FOSTERING CULTURAL IDENTITY THROUGH DESIGN:

Using The Internet to Discover Hakka Cultural Traditions in Modern Society


A RESEARCH OUTLINE

Despite the emergence of multi-cultural communities in many parts of North America, planners and landscape architects are still taking design approaches that only cater to a predominant cultural group. The problem exists when we meet a culturally diverse market place with a mono cultural design. We have failed to recognize how people of different origins value and identify with places, and perhaps create meaningful places that can provide a sense of belonging for culturally diverse groups. The need is for designers to determine how multi-cultural groups can influence the design of the built environment.

There are many small vibrant places such as the Greek or the Italian communities that exist as enclaves within many big Cities in Western Countries, like Canada and US. These places create character as well as add diversity to the fabric of a city. Studies have shown that these communities have achieved a measure of success in fostering cultural identity for certain groups. The Hakka culture, however, is a group that is not established or represented in the built landscape. It is important to understand the people, their cultural traditions, practices and needs before we go about designing places for them. The purpose of this research is twofold, first, to understand Hakka people and their sense of identity with their own culture, second, to determine the relationship between this identity and Sense of Place.

THE HAKKA CULTURE

The study concentrates on Hakka Culture and requires Hakka people as subjects of my survey. This group maintain a very strong cultural tradition even though they dwell in many different parts of the world. Hakka people are a subgroup of Chinese people who are identified as Hakka based on their origin and the language they speak. The languages and origins can be traced to more than 2000 years ago. They are an ethnic group who originated in North China as one of the earliest tribes. Throughout history, Hakkas have been migrating to South China and eventually to other world communities, yet retaining a strong cultural heritage of custom and language. The name Hakka means “guest people” which these northerners were called to distinguish them from South China tribes. Currently, there are about 50 million Hakkas scattered throughout the world. Most Hakkas live in such widely scattered locations in the world as Austria, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Germany, India, Canada, UK, US, and Jamaica. In South China they continue to dwell in mainly less fertile upland areas.

OUTLINE OF METHODOLOGY

The computer Internet is a fundamental part of my research. Most of the information I’ve collected on the Hakka culture were obtained from the Hakka Global Network(HGN) through the World Wide Web. Although the Hakka population is scattered around the world, the Internet link has brought them back together as a group to share ideas and experiences, as well as to provide resources relating to this culture.

My research method will involve an investigative questionnaire sent through the Internet to obtain both quantitative and qualitative information from Hakka people from different places around the world. The questions will inquire about their cultural practices, beliefs, their background, family ties, etc. Participants will include all Hakkas, age 18 & over, from the Hakka Global Network(HGN), their friends and family members.

SUMMARY

I will learn, through the results of the survey, how Hakka people have maintained their cultural identity through centuries of migration to many different countries. An important aspect of this study, is to determine how and why Hakka people maintain cultural awareness and traditions while living in places that surround them with contrasting cultures. It is my hope that by exploring the relationship between sense of place and cultural identity that we can sensitize the design of our physical environment to foster such an identity. By fostering and creating a sense of belonging and identity, a place can provide a higher quality of life to its residents and users.