『地方』是被人們所定義，人們有了地方的記憶，所以能夠區分出我們的地方和別人的地方，這其中差異在於地方記憶所造成的在地認同，不屬於這個地方的居民將無法得到此共同的記憶，進而認同此地方。本研究利用集體記憶去觀察在地居民的記憶，有何事物是能夠凝聚起居民的認同，並且使其對地方做出評價，願意居住在此。
本研究透過訪談蒐集北斗鎮民過去、現在和未來的記憶，經過分析發現在一個小鎮也能有著共同且標準化的記憶，並成為日常生活中的一部分。鎮民相信過去的繁華，認為最大的轉捩點即是交通區位的改變，因此認定這是阻礙北斗鎮發展最大的元兇。而到了現今鎮民認為北斗鎮最缺乏的就是在地特色，即便交通設施逐漸完善，但除了在地美食之外，找不到其他吸引觀光客的景點，依舊被認為是一個無聊的地方，因此極力想找出能充滿鎮民記憶的事物，認為只要能夠糾結眾人記憶就能成為特色。所以鎮民並未對鎮上感到悲觀，覺的未來依然能夠有所發展，對於記憶中的未來充滿著想像，前提是必須面對彼此間的記憶衝突，尤其是文化和商業發展的取捨。從研究可以發現小鎮是有其獨特的記憶，並且持續流傳在鎮上，只有當地人才能擁有的共同記憶。
"Place" is defined by people. Generally speaking, people have collective memories toward places, and following this logic, -they can distinguish between “our” place and “others” places. More importantly, the differences between places lie in the local memory caused by local identity. That is, people who do not belong to a specific place would not be able to obtain collective memory and identity from this very place. This current research employs memory-study approach to observe memories of local residents. Among others, this research would like to reveal factors that foster residents' local identities that guide them to appreciate and make the decision to stay live.
Beidou is a small town that locates in the southeastern edge of Changhua County. In the memory of the citizens, Beidou was once known as the "one Anping, two Lukang, three Wanhua and four Beidou". Now Beidou thereby became an ordinary place, the citizens collective remember to get back the “good old days.”
In this study, through in-depth interviews, I delve into how local residents remember Beidou, and analyze whether there is a shared memory in town .The study concludes that, local memory is organized by people and they have a standardized memory toward “their” town. Citizens believe a honorable past, because Zhuoshui River passed as a bustling port and brought about local development. People remember that the biggest turning point is the change of traffic location, so this is the critical factor hinder the development of Beidou. Citizens nowadays believe that Beidou lacks specific attraction for other people. In addition to food, Beidou can not find other significant features to attract tourists. Citizens the present Beidou as a boring place, so they would to find something common and shared by locals. In other words, to some extent, one of the shared collective memory is that they have been tried to build a shared memory. Nevertheless, my study suggests that, people in Beidou is not pessimistic about “their” town and think that there will be a prosperous future. According to my collected data, the future of memory is full of imagination, the premise is that we must confront mnemonic conflicts among locals in general, and the choice between cultural or commercial development in particular. From the study, we can summarize that, while being a small town, local residents collectively remember the past, present, and future of Beidou , and it continues to be circulated in the town.
