Cultural memory for psychosocial well-being in historic urban landscapes: An existing but a neglected dimension

Abstract

One of our deepest needs as humans for achieving well-being is the sense of identity and belonging to our landscapes. These landscapes are more than what we see with our eyes, they are also what we interpret with our minds and what we value for intangible emotional reasons. They are considered to be the richest live records of our memories. Landscapes, are places that contribute greatly to the creation and retention of cultural memories. Cultural memory is a collective memory and is defined as “group of forms and media of cultural mnemonics through which the groups and cultures are creating their collective identity and the orientation within the era” (Isidora, 2015). It is a type of “Nationalist memory” so, when a collective or a cultural memory is valued, it is actually the identity of the place which has been valued, which enhances the people’s attachment to it. In this context this paper is a review on Cultural memory, Historic urban landscapes and well-being. The aim of the paper is to shed light on the existing relations between these three terms and how they could work together to reach psychosocial well-being and quality of life.