Vinculación del Control Interno con la Gestión para Resultados, la PNMGP

Since the late 1970s, the importance of locality to individuals has been examined through the concept of ‘place’, with this term situated by authors such as Tuan (1977:3) in relation to ‘space’ as follows: “place is security; space is freedom: we are attached to one and long for the other”. Given concerns as to the impacts of globalisation, interest in this notion has grown rapidly in recent decades and a large body of theoretical and empirical work has been developed, utilising a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods (Lewicka, 2011). This literature has derived from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and a variety terms have thus emerged. While geographers have discussed on the notion of ‘sense of place’ (e.g. Massey, 1991; 1994), environmental psychologists have investigated ‘place attachment’ (e.g. Hidalgo and Hernández, 2001; Lewicka, 2010;2011) and studies in sociology have focused more readily on ‘community attachment’ (e.g. Brehm, 2007). Other concepts such as ‘place dependence’ and ‘place identity’ have also abounded (Hidalgo and Hernández, 2001) and the definitional difference between terms has at times been unclear, with all focusing on “the attachment or emotional bond that people have with place” (Brown and Raymond, 2007:90). In other instances, however, greater conceptual division has been noted. Place dependence and place identity have, for example, been discussed as constituent elements of place attachment with Brown and Raymond (2007) delineating ‘place dependence’ as attachment to the functional elements of a locale and ‘place identity’ as the emotional meanings associated with that arena, a division which chimes well with the discussion of affordance and meaning mentioned above. Similarities can also be drawn here between the definition of these two elements and the use/non-use division in value noted by Choumert and Salanié (2008).

37

2.6.1 Negative meanings and the built environment

Locality has been a key focus in ‘place’ research and the majority of research has centred on attachment to the neighbourhood. Because of this, it is has been suggested that an implicit assumption has been made that this scale represents that at which the greatest level of attachment occurs (Hidalgo and Hernández, 2001, Lewicka, 2010). However, authors, such as Hidalgo and Hernández (2001) and Lewicka (2010), have challenged this, examining

connections at alternative levels, including the home and the city. Nevertheless, the majority of work remains based at the neighbourhood scale and a “selective nostalgia” permeates much of the discussion of neighbourhood (Forrest, 2008:129). There has thus been a focus in the ‘place attachment’ and ‘sense of place’ literatures on the positive connections to localities, which has been highlighted more recently as problematic. Affective bonds to localities, and the effects of these, are not solely beneficial or positive in character and a need to understand less favourable emotive connections has therefore been emphasised. Negative meanings have been raised, for instance, in discussions of attachment to the home, where accounts of this arena have been gathered from individuals such as victims of domestic abuse (Mallet, 2004) and there is scope to question how negative experiences may impact meanings attributed at different scales of analysis.

As noted briefly in section 2.5, existing typologies of the value of urban parks leave little scope for the consideration of negativity. However, given the discussion of place above, where an understanding of obtaining the significance of these spaces is the goal, negative aspects will almost invariably feature. Elements of the physical environment have already been highlighted as key triggers for fear of crime, with connections drawn to both the physical character of a space and its maintenance (Pain, 2000). Natural environments have been highlighted as provoking a particularly high fear of attack, especially amongst women (Pain, 2000) and, while these negative perceptions have been shown to vary markedly with the level of light in a space, they may nevertheless feature heavily in the assigning of direct use value to these local arenas. Vegetation density has also been noted as influential in determining perceived threat (Bjerke et al; 2006) with various forms of “disorder”, such as graffiti and littering, further undermining the perceived safety of these arenas (Maas, Spreeuwenberg et al., 2009:1774) and representing further potential limits to direct use value. The influence of this negativity may, however, be more wide-ranging as perceptions of threat can also have important implications for aspects such as neighbourhood reputation, relating to indirect use value.

38 Questions can therefore be raised as to whether negative elements of value should be made more explicit in framings of the importance of urban parks.

2.6.2 The importance of the natural environment and time

On examination of discussions of ‘place, a final area of potential omission in value framings relates to the inclusion of time. Discussions of ‘place attachment’ have commonly emphasised that an emotive bond develops over time and those who have resided in an area longest have been found to have the strongest emotional bonds (Smaldone, 2006). As such, the past has become a key consideration in this area of research. Recent attempts to streamline definitions of ‘place attachment’ have further emphasised this point and authors such as Scannell and Gifford (2010: 2) have, for instance, developed a framework of place attachment which explicitly included elements of “memory” and “experience”. Choumert and Salanie’s (2008) framework of value however takes no account of this temporal aspect. While the identification of option and bequest values (see Table 2.1) clearly acknowledges a consideration of the future, no scope is provided to include the potential value attached to a space because individuals either associate it with or have used it in the past. In spite of this, aspects of users’ pasts have been recognised as significant influences on their current use of urban green space and a “childhood factor” has, for instance, been identified, with those who have used public green space regularly in their childhood significantly more likely to make regular use of this type of resource in their adult years (Ward Thompson, Aspinall and Montarzino, 2008:111).

The past may however also be an important consideration even in the absence of current use. Where prior users have experienced lifestyle changes or developed mobility issues, for instance, use may no longer be possible but this does not inevitably negate the past-related significance of a space. A form of ‘recollection’ value may, for example, derive from memories of having used this arena in the past. Positive memories of other forms of green space may even lead individuals to attach greater importance to their local park. Rishbeth and Finney (2006) stressed this for migrants to the UK, emphasising that for this group, in some instances, green spaces that initially seem very different from those of their home country can serve as stimuli for memories of their previous lives, forming “the starting point for stories, small vignettes about home life, family outings, relaxation or leisure activities” (Rishbeth and Finney, 2006:287). Connections can also be drawn here to Rowles’ (1983:299) work on place

attachment amongst older people in US rural communities experiencing decline. Here, memory was identified as a key part of attachment for elderly people and, through a

39 discussion of “autobiographical insideness”, it was noted that, for any individual, any part of the neighbourhood represented both its current state and a series of remembered states, often from their childhood. Identifying this as a particular feature amongst those aged over 75, Rowles (1983:304) also stressed that physical proximity to a place was not always required to trigger this response as participants used their imaginations to situate themselves in their neighbourhood in a process he termed “reflective fantasy”. Nostalgia was, however, also identified as a key facet of autobiographical insideness, suggesting that participants always considered their memories as preferable to their existing place (Rowles, 1983). While authors such as Lowenthal (1985:xvi) have highlighted an inevitable comparison in accounts of the past, noting that “the past’s difference is, indeed, one of its charms[…] But we cannot help but view and celebrate it through present-day lenses”, questions can nevertheless be raised as to Rowles’ (1983) emphasis on nostalgia which may well have resulted from his focus on

communities in decline rather than constituting an inherent feature of reflection.