Factors that transform the building facades and impact on the place-identity in commercial streets: case study of hospital road in Jaffna

Abstract

Built fabric is a critical component of a city, contributing to the process of defining its cultural program, spatial volumes and visual dimension. City identity and character – in terms of sense of cultural belonging and place-identity, could not be generated through two-dimensional thinking and planning alone; expression, articulation and resolution of built form is indeed significant to define a much-needed image and place-identity for a city. Invariably, the built form demonstrates the cultural, religious and technical identity, possibility – and even inadequacy – of any given region. What built fabric express to the public, produces a perception of place-identity, purpose of this study is to mainly be focused on the root-cause which influences the visual image of the built fabric thereby the place identity. The process of analysis is based on a theoretical framework developed through a literature survey, and public feedback gathered through cognitive mapping. Though there are many studies based on the transformation of built fabric, there is a research gap on the aspects behind those transformations, which certainly needs to be explored further. Relying on the Place-Identity Theory, the study shows the understanding of place-identity at present is predominantly shifted towards transformed city fabric, and survey shows that this has resulted in creating a dislike towards it. Results of the study can directly be fed back to the function of architectural design, in order to develop cities with better sense of urban experience and spread awareness to create a variety of expressive meanings to prevail the proliferation of identity-less cities through urban transformation.