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Conclusion

This research demonstrates that through providing a mode of social, emplaced discovery, walking tours of Modena’s centro storico influence ‘sense of place’ in many different ways. First, the social, shared mode of walking with other participants through the centre provides an opportunity to share and understand memories, thus generating new meanings and attachments to elements of the centro storico. Second, this paper shows that guides’ methods and materials of engagement promote understandings of past occurrences: instilling meaning, and thus strengthening emotive attachments to both visible and non-visible material aspects of the centro storico. Finally, the archival analysis of these tours as discovery processes demonstrates the intertwined nature of the Comune di Modena’s selective preservation and memorialisation of certain events within the centre and guides’ roles in interpreting and communicating the stories behind these left, physical traces.

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As evident in the literature review, ‘place’ and ‘sense of place’ are well-documented concepts across disciplines of cultural geography to environmental psychology. Despite this paper only analysing one company’s tours, their unique positioning of residents as tourists enabled an interesting analysis of how residents relate to and perceive place within the centro storico. Despite limitations in language comprehension and cultural understanding, this research has shown there is utility in investigating this under-studied topic. While not completely filling gap in scholarship on Modena’s centro storico, this research shows the utility of further study in fostering more nuanced understandings of place and sense of place in Modena’s centre. Further engagement with Modenese residents is required to understand this topic beyond the framework of tours. This is important in building a better understanding of how individuals’ ‘sense of place’ is influenced by private and public actors, like tour companies and the municipality, through preservation and communication of historical narratives attached to place.

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