: 1. the pervading spirit of a place
: 2. a tutelary deity of a place
Source Merriam-Webster
Each city has a unique ‘spirit of place,’ or a distinctive atmosphere, that goes beyond the built environment. This urban context reflects how a city functions in ‘real time’ as people move through time and space. Viewed through this lens, the architecture and physical infrastructure of a city give way to the rhythms of the passing of the day and transition of the seasons. This provides the ‘temporal spectacles’ that define a city.
This context of a city is more formally known as ‘genius loci,’ or the genetic footprint of a place. Latin for ‘the genius of the place,’ this phrase refers to classical Roman concept of the protective spirit of a place. In contemporary usage, genius loci usually refers to a location’s distinctive atmosphere, or the afore-mentioned ‘spirit of place,’ rather than a guardian spirit.
Source : http://yuriartibise.com