2020 | Building Peace through Heritage
go-along interview in one of the public gardens with Rashid, a young Bahraini father and physician, he
emphasised the value of sitting outdoors to enjoy the different sensory experiences with others either in
a garden or in a street café, “People want to have nice outdoor sitting areas with scenic view and good
weather where they can gather and see others.” Similarly, the sound from the sport fields in parks and
gardens during the day and night conveyed a cordial and safe atmosphere from being in shared spaces.
In heritage locations, sharing the use of the historical spaces with diverse people and being attached to
them bridge the differences between the users. In the Pearling Trail (heritage site), a Jordanian resident
from Muharraq who frequently traversed these spaces on foot mentioned that he felt a sense of belonging
as others often greeted him. In Block-338 (another pedestrianised space), it was visible, during
field observations, that a regular mix were using the space differently. According to a male respondent
from Bangladesh who moved to Bahrain 20 years ago and is currently unemployed, he enjoys sitting in
Block-338 area to see different ‘interesting people’ as tourists from different countries and from Bahrain
visit this area. Block-338 is the first kind of modern pedestrian quarter in Bahrain and it is also a tourist
destination with a series of street restaurants and cafes and with airy art galleries and mural works. Users
enjoy sharing a space and their activities, which facilitate positive feelings and thereby create ‘mixed and
mingling populations’ not only in parks and greenspaces as explored by Neal et al. (2015) but also in
other urban contexts. The sensory experiences of being around different people or spending time outdoors
with friends and families have restorative meanings and therapeutic qualities for diverse users and have
a direct impact on wellbeing (Cattell et al., 2008). These meanings can promote feelings of integration,
conviviality and egalitarianism when sharing spaces with others.
Being outdoors also evokes memories (Ingold, 2012) for those migrants who find similarities to spaces
in their home country with regard to its physical form, social fabric and the availability of familiar food
and goods. Migrants feel welcome in POS where they can continue their leisure practices that reflect
their identities and history of places, which in turn contributes to their wellbeing and promotes a sense
of belonging (Al-Madani and Rishbeth, 2020). Although these stories are relevant to migration research,
the developed deep meanings for sharing the space with other residents and temporary visitors show that
in superdiverse contexts, migration studies could be an internal part of studies on conviviality in local
heritage sites.
When investigating conviviality in everyday social relations in public spaces, the positive perspectives are
usually highlighted; however, it is important to be honest about challenges. We cannot ignore that visibility
of differences has challenges and that some people instead of looking at commonalities look at aspects of
differences, which may cause categorization. The collected data shows that different social behaviours and
cultural practices can also be judged based on individual perceptions. The methodological approach in the
research was beneficial to understand both the reasoning behind ‘being outdoors’ and the challenges for
conviviality. The findings show that these challenges and conflicts arise from the complexity of cultural
expectations regarding social responsibility in public spaces, but these would not be discussed in this paper.
Although the findings show that these are mundane conflicts, ignoring them may have widespread implications
both for the value of POS and intercultural exchanges within the city. Hence, the role of design and
management of public open spaces will be important to respond to different expectations.
Examples of meaningful encounters in the research developed from the affordances for being outdoors
and sharing a space, an activity or a moment with others. The role of design and management appeared
predominantly in users’ perception and experiences of POS.
Outdoor spatial qualities: the role of Landscape architecture
The role of design and management of POS in supporting conviviality across differences appeared to
be important in the research, even so this role is currently underestimated. In the expert interviews, the
significant role of planning, design and management of POS to support different cultural practices was
379