Built Environment

"Suburbia as Culture: Exploring the U.S. Built Environment Through Art and Identity,” review of Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes, ed. by Andrew Blauvelt

by Matthew Lasner

caa.reviews: May 18, 2012

The Sensory Experiencing of Urban Design: The Role of Walking and Perceptual Memory

by Gillian Rose

co-authored with Monica Degen; published online in Urban Studies April 2012

Experience is conceptualised in both academic and policy circles as a more-or-less direct effect of the design of the... more Experience is conceptualised in both academic and policy circles as a more-or-less direct effect of the design of the built environment. Drawing on findings from a research project that investigated people’s everyday experiences of designed urban environments in two UK towns, this paper suggests at least two reasons why sensory encounters between individuals and built environments cannot in fact be understood entirely as a consequence of the design features of those environments. Drawing from empirical analysis based on surveys, ethnographic ‘walk-alongs’ and photo-elicitation interviews, we argue that distinct senses of place do depend on the sensory experiencing of built environments. However, that experiencing is significantly mediated in two ways. First, it is mediated by bodily mobility: in particular, the walking practices specific to a particular built environment. Secondly, sensory experiences are intimately intertwined with perceptual memories that mediate the present moment of experience in various ways: by multiplying, judging and dulling the sensory encounter. In conclusion, it is argued that work on sensory urban experiencing needs to address more fully the diversity and paradoxes produced by different forms of mobility through, and perceptual memories of, built environments.

Perceived Built environment and Physical Activity in U.S. Women by Sprawl and Region

by Heather A. Starnes (Whitcomb)

Recent Landscape Archaeology in South America

by John H. Walker

published in the Journal of Archaeological Research (Online First)
please email the author for a pdf

South American archaeologists use the term landscape to analyze a broad range of relationships. Examples include... more South American archaeologists use the term landscape to analyze a broad range of relationships. Examples include intensive agricultural and political power, myth and place, and climate change and cultural development. Landscape archaeology is necessarily spatial analysis, but scholars work at different scales and use different methods. This essay highlights the influence of geography, anthropology, and new methodologies on four definitions of landscape: ecological habitat, built environment, a stage for performance, and integrating subsistence and settlement. In a number of cases, landscape archaeologists, stakeholders, and researchers from different traditions work at different scales to meaningfully share information, clarify their differences, and compare their analyses and conclusions.

Creating Healthy Communities: An examination of the relationship between land use mix, neighborhood public realm engagement and neighborhood social capital

by William B. Burns

This research provides a confirmatory based analysis starting with the land planning concept of land use mix and... more This research provides a confirmatory based analysis starting with the land planning concept of land use mix and exploring its explanatory affect upon resident perception of their built environment in terms of proximity of recreation and retail destinations and the resident's potential inclination to access these destinations by non motorized travel - walking or bicycling. This research also examines resident engagement and interaction within the neighborhood public realm and its potential relationship with neighborhood level social capital and the potential relationship of these phenomena with the aforementioned resident’s perceptual and attitudinal orientation towards their built environment. This research seeks to add empirical based research to the public policy discussion with regard to the decision of the type of future land development patterns in Central Florida.
There are two overarching types of community design patterns; the traditional design pattern, which generally reveals a higher level of “land use mix and proximity of destinations” and the conventional suburban design pattern, which generally is indicative of a lower level of land use mix (primarily single use) and proximity to destinations. Virtually all of the Florida landscape has been developed with the conventional suburban design pattern over the last sixty years.
In the past, several planning based initiatives have been undertaken by planning and academic entities which examine differing outcomes associated with the implementation of traditional and suburban design patterns with regard to the amount of undeveloped land impacted by growth in the seven county regions which comprise Central Florida. Two major studies, the Penn Design Study (2004) sponsored by the University of Central Florida Metropolitan Center for Regional Studies and the “How Shall We Grow” (2006) study sponsored by MyRegion.org in association with the Orlando Chamber of Commerce, provided scenarios associated with future growth outcomes over the next fifty years. These study initiatives concluded that a different pattern for future growth, different from the conventional suburban pattern, is advisable in order to reduce adverse impacts to Florida’s environment. These studies supported the implementation of a more traditional pattern of growth, with its more compact density, mixed use and high connectivity as the preferred form of future land development.
Although these studies provided a very informative evaluation from an environmental perspective, they did not extend the differing growth scenarios to a “healthy communities” perspective. This research endeavors to begin to fill that gap through empirical based research using a confirmatory model approach that addresses the relationship between the phenomena of outdoor public realm engagement, primarily in the form of outdoor physical activity, and neighborhood level social capital, in relation to level of land use mix and proximity to destinations. This research posits a mechanism, using structural equation modeling, to determine their relationship with one another. Perhaps this addition to the discussion would serve to provide a fuller evaluative resource to citizens and policy makers for consideration as to the type of design pattern to embrace for future development.

City structure , obesity , and environmental justice : An integrated analysis of physical and social barriers to walkable streets and park access

by Bethany Cutts

Bethany B Cutts, Kate J Darby, Christopher G Boone et al. (2009) Social Science & Medicine City structure , obesity , and environmental justice : An integrated analysis of physical and social barriers to walkable streets and park access, 1314-1322. In Social Science & Medicine 69 (9).

Local parks and walkable neighborhoods are commonly cited as elements of the urban environment that promote physical... more Local parks and walkable neighborhoods are commonly cited as elements of the urban environment that promote physical activity and reduce obesity risk. When those vulnerable to obesity-related diseases live in neighborhoods without these qualities, it works against environmental justice goals that aim for a fair distribution of amenities. We use geographic information systems (GIS) to evaluate the relationship between the distribution of populations vulnerable to obesity and proximity to parks and walkable street networks in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Though previous studies have used GIS to assess the distribution of access to opportunities for physical activity, none have analyzed access to both parks and walkable resources at once. Neither have they included data that reflects findings on a smaller scale indicating that perceptions of resource quality, safety, and cultural relevance also affect physical activity levels. We include these safety and quality factors in our study through statistical data on traffic fatalities, crime rates and park size. We find that, counter to predictions, subpopulations generally considered vulnerable to obesity (and environmental injustices more generally) are more likely to live in walkable neighbor- hoods and have better walking access to neighborhood parks than other groups in Phoenix. However, crime is highest in walkable neighborhoods with large Latino/a and African-American populations and parks are smaller in areas populated by Latino/as. Given the higher prevalence of obesity and related diseases in lower income and minority populations in Phoenix, the results suggest that benefits of built environments may be offset by social characteristics. Our most consistent finding indicates a strong negative relationship between the percentage of the population under 18 years of age living in an area and the likelihood that the structure of the built environment supports physical activity. Children under 18 are significantly underrepresented in regions deemed highly walkable and those with access to parks.

Code, place, law...and Minecraft

by Luke Bennett

In this essay I examine how Minecraft's open source ethos is reconciled by players keen to defend their worlds against... more In this essay I examine how Minecraft's open source ethos is reconciled by players keen to defend their worlds against 'griefing'. In doing so I invoke Minecraft as a case study that can shine some light on processes of day to day normative formation and control of place within the 'real' built environment.

Why do we only notice metal when it hurts? – Some sideways thoughts on metal theft

by Luke Bennett

In this guest blog I try and open up some areas for social theory / the humanities within the eminently pragmatic... more In this guest blog I try and open up some areas for social theory / the humanities within the eminently pragmatic field of metal theft research. Offering thoughts variously on the phenomenology of infrastructure and it's metal elements, Marx on use-value vs exchange-value, body snatching and the sacking of Rome I try to think through how metal theft tells us something about materiality and metal. Hey, it's worth a try...

Mortuary Ritual and Gender Ideology in Protohistoric Southwestern North Carolina

by Chris Rodning

Rodning, Christopher B.
2001 Mortuary Ritual and Gender Ideology in Protohistoric Southwestern North Carolina. In Archaeological Studies of Gender in the Southeastern United States, edited by Jane M. Eastman and Christopher B. Rodning, pp. 77–100. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

This paper reconstructs gender ideology and duality in protohistoric Cherokee towns through consideration of mortuary... more This paper reconstructs gender ideology and duality in protohistoric Cherokee towns through consideration of mortuary evidence from the Coweeta Creek site, in North Carolina, and ethnohistoric evidence about Cherokee culture and community during the eighteenth century. These forms of evidence demonstrate close relationships between male leadership and public structures in Cherokee settlements known as townhouses, and between women and the matrilineal clans and matrilocal households in Cherokee towns.

Architecture and Landscape in Late Prehistoric and Protohistoric Western North Carolina

by Chris Rodning

Rodning, Christopher B.
2001 Architecture and Landscape in Late Prehistoric and Protohistoric Western North Carolina. In Archaeology of the Appalachian Highlands, edited by Lynne P. Sullivan and Susan C. Prezzano, pp. 238–249. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville.

This paper reviews late prehistoric and protohistoric Native American settlements and societies in the Appalachian... more This paper reviews late prehistoric and protohistoric Native American settlements and societies in the Appalachian Summit province of southwestern North Carolina. Particular emphasis is placed on evidence from excavations at the Garden Creek, Warren Wilson, and Coweeta Creek sites.

Residential Burial, Gender Roles, and Political Development in Late Prehistoric and Early Historic Cherokee Cultures of the Southern Appalachians

by Chris Rodning

Sullivan, Lynne P., and Christopher B. Rodning
2011 Residential Burial, Gender Roles, and Political Development in Late Prehistoric and Early Historic Cherokee Cultures of the Southern Appalachians. In Residential Burial: A Multi–Regional Exploration, edited by Ron Adams and Stacie King, pp. 79–97. American Anthropological Association, Archeological Papers 20, Arlington, Virginia.

Native people in the southern Appalachians began placing graves in and around residences in the thirteenth century... more Native people in the southern Appalachians began placing graves in and around residences in the thirteenth century C.E. Burials previously were placed in specialized burial mounds that likely belonged to individual kin groups. For several centuries, the practice of residential burial was contemporaneous with burial in or near public buildings that sometimes were built on platform mounds. During this time, residential versus "public" burial became related to spatial symbolism of gender and leadership roles. These changes suggest a developmental trajectory that distinguishes southern Appalachian societies from their contemporaries elsewhere in the southeastern U.S.

Domestic Houses at Coweeta Creek

by Chris Rodning

Rodning, Christopher B.
2009 Domestic Houses at Coweeta Creek. Southeastern Archaeology 28:1–26.

This paper compares and contrasts the rebuilding sequences of late prehistoric and protohistoric Cherokee structures... more This paper compares and contrasts the rebuilding sequences of late prehistoric and protohistoric Cherokee structures at the Coweeta Creek site in the upper Little Tennessee Valley of southwestern North Carolina. Several domestic structures dating to the 1600s were built and rebuilt in place, as was the public structure (or townhouse), whose six successive stages span the period from the mid-to-late 1600s to the very early 1700s. By contrast, domestic structures dating to the fifteenth century demonstrate a less compact and less formalized settlement plan. The formally planned town at Coweeta Creek—comprising the townhouse, town plaza, and domestic houses—postdates early European contact in the southern Appalachians, and this paper argues that the formal settlement plan at Coweeta Creek created a sense of place that emphasized permanence in the midst of the destabilizing effects of European contact on native peoples of the Southeast.

Architectural Symbolism and Cherokee Townhouses

by Chris Rodning

Rodning, Christopher B.
2010 Architectural Symbolism and Cherokee Townhouses. Southeastern Archaeology 29:59–79.

Public structures known as townhouses were hubs of public life within Cherokee communities in the southern... more Public structures known as townhouses were hubs of public life within Cherokee communities in the southern Appalachians before and after European contact. Townhouses themselves were architectural manifestations of Cherokee towns. The architectural symbolism of townhouses was related to the symbolism of late precontact Mississippian platform mounds, mythical connections between earthen mounds and Cherokee townhouses, and color symbolism that was widespread in the Southeast during the eighteenth century. These points are evident from documentary sources, oral tradition, and the sequence of protohistoric Cherokee townhouses at the Coweeta Creek site in southwestern North Carolina.

Mortuary Practices, Gender Ideology, and the Cherokee Town at the Coweeta Creek Site

by Chris Rodning

Rodning, Christopher B.
2011 Mortuary Practices, Gender Ideology, and the Cherokee Town at the Coweeta Creek Site. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 30:145–173.

During the 18th century A.D., leadership roles within Cherokee towns in the southern Appalachians were closely tied to... more During the 18th century A.D., leadership roles within Cherokee towns in the southern Appalachians were closely tied to gender distinctions between women and men. This paper examines mortuary patterns from the Coweeta Creek site, located in the upper Little Tennessee Valley in southwestern North Carolina, with an interest in gender ideology and leadership roles within the local Cherokee community from the 15th through 18th centuries A.D. During the 1400s, there were several houses at the site, and some burials were placed within those structures. During the 1600s, there developed a more formal layout of public and domestic architecture at the site, with many burials still placed inside or beside structures. Mortuary data from the site indicate the presence of distinct and parallel paths to status and prestige for men and women in this community. They also demonstrate an emphasis on male roles and statuses in the years following European contact in the Southeast.

South Appalachian Mississippian and Protohistoric Mortuary Practices in Southwestern North Carolina

by Chris Rodning

Rodning, Christopher B., and David G. Moore
2010 South Appalachian Mississippian and Protohistoric Mortuary Practices in Southwestern North Carolina. Southeastern Archaeology 29:80–100.

Mississippian societies of southwestern North Carolina are generally thought to have been less centralized and less... more Mississippian societies of southwestern North Carolina are generally thought to have been less centralized and less hierarchical than their counterparts elsewhere in the Southeast. This paper compares and contrasts mortuary patterns at Warren Wilson, Garden Creek, and Coweeta Creek to reconstruct patterns of social and spatial differentiation within late prehistoric and protohistoric communities in southwestern North Carolina. These sites include, respectively, a late prehistoric stockaded village, a platform mound and village, and a protohistoric Cherokee town with a public structure and several domestic dwellings. Distributions of burial goods and the placement of burials indicate that some social distinctions were reflected in the treatment of the dead by Mississippian and protohistoric groups in southwestern North Carolina, and that those distinctions were embedded in the architecture and built environment of these sites.

Building and Rebuilding Cherokee Houses and Townhouses in Southwestern North Carolina

by Chris Rodning

Rodning, Christopher B.
2007 Building and Rebuilding Cherokee Houses and Townhouses in Southwestern North Carolina. In The Durable House: House Society Models in Archaeology, edited by Robin A. Beck, Jr., pp. 464–484. Southern Illinois University, Center for Archaeological Investigations Occasional Paper 35, Carbondale.

This chapter considers the applicability of the house society model to the study of native towns in the southeastern... more This chapter considers the applicability of the house society model to the study of native towns in the southeastern United States and, specifically, of Cherokee towns in southwestern North Carolina. I focus on the history of building and rebuilding dwellings and public architecture by the Cherokee town located at the Coweeta Creek site from the fifteenth through early eighteenth centuries A.D. I identify two different patterns of structure rebuilding at this site, associated with differing spatial layouts of this settlement during two different episodes in its settlement history. The structures themselves were made of wood and other perishable materials, but practices of rebuilding in place created permanence in the arrangement and alignment of architectural space.

The Townhouse at Coweeta Creek

by Chris Rodning

Rodning, Christopher B.
2002 The Townhouse at Coweeta Creek. Southeastern Archaeology 21:10-20.

This article describes patterns of continuity and change in the architectural design and placement of a public... more This article describes patterns of continuity and change in the architectural design and placement of a public structure in a native town, the Coweeta Creek site (31MA34), located in the upper Little Tennessee Valley of North Carolina. Remnants of at least six stages of a townhouse have been identified in the Coweeta Creek mound. European trade goods from the last stage of this townhouse indicate that it stood until the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. The townhouse construction sequence at this spot within the Coweeta Creek settlement offers valuable clues about the nature of public architecture in southwestern North Carolina during the seventeenth century, and perhaps even earlier.

Cherokee Townhouses: Architectural Adaptation to European Contact in the Southern Appalachians

by Chris Rodning

Rodning, Christopher B.
2011 Cherokee Townhouses: Architectural Adaptation to European Contact in the Southern Appalachians. North American Archaeologist 32:131–190.

Public structures known as townhouses were hubs of public life in Cherokee towns in the southern Appalachians during... more Public structures known as townhouses were hubs of public life in Cherokee towns in the southern Appalachians during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries A.D., and in towns predating European contact. Townhouses were sources of cultural stability and conservatism during periods of dramatic change, and they were an architectural medium through which Cherokee towns adapted to life in the postcontact Southeast. This article summarizes the characteristics of townhouses in the southern Appalachians dating from the thirteenth through the eighteenth centuries A.D., focusing on size and shape, the surfaces on which they were built, sequences of building and rebuilding, and the presence or absence of burials inside townhouses. The architectural form of townhouses rooted people to particular places, but Cherokee townhouses also enabled towns to move from one place to another, because a town could build a townhouse at any particular place, old or new.

Place, Landscape, and Environment: Anthropological Archaeology in 2009

by Chris Rodning

Rodning, Christopher B.
2010 Place, Landscape, and Environment: Anthropological Archaeology in 2009. American Anthropologist 112:180–190.

Topics of current interest to anthropological archaeologists include the relationships between people and place,... more Topics of current interest to anthropological archaeologists include the relationships between people and place, interactions between people and past environments, and responses by past societies to changes in the natural environment. In this article, I focus on recent considerations of past landscapes and the built environment. This research concentrates on such topics as architecture, the utilization of different environmental zones, and transitions from foraging to farming, one of the long-standing topics of interest to anthropological archaeology. Recent archaeological research also emphasizes climate change and warfare, topics that have relevance to current events and conditions in the modern world.

Mounds, Myths, and Cherokee Townhouses in Southwestern North Carolina

by Chris Rodning

Rodning, Christopher B.
2009 Mounds, Myths, and Cherokee Townhouses in Southwestern North Carolina. American Antiquity 74:627–663.

This paper explores the role of public architecture in anchoring Cherokee communities to particular points within the... more This paper explores the role of public architecture in anchoring Cherokee communities to particular points within the southern Appalachian landscape in the wake of European contact in North America. Documentary evidence about Cherokee public structures known as townhouses demonstrates that they were settings for a variety of events related to public life in Cherokee towns, and that there were a variety of symbolic meanings associated with them. Archaeological evidence of Cherokee townhouses—especially the sequence of six townhouses at the Coweeta Creek site in southwestern North Carolina—demonstrates an emphasis on continuity in the placement and alignment of public architecture through time. Building and rebuilding these public structures in place, and the placement of burials within these architectural spaces, created enduring attachments between Cherokee towns and the places in which they lived, in the midst of the geopolitical instability created by European contact in eastern North America.