a glance at the sense of place and the role it plays.
Books focusing on New Urbanist Architecture and Planning
Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, by Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck, North Point Press, New York, 2000
This is the seminal book on the New Urbanist approach to architecture and planning, and it is the bible of the anti-sprawl movement in the United States. Essential reading.
The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape,
by James Howard Kuntsler, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1993
A classic somewhat polemical take on the horrors of urban sprawl. This is the book that sets up his later work Home from Nowhere.
Home from Nowhere: Remaking Our Everyday World for the 21st Century, by James Howard Kuntsler, Simon and Schuster, 1996
Kuntsler is a passionate advocate of the anti-sprawl movement, acidic and contentious and usually generally right. If the arrogance of the New Urbanists bothers you, Kuntsler will infuriate you, but the challenge he offers to the status quo is powerful and his concepts of what might be are deeply rooted and realistic.
Sprawl: A Compact History, by Robert Bruegmann, University of Chicago Press, 2005
A counter-position on the New Urbanist attack on sprawl, this book argues that sprawl is a universal characteristic of cities and has been at least since Roman times—and it has been seen as a problem almost as long. Bruegmann argues that the problem is more complex than the anti-sprawl advocates realize, and the reasons for it go too deep for easy change.
Books on Cultural Geography
Space and Place, the Perspective of Experience, by Yi Fu Tuan, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1977
The most influential cultural geographer of our time, in his highly academic and abstract musings on the experience of place.
Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes, and Values, by Yi Fu Tuan, Columbia University Press, New York, 1974
Again, academic and abstract, this is a wide-ranging collection of reflections on feelings about places. These two books are regarded as having changed the way places are addressed in cultural geography.
Landscapes of the Sacred: Geography and Narrative in American Spirituality, by Belden C. Lane, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988, 2001
Belden Lane is a sort of theologian of sacred places. We live as much in our interpretation of landscapes as in the natural world. We live in stories and memories and places of the imagination.
Textures of Place: Exploring Humanist Geographies, editedby Paul Adams, Steven Hoelscher, and Karen E. Till, University of Minnesota Press, 2001
Dedicated to Yi Fu Tuan, this collection of essays shows the range of interest in places in contemporary cultural geography. Not a practical or how-to book, but reflective and interesting.
Senses of Place, edited by Steven Feld and Keith H. Basso, School of American Research Press, Santa Fe, 1996
Again, academic and abstract. Another book that will interest those who have a deep intellectual focus on qualities of place.
The Power of Place: How our Surroundings Shape our Thoughts, Emotions, and Actions, by Winifred Gallagher, HarperPerennial, 1994
I include this book here because it draws on so much research, but Gallagher is a journalist and these essays reflect on questions such as why we might prefer the city or the country, how some urban settings increase crime, and why we feel better after an experience in nature. Entertaining and richly thoughtful.
Directly related to tourism:
Civic Tourism: The Poetry and Politics of Place,
by Dan Shilling, Sharlot Hall Museum Press, 2007
This recent book addresses broadening tourism planning to community planning and place-making. A powerful and practical approach to civic participation.
The Tourist City, edited by Dennis R. Judd and Susan S. Fainstein, Yale University Press, 1999
Looks at some of the many ways cities adapt to the powerful economic force of tourism—by developing tourist areas, by integrating visitors into the life of the city, by creating resorts, by exploiting historic places. Neither pro nor anti tourist.
Sacred Places: American Tourist Attractions in the Nineteenth Century
by John Sears, Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, 1989
In the nineteenth century, when America was relatively new and tourism here even newer, the places visitors loved were the subject of great paintings and were described by major writers. They mixed the sacred and the profane, the mythic and the trivial, the spiritual and the commercial.
Geotourism, by Ross Dowling and David Newsome, Elsevier, Butterworth,
and Heinemann, New York, 2006
This collection of essays focuses tightly on the role of geographic tourism attractions. It does not consistently use the broad definition of geotourism that National Geographic has promulgated, and in fact is mostly concerned with visits to geographic features such as the Grand Canyon. It is not a practical, how-to book, but it is thought provoking for those who are concerned with tourism to natural features of the landscape.
On the Beaten Track, Tourism, Art, and Place, by Lucy R. Lippard, The New Press, New York, 1999.
With chapter titles like “Rubbernecking” and “Exhibitionism,” this series of essays
reflecting on the things we all think about and then pass over may help tourism developers and marketers to keep their focus where it needs to be—on authenticity as well as on commerce. But Lippard is no cultural or environmental snob.
The Lure of the Local: Senses of Place in a Multicentered Society, by Lucy R. Lippard, The New Press, New York, 1997
This book is about community art (and Lippard is first and foremost an art critic) but it touches on planning, women’s studies, geography, land use, and perceptions of nature, among many other subjects. Fun and inspiring.
Books related to food traditions
Linking Arizona’s Sense of Place to a Sense of Taste: Marketing the Heritage Value of Arizona’s Place-based Foods, by Gary P. Nabhan, Patty West and Rich Pirog, Center for Sustainable Environments Northern Arizona University, 2005
Argues that local place-based foods in Arizona (and presumably elsewhere) are well fitted to the contemporary high end niche food market that values heritage and biodiversity. Nabhan also argues that traditional foods might have an impact on the dramatic rise in diabetes and related illnesses in Arizona, which exceeds the alarming increase in the nation as a whole.
Renewing America’s Food Traditions: Bringing Cultural and Culinary Mainstays from the Past into the New Millenium, edited by Gary Paul Nabhan and Ashley Rood, Center for Sustainable Environments Northern Arizona University, 2004
Looks at ten endangered American foods (a particular strain of hot peppers, a sheep indigenous to the Gulf Coast, and a hardy, good-eating, but neglected kind of chicken). Then turns to ten success stories—including saving the Alligator, keeping Louisiana Creole Cream Cheese in production, and bringing back heritage turkeys. The book ends with what the authors call the Redlist, a table of extinct, endangered, and rare but recovering American foods.
Pennsylvania Dutch Country Cooking, by William Woys Weaver, Abbeville Press Publishers, New York, London, Paris, 1993.
William Woys Weaver is a food historian and a direct descendent of seventeenth-century Anabaptist martyr Georg Weber, and a thirteenth-generation Pennsylvanian from one of the oldest Mennonite families in the state. This book mixes stories about foods and their traditional preparations, with modern recipes and future cuisine directions.
Books related to Economic Development
The Ecology of Place: Planning for Environment, Economy, and Community, by Timothy Beatley and Kristy Manning, Island Press, 1997
An attempt to envision a world in which land is used sparingly, cities and towns are vibrant and green, local economies thrive, and citizens work together to improve communities. This would like to be a handbook; it is a stimulating set of reflections.
Balancing Nature and Commerce in Gateway Communities, by Jim Howe, Ed McMahon, and Luther Propst, Island Press, 1997
Gateway communities are at the edge of major areas of public land—national and state parks, wildlife refuges, forests, wilderness areas, historic sites, and other locations of interest. This book tries to think through how to avoid the kind of mistakes that did so much damage in the suburbs, as more and more people move into gateway communities.
Sustainable Capitalism: A Matter of Common Sense, by John Ikerd, Kumarian Press, Inc, 2005
Ikerd, an agricultural economist, argues in this critique of neoclassical economics that sustainability, happiness, and societal well-being rather than the single-minded pursuit of wealth should shape our economy. This is an important, tightly reasoned book that deserves far more attention than it has received.
Economic Renewal Guide, by Michael J. Kinsley, Rocky Mountain Institute, 1997
The subtitle of this book is “A Collaborative Process for Sustainable Community Development.” It begins with the simple insight that if an economy is not sustainable it is terminal; it is only a matter of time. This eminently practical book—a real handbook for change—states some principles worth remembering, such as that waste is a neglected resource, and we should not consume renewable resources faster than we can renew them.
The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators, by Charles Landry, Earthscan Publications Ltd, 2000
This book sets out to present a new kind of strategic urban planning that can help people think, plan, and act creatively—and can make cities a center for the creation of innovation and new wealth, while making our lives more livable. Perhaps Landry’s best achievement is his relentless optimism and willingness to try new ideas, or put ideas in a new context.
Books related to systems thinking
Donella Meadows (2008) Thinking in Systems - A primer (Earthscan)
This is the classic basic explanation of what systems thinking is and how it works. The right place to start.
Peter M. Senge (1990) The Fifth Discipline - The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization. (Currency Doubleday)
A classic in both business and education, this is the book that developed the concept of the learning organization. The fifth discipline is systems thinking.
Ackoff, R. (1974). Redesigning the Future: A Systems Approach to Societal Problems. NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
This is an early development of systems thinking as the basis for an interactive planning process to attach the clusters of problems (what Ackoff calls “messes”) of our global society. The discipline has come a long way since 1974, but this is still worth reading.
Haines, S. G. (2006). Strategic Planning Simplified. Systems Thinking Press, San Diego
Haines, S. G. (2000). The Systems Thinking Approach® to Strategic Planning and Management. Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press.
These two books by a management consultant give an accessible introduction to systems thinking and its uses.
Other books of interest.
Outside Lies Magic: Regaining History and Awareness in Everyday Places, by John R. Stilgoe, Walker Publishing Company, 1998
A landscape historian invites us to experience the natural and built environment around us with a new openness. Casual, experiential, and inspiring.
From Where We Stand: Recovering a Sense of Place, by Deborah Tall, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993
An interesting attempt to discover one place—in the Finger Lakes region of New York State—by reflecting on its history and its present. There is some tension created by the fact that the author is enchanted by the past of the place, but distanced from the people there now, sometimes in a town/gown way.
The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life, by Roy Rosenzweig and David Thelen, Columbia University Press, 1998
The authors asked 1500 Americans about their connection to the past and how it shapes their daily lives. Photo albums, antiques, visits to historic sites, diaries, family traditions, crafts—all give the lie to the notion that Americans do not care about the past. Museum professionals love this book as a guide to interpretation that will connect to people.
Place-Based Education: Connecting Classrooms & Communities, by David Sobel, The Orion Society, 2004, 2005
Place-based education uses a local community as a starting point to teach concepts in language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and other subjects.
The Language of Landscape, by Anne Whiston Spirn, Yale University Press, 1998
A landscape architect and teacher reflects on hundreds of distinct (mostly urban) environments.