Open space or natural place? : The politics, perceptions and practices of place-making inthe co-management of an urban nature reserve, Macassar Dunes, Cape Town.

Abstract: This study uses sense of place and adaptive co-management theories to present acomparative analysis of co-management arrangements at Macassar Dunes Nature Reserve, CapeTown, and to broadly investigate the role of ‘place’ in ‘co-management’. Methods involved in-depthinterviews with members of the main co-management body, the Macassar Dunes Co-managementAuthority, to determine their perceptions of ‘bridges’ and ‘barriers’ to co-management, and ‘placemeanings’. Open-coding of these perceptions was based on analytical frameworks taken from the‘faces’ of co-management (Berkes, 2009), and from sense of place theory, including place-making andpolitics of place. This comparative analyses show adaptive co-management relates more to comanagementof processes and sense of place theory inherently relates to co-management of- and inplace.I conclude adaptive co-management theory problematically incorporates ‘place’ into comanagementunderstandings, and thus greater incorporation of place meanings in theory andpractice could inform increased understanding of conflict in co-management arrangements, such asthose presented at Macassar Dunes.