Neighbourhood Character

Neighbourhood character refers to the 'look and feel of an area', in particular a residential area. It also includes the activities that occur there. In everyday usage, it can often be synonymous with local character, residential character, urban character and place identity, though these terms can have more specific meanings in connection with urban planning and conservation.

The neighbourhood character ascribed to an area can be both descriptive and prescriptive, and may or may not form an explicit component of planning policy. However, planning policies inevitably impact upon the way a place is used and what it feels like to be there, along with a range of other social, cultural, ecological, physical and economic factors that shape human settlements. As interest in the concept of place has increased since the 1970s, urban designers and planners have accordingly become more focused on issues of character. The way that character is regulated varies from place to place, with some planning systems making more overt references to it than others.

Read more about Neighbourhood Character:  Australia, Canada, UK

Famous quotes containing the word character:

    The judiciary has fallen to a very low state in this country. I think your part of the country has suffered especially. The federal judges of the South are a disgrace to any country, and I’ll be damned if I put any man on the bench of whose character and ability there is the least doubt.
    William Howard Taft (1857–1930)