Well-being evocative places: validating the conceptual model of an evocative place based on the inter-rater reliability test

ABSTRACT An evocative place is defined as a place that evokes emotions, memories and images. Well-being evocative places are places that enable people to recharge and feel at peace. Data about well-being evocative places and their descriptions was collected in a series of mapping experiments in Hamburg (Germany), Ames (Iowa), and Vitória (Brazil). The Conceptual Model of an Evocative Place (CMEP) was designed based on the collected data in these three cities. It conceptualizes descriptions of evocative places as expressed in words by the participants. The model stresses the value of tangible and intangible attributes of evocative places described by their characteristics, experience, senses and values. The main goal of this article is to present the CMEP and the methodology for its validation accomplished with the help of a new set of data collected in the cities of Vienna (Austria) and Grinnell (Iowa). The inter-rater reliability (IRR) test provided a framework for its validation. Two raters used newly collected data and the categories proposed in the CMEP. The content analysis and the calculated IRR served as the basis for the changes and improvements of the CMEP. The article concludes with a discussion of the main results and future research directions.