The Place Research Network (PRN) brings together some of the diverse range of researchers, both within Australia and overseas, for whom place is a primary theoretical and organising concept. While place is a nexus concept, linking research in architecture, sociology, literary theory, design, computing, geography, philosophy and many other areas, it is also a hotly contested one. Central to the network’s aims is the importance of providing a forum for critical analytic reflection on the concept of place itself, and on associated concepts including those of home, location, identity, belonging, orientation, borders, virtuality, indigeneity.

At the same time, the network encourages further experimentation in the rich context that is supplied by using place as a method of exploring a range of subject matters – whether this be the body, the urban, the virtual, the cultural, the social, the mind – or other phenomena conceived as places, that is sites of specifically human engagement and activity. The PRN aims to bring together researchers from a wide range of disciplines and practices within a common framework that will enable communication, foster collaboration and promote a broader understanding of the nature and significance of place. Not only does the PRN The have a role in integrating contemporary work on place, but it also aims to facilitate the emergence of new disciplinary configurations and new interdisciplinary areas of concern and modes of approach.