Sense of place and the redesignation of the Gateway Arch National Park

Abstract

The redesignation of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial to the Gateway Arch National Park in 2018 by the Trump administration spurred debate about the distinct naming designations utilized by the National Park Service (NPS) in the United States. Place naming is a significant factor in shaping the 'sense of place' that people experience with these protected areas. In this study, I seek to better understand how 'sense of place' with the Gateway Arch has been affected by the contentious redesignation to a 'National Park'. To assess 'sense of place', I gathered data on values and characteristics people associate with 'National Parks' and the Gateway Arch. Primary data was collected from an online Qualtrics survey of adult U.S. residents in the "National Park Service (Fan Page)" group on the social network Facebook and secondary data pulled from published Yelp reviews. Together, these qualitative data were used for a two-part coding analysis with NVivo software that provided statistics for three main themes: environmental characteristics, intrinsic values, and visitor experience. Results showed that people associate environmental characteristics the most with 'National Parks' at large, while the Gateway Arch is most associated with intrinsic values. These results, in addition to the historical background of the NPS system and the Gateway Arch, is crucial in understanding the critical disconnect between how 'National Parks' are broadly perceived and the current designation of Gateway Arch National Park.