University of Tartu
Department of Geography
Faculty of Science and Technology
Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences
Ape
Anna Āboliņa
Maximilian Brönner
Opri Orenius
Adrien Jacquot
Dāvis Valters Immurs
First observations of Ape
Rural, small town, empty houses
●
●
●
●
●
Surprisingly lively -> Market, cross-border dimension
Number of stores
Friendly people
Clean & green
Green city
Ape
Theoretical perspectives:
●
●
●
●
Insufficient data about second houses in Ape
Place-attachment & involvement
Conceptualization of the SH people -> wide understanding
Special characteristics of a small city
Ape
Methodology:
● Field introduction: the gate-keeper
27 interviews
● Semi-structured interviews (shp/ locals) together
○ also via phone/internet
● Expert-interviews
● Snowballing and spontaneous interviews
● Observations, photo-fixation and field notes
Weaknesses and passive problems:
● “the interviewer effect”
● Language as a passive problem
○ group and public communication
○ dependency on native speakers
● Choice of time
Groups of different SHP
1 former locals
inhabitancy of their SH
permanent/
temporary
Cases
Interv.
Roots
uncountable
5
Y
Comments
'no one can know
that' (Auth.1)
'there should be at least a
third of official population
2 locals now long-term
permanent/
working/studying abroad
temporary
3 visitors of their relatives
(haven't been locals)
permanent
4 those who had their relatives
lack of a certain SH/
here (haven't been locals)
temporary/permanent
5 former WWII refugees who
had their roots in Ape
6 locals who have a SH because
of family bonding
7 locals from the town who
have bought a SH in the parish
8 those who have no roots here,
but own a SH
9 hunters who have purposely
bought the property
unliveable/ lack of a certain SH
uncountable
-
Y
uncountable
1
Y
uncountable
2
Y
2
-
Y
-
N
1
Y
temporary
not living in Ape' (Auth.3)
'every person in Ape has somebody visiting them'
(Loc.2)
>16
temporary
temporary
≥3
1
N
temporary
2-3
-
N
'There is no such kind [of SHP] in Ape' (Auth.2)
'We're not Piebalga' (Auth.3)
‘They got their hunting territories during Soviet
times, still attached to the forests’ (Auth.3)
Ape
The spatial distribution of the
temporary inhabited and
abandoned farmsteads in Ape
parish
The inhabitancy/use of houses in Pasta iela, the historical central street of Ape
The various ways (yellow box – social; purple – cultural/sport; blue – economical; red –
conflicts) of Mairis Levans’s involvement in the local community
Conclusions
● remoteness = obstacle
● no typical sh-area because of:
○ long distance to Riga
○ lack of purpose-built second homes
● Main reasons for shp to live in Ape
1. Roots of the shp
2. Nature of Ape
→ many SH people have a strong place attachment
● Involvement in municipality development varies but most of the
visitors take part in sport events
Further discussions: