@article { , title = {Examining three roles of urban “portals” in their relationship with “places” using social media photographs}, abstract = {Portals are the transition spaces between paths and places in an urban environment such as the entrance to a square from a connecting street. This paper aims to explore different forms of portals by considering their relationship with places. In doing so, a people-generated image analysis was adopted for two case studies conducted in popular Chinese recreational venues: Sanlitun Village, Beijing; and Xintiandi, Shanghai. Through an analysis of nearly 53,000 Instagram photographs, three different roles that a portal can fulfil are identified and defined as the ‘doorway’, the ‘showroom’, and the ‘place’. These typologies are derived from a deeper understanding of urban space through the ‘eyes of the users’, and this knowledge can in turn influence the design process for the public realm and urban spaces.}, doi = {10.1016/j.cities.2019.02.011}, issn = {0264-2751}, journal = {Cities}, pages = {207-215}, publicationstatus = {Published}, publisher = {Elsevier}, url = {https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1590417}, volume = {90}, keyword = {Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management, Development, Sociology and Political Science, Urban Studies}, year = {2019}, author = {Qian, Xiao and Heath, Tim} }