New In the Wheat City : a photovoice exploration of new residents’ relationship with community and place

Abstract

For communities like Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, that are affected by shrinking birth rates and young Canadians flocking to urban centres, the city’s growth is directly linked to immigration, including the settlement, integration, and retention of new residents. The following study takes a holistic approach to analyzing new residents’ integration experience by concurrently utilizing the theoretical foundations of placemaking (highlighting new residents’ attachment to place) and sense of community (highlighting new residents’ attachment to the social community). Using a critical interpretivist approach and photovoice methodology, this study answers two research questions: How do new residents develop attachment to community and place? And subsequently, how can new residents’ attachment be enhanced from both the perspectives of new and long-term residents’ in order to promote multicultural community building? Thematic analysis of interview responses, photovoice, and community feedback has led to the conceptualization of a framework of multicultural community building recommendations. Keywords: photovoice, placemaking, sense of community, immigration, multicultural, community building