ABSTRACT
Seeking to uncover the meanings that people ascribe to urban landscapes is a delicate and difficult task. Some have used concepts from behavioural psychology to test reactions to places, for example through studying respondents’ reactions to images of urban areas or buildings.8 By giving voices to residents and inhabitants of architectural and planned spaces, researchers not only want to develop a ‘polyvocal’ narrative, but also highlight the way in which projected meanings of the city are subverted and changed through occupation. This approach resonates with that adopted by Bakhtin, whose theoretical outlook is orientated towards the accommodation of difference of opposing voices which, for example, represent the city in different ways. 9 Oral history approaches have been used successfully in the context of reconstruction planning, both for professionals10 and for public views,11 albeit only in very limited contexts. They usefully extend traditional planning histories which tend to privilege documentation and designers.
