Yi-Fu Tuan, who took a humanistic approach to geography, elaborated the concept of “sense of place” that describes the set of subjective feelings and impressions that people attach to places based upon their perception and experiences of the place. In particular, Tuan identifies two kinds of places: places that are “public symbols” and places that are “fields of care.” According to Tuan “public symbols” such as St Louis gateway Arch have “high imageability” and yield their meaning to the eye, whereas “fields of care,” such as your neighbourhood or a local marketplace, are places that are inconspicuous visually and architecturally and people come to know these places after prolonged experiences with such a place.
After doing a close reading of the Yi-Fu Tuan essay that has been assigned for the first week of the course draw upon your own experience and write a short essay in which you
1) Describe the spirit and personality of a public symbol that is particularly meaningful to you
2) Describe a place that you consider a “field of care” and offer rich descriptions of how your long association with the particular “field of care” has given you a deep sense of its varied sights, sounds, smells, and textures.
Sample Solution
