Community Narratives of Urban Heritage in Loughborough: Photovoice Findings

Pegah Aftabi's PhD project dataset contains 464 photographs and corresponding narratives from 20 Loughborough residents, collected between August and October 2025. It documents 429 places and practices, categorizing 198 as tangible and 231 as intangible heritage items. The data reveals that 355 community-valued assets are not officially listed, compared to 74 that are.

Use Cases

• Analyze the distribution of heritage value between tangible and intangible categories based on the 198 tangible and 231 intangible items identified.
• Compare community-valued assets with official heritage status based on the 355 non-listed versus 74 listed items.
• Study narrative themes in community heritage perception based on the stories and motivations shared for each photograph.
• Map locations of personal and collective significance within Loughborough based on the documented 429 places and practices.

Strengths

• Contains 464 photographs paired with participant narratives, providing rich qualitative context.
• Offers a detailed quantitative breakdown of 429 documented items into 198 tangible and 231 intangible heritage assets.
• Provides a clear comparison between community and official heritage valuation, with 355 non-listed versus 74 listed items.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is provided in PDF format, which may complicate structured analysis.

Provenance

Source

Pegah Aftabi

Collection Method

Collected via the Stanford University 'Our Voice' mobile app using photovoice methodology during workshops.

Time Range

August to October 2025

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-11 08:24:42

Geography

Loughborough, UK