Embodied Culture and Resilient Neighborhoods

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• How to grasp the concept of embodied culture from an urban planning perspective
• How social content and urban form cyclically imprint on each other
• Why new ideas need to be grounded in both the physical and the social aspects of an area, and why some projects are more successful than others

MORE SESSION DETAILS

Embodied culture is the past layers of social and physical history that together frame how buildings in a defined area are used today. It is an important, but sometimes difficult to articulate, component of what "makes the place" for a geographically defined area. Learn about the interdependence of social content and urban form, and how the two cyclically imprint on each other. The urban form helps dictate the use and social content, and these in turn direct how the urban form adapts and evolves. Neighborhoods are not static; but as they change and age, the embodied culture carries forward the essence of a neighborhood to new generations. Embodied culture provides a base upon which to introduce new ideas and sustainable concepts to ensure continued neighborhood resiliency. It demonstrates why new ideas need to be grounded in both the physical and the social aspects of an area, and why some projects are more successful than others. Two case studies from revitalized historic neighborhoods in Salt Lake City are used as examples to illustrate the concept.