ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how Claremont Court residents construct a sense of belonging to Claremont Court as a place. Belonging is here defined as a sense of ease with oneself and the surrounding world of people, places, cultures and things. Being able to successfully claim belonging usually requires that this claim is accepted by others. Consequently, belonging is something individuals must negotiate with other people. The different perspectives on “community” that exist among the residents is therefore the first dimension of belonging that the chapter explores. Also, the chapter explores a dimension of belonging that is more rarely explored in community studies, namely residents’ relationship with Claremont Court as a building. While belonging to community tends to in the literature be presented as hinging on length of residence, class and ethnicity, the chapter’s findings are more complex – spatial organisation and temporality also emerge as important factors. Finally, the chapter concludes extending understandings of how belonging to community is established by including residents’ relationships with the architectural environment as a crucial dimension.
