UBC Graduate Research

Place-making at UBC : planning a heritage trail Fronteddu, Rosaria

Abstract

Heritage trails serve to enhance the spirit of place by acknowledging the people, processes, and events that contribute to the uniqueness of a landscape. Such trails are walkways through the urban landscape that connect points of interest such as, buildings, viewscapes or natural features. One of the goals of the University of British Columbia, as outlined in the recent UBC Landscape Plan, is to build a network of interpretive trails on campus. In support of this initiative, this project recommends a UBC heritage trail. The background research supporting a trail recommendation consisted of two parts. First, a literature review provided the rationale for building a heritage trail. This trail will seek to capture the distinctiveness of place, promote ecological awareness, document social history and promote dialogue, learning and stewardship. Second, the empirical component of the project consisted of conducting in-depth interviews with stakeholders and key informants to learn more about their attachment to the UBC landscape, and to brainstorm sites, themes and associations, which could be included in a trail. Through the interviews, it became evident that there are numerous themes related to the landscape that are significant and worth sharing. The proposed UBC heritage trail includes ten sites that seek to highlight stories and themes particular to the UBC landscape. In addition, this project recognizes the possibility of building future trails on UBC campus addressing different topic areas, such as, student history and building history. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada