Where do we belong? Convivial data practices for mapping belongingness in the NEB-STAR Utrecht experiment

Abstract This paper examines how convivial data practices can be employed to map place-belongingness in urban contexts, focusing on Utrecht as a testbed within the Horizon Europe NEB-STAR project. Building on theoretical understandings of place-belongingness as a relational and spatial condition, the study translates these insights into a methodological framework organised into three phases: (1) context awareness, (2) tools co-design and (3) knowledge co-creation. Through a combination of qualitative surveys, participatory workshops and fuzzy text–spatial analysis, the Utrecht experimentation elicited situated narratives of belonging from residents across diverse cultural backgrounds. A total of 58 geo-referenced texts specifically addressing belongingness were collected through QR-based surveys and in-person interviews, generating a heterogeneous corpus of spatialised data. Guided by slow data principles, the process emphasised voluntary participation, awareness, contextual sensitivity and a departure from extractive data practices. A bespoke vocabulary of belongingness was constructed directly from residents’ own words, rather than relying on generic lexicons. These texts were then analysed using the FREDoC methodology, enabling fuzzy representations of belongingness intensity at each surveyed location and their visualisation within a GIS environment. Two workshops complemented the survey, helping to refine the vocabulary while revealing how participants valued Utrecht’s physical and geographical characteristics in shaping their sense of belonging. Overall, the Utrecht case demonstrates how convivial methodologies can transform residents from passive data sources, typical of extractivist models, into active co-creators of situated knowledge. The ambition is to outline a pathway for integrating such narrative-based spatial insights into future urban governance, opening new directions for understanding “where we belong” as a collective, political and spatial question at the core of contemporary planning agendas.