Multi-sensory navigation in a heritage city: walking atmospheres of community well-being in Canterbury

Vasilikou, C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6909-8112 (2019) Multi-sensory navigation in a heritage city: walking atmospheres of community well-being in Canterbury. Journal of Biourbanism, VII (1/2018). pp. 13-24.

Abstract/Summary

Understanding and communicating the sensory experience of walking in the urban cityscape requires active participation and engagement. Through engaging diverse community groups in Canterbury, this paper re-defines the quality of the city’s walking environment through the experience of the multi-sensory realm. The analysis is based on sensory narratives, collected from the Sensory Walks Project that took place in 2016 (funded by the Arts Humanities Research Council, UK). The project explores the dynamics of community engagement for the promotion of social well-being, with the input of mapping and visualisation of individual sensory narratives from over 50 Sensory Walks participants on their experience of everyday space. The project sets the framework for a wider study on the sustainable exploration of the temporality of Canterbury sensescapes, using self-guided sensewalking and mapping, and will culminate in a series of sensory experiences and walking narratives for individual and community re-invention of the city centre.