Saulepi and Matsi Case Study Factors Influencing Satisfaction of Local Residents

SAULEPI AND MATSI CASE STUDY

FACTORS INFLUENCING SATISFACTION OF LOCAL RESIDENTS

Thomas Lønning Bjørnestad, Ekaterina Bulakh, Karin Kangur and Petr Piekar

Pärnu 2014

Table of Contents Introduction ...... 3 Study area ...... 4 Terra Maritima ...... 5 Methodology ...... 7 Semi-structured interviews ...... 7 Observation ...... 7 Secondary data ...... 8 Theoretical framework ...... 9 Residential satisfaction ...... 9 Impacts of second home tourism ...... 10 Economic impacts ...... 10 Environmental impacts...... 10 Socio-cultural ...... 11 What is “place”? ...... 11 Phenomenology and sense of place ...... 12 Creating places ...... 14 From production to consumption? ...... 15 Analysis ...... 16 Satisfaction ...... 16 Factors ...... 18 Economic impacts ...... 18 Environmental impacts...... 18 Socio-cultural ...... 19 Sense of place ...... 20 Conclusion ...... 21 References ...... 23

Introduction

The research is focused on the influx of summer people and temporally dwellers and what impacts they have on the local permanent dwellers. The area of our research is two villages of Saulepi and Matsi in Varbla parish.

Motivation and aim of the study Our motivation behind this project is a general interest in regional development. Tourism and second homes are both integral to the development of rural areas, and many places’ survival stands and falls on seasonal changes caused by the influx of tourists and part-time inhabitants.

The seasonal flow of invisible people to the small villages of Saulepi and Matsi has an impact that not only extends to the physical but also influences the inhabitants' views of their home, negatively or positively. The aim of the case study is to investigate how seasonal change and the presence of part-time inhabitants impacts the residential satisfaction and sense of place of the permanent residents in Saulepi and Matsi. Therefore our research question is: What are the factors that determine residential satisfaction and sense of place in the villages Matsi and Saulepi?

Study area Varbla parish is situated to northwest of Pärnu county (figure 1.). The parish area is 313,8 square kilometres and more than half of the land is forest (57%). Varbla parish has 30 kilometres of nice coastline, which is a magnet for tourists and people who enjoy the beach and nature around it. It is 70 kilometres to Pärnu from Varbla centre and 151 kilometres to Tallinn. The population of Varbla is decreasing (figure 2.) and in 2014 there were 800 people registered in Varbla parish, but the number might be wrong, because the registered people may have their permanent homes somewhere else. The Population is also decreasing because the natural population growth is negative and the out-migration is quite high (Varbla arengukava, 2012-2022).

Figure 1. Summerhouses in Matsi and Saulepi villages. (Maa-amet)

1200

1000

800

600 women

400 men

200

2011 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2012 2013 2014

Figure 2. Population changes in Varbla parish 2000-2014 (Eesti Statistika Amet)

Our area of study only has 11 people living permanently, five in Matsi and six in Saulepi. If Matsi has five locals with each having a private house then in Saulepi there are only three houses, which means that in Matsi people live alone and in Saulepi a family lives within one dwelling. There are only old people living in Saulepi and Matsi and the place is perfect for relaxation and rest from the urban buzz and chaos. This is why old people like to stay in these villages to enjoy silence and solitude.

According to the official data there are more people registered in the area than there actually is. Those who are registered but not living there are mainly the relatives of the permanent dwellers, who also consider moving to the place when they are pensioners. The children of the locals are quite active in developing the villages; they have constructed new playgrounds for children as well as a bus stop. They also have their own community of younger generation and they gather from the whole region of Varbla parish, not only Matsi and Saulepi, to have some common activities.

Terra Maritima

Varbla and the other five villages (Lihula, Hnaila, Ridala, Martna and Koonga) are a part of common project “Terra Maritima”, which means Land by the sea in Latine. This project has

started in January 2005. The main goal of this project is the development of sustainable tourism in the region. The basic document of Terra Maritima tourism region is “Tourism and economic recreation development plan”, which was applied for the years 2008-2015. (Terra Maritima 2006). This project can be seen as a marketing tool for the promotion of tourism in these villages.

Methodology

Semi-structured interviews We have used semi-structured interviews because they are “useful for investigating complex behaviours, opinions and emotions and for collecting a diversity of experiences. These methods do not offer researchers a route to “the truth” but they do offer a route to partial insights into what people do and think” (Clifford et al, 2010, p.112). We wanted to find out people’s personal opinion concerning summer-time dwellers and tourists, their satisfaction with their current life, situation in the village and what they would like to change. Other advantages of the questions asked in semi-structured interviews are “content-focused and deal with the issues or areas judged by the researcher to be relevant to the research question. The semi-structured interview is organized around ordered but flexible questioning” (Iain Hay, 2010, p.110). We have interviewed eight people, two of whom are summer time dwellers and one was not from our villages. The majority of people were ready to help us with the research, answering the questions we have asked but some people declined even to talk. There was one old lady, who did not want even to talk to us, however, her neighbours tried to convince her and also were surprised that she refused. Then there was an old man who had just been released from hospital so we just decided not to bother him. Another man was a heavy drinker so we did not dare to visit him. One lady was away from the place and the other said she is working long hours so she is too tired to give an interview.

Observation Another method we used for our research was observation. According to White and Jackson 1995 "whether we seek to count, to gather complementary information, or to understand the context of place more deeply, the key to taking observation seriously is being attentive to detail as well as acknowledging our positions as researchers" (Iain Hay, 2010, p. 257). So the advantages of observation are "that it is easy to do and it provides a more direct access to phenomena than some of the more complex methodologies of social sciences" (Clifford et al, 2010, p. 127).

We went there during the weekdays so we did not manage to see many summer people there, mainly those who live permanently in the place. Usually, more people come during the weekends and holidays, as well as during their leave allowances, mainly in July. The majority of part-time dwellers are the locals' relatives. They come to visit their parents, help them out as much as they can and of course because of the sea shore and beaches being on the territory of Matsi village. We interviewed an old lady, who had her grandchildren repairing the roof of one of the buildings on the territory.

Secondary data Moreover, we received some of the secondary from the municipality of Varbla, official statistics and used it as a background of our research. Unfortunately, we have only received the data on registered people in the whole Varbla parish not on every village. However, it still can be seen that there are more people registered than there is actually living.

Theoretical framework

Residential satisfaction

People’s satisfaction with their lives is one really important aspect that shows the quality of life. Residential satisfaction can be divided into the two groups: (1) satisfaction concerning individual aspects and (2) feeling satisfied with the environment around. The individual aspects are related to age, education level, income and family or household structure. The environmental satisfaction concerns dwelling and neighbourhood, physical and social characteristics and also accessibility to services and the reputation of the neighbourhood. In our case study we are going to concentrate on the environmental satisfaction.

The environmental satisfaction aspects can be divided into two groups: the factors that are concerning dwelling and the type of the building, and the factors concerning the neighbourhood (Dekker et al., 2011). Residential satisfaction is related to the area’s cleanliness and noise, in addition to the availability and accessibility of services and products (Wilson et al., 1995 cit Dekker et al., 2011). Moreover, environmental satisfaction is depending on the feeling of safety, and a given neighbourhood’s reputation and the quality of the infrastructure in the area.

The literature about residential satisfaction points out different factors which could potentially have an impact on residential satisfaction. Two important factors are accessibility to services and opportunities for leisure activities (Kearney, 2006; Dekker et al., 2011; Kährik et al., 2012). It is important to have a good bus connection in the neighbourhood and good quality of the local shops (Wilson et al., 1995 cit Dekker et al., 2011).

In addition, the satisfaction is affected negatively by vandalism, bad conditions of the roads, bad traffic and areas with a lot of crime (Wallace, 2001; Parkes et al., 2002; Dekker et al., 2011). This could be affecting people to move out of that area (Temelová & Dvořáková, 2011). Dekker and her colleagues (2011) found out that people’s feeling about the area is more important than the actual situation in the neighbourhood.

Furthermore, other factors that lead to residential satisfaction are greenery and accessibility to nature in a given area. Research has shown that people are more satisfied when they have

trees and nature around them (Kearney, 2006). The sense of population density is greatly affected by the number of trees surrounding residential areas. According to Kearney (2009) people’s satisfaction is affected by density of population, so greenery around people would make the density of population feel lower than it actually is.

Impacts of second home tourism It is important to realize to what extent and in what ways second homes can influence countryside, both positively and negatively. There is no doubt about impacts of second home tourism in host destinations. According to Marjavaara (2011) Miller argues that impacts of second home tourism are dependent on the local setting. It is necessary to perceive every locality as unique. Somewhere impacts are seen as positive but in other places impacts can be seen as negative. Marjavaara (2008, p. 12) divides the impacts into three main types: economic, environmental and socio-cultural impacts.

Economic impacts There is a possibility for local residents or second homes owners to rent out their properties as another source of financial income. Second home tourism can also bring some new job opportunities. It could also be a chance for small entrepreneurs or farmers who sell local products. However, there are also negative impacts; increasing prices of properties, local goods or services mostly in attractive areas. Also the cost of additional infrastructure and services, for example garbage collection or water supply, might increase. (Brida, Osti, Santifaller, 2011)

Environmental impacts The question of impacts of second homes on the environment has attracted interest, especially in the last few decades. “In general, the increasing number of second homes causes increasing competition between locals and second home owners over shared resources such as fishing, land use and freshwater” (Butler and Hall 1998 in Marjavaara 2008, p. 15). According to Breuer (in Brida, Osti, Santifaller, 2011) the increasing population in peak season has several effects on the water supply, sewage system, road infrastructure, pollution and waste collection. However, second home owners take care of nature and they also have positive impacts on the protection of nature. Restoration of old properties in bad condition is seen as a positive impact.

Socio-cultural Marjavaara (2008) argues that socio-cultural impacts are probably the most researched impact from the all second home tourism impacts. Social impacts of second homes development are in many cases connected with conflicts of interests or opinions of locals and second home owners/tourists. For example, locals are more open to changes which could mean economic development of a locality; second home owners have an idea of preserving countryside and nature around (Müller 2002).

What is “place”?

Why does place matter? In geography, place is essential in analysing how human practice is performed. A place is shaped over many years, both by natural attributes and human action, culture and tradition. Places are in constant change – and new meanings will be attributed to these places continuously through processes like globalisation.

The study of place has a central place in geography, and is multifaceted. One of the most prominent ways of studying place is through sense of place where the lived experience is of importance. Place does not exist without experience and meaning, just like the old philosophical thought experiment: “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”. If no one is around to experience a place, does the place exist?

The “creation” of place is also closely linked to human interaction. Through interaction with other people place is generated through the creation of memories of place and experiences of interaction. One theoretical approach to this is “place as sociality”.

Place as sociality is based on proximity – and for this proximity to have a lasting effect and create memories, it has to be bodily proximity. There are places that are more suited for bodily proximity, such as festivals. Activity, and experiencing places together with other people is an important part of the process that leads to production and creation of place, whether or not it seen as negative or positive (Bærenholdt et. al 2004).

Researchers dealing with place and sense of place also often focus on the higher concept of space. If we are concerned with the problem of space perception we are getting to the field of behavioural geography, which deals with the human behaviour in space and also deals with how people perceive their surroundings, thus we are speaking about perception of space (Siwek 2011). The perception of space as conceived in behavioural geography is also influenced by phenomenology. It attaches particular importance to subjective impressions. This approach emphasizes that it is not important what is the objective reality, but how is reality perceived by the individual. Even with the perception of space, it is not essential how the place appears but it is important how place is perceived by the observer. Perception of geographical area is a picture of the outside world that each person creates in his consciousness in a unique way and the experience in the form of a mental map (Siwek 2011, p 76 ).

Phenomenology and sense of place

“Phenomenology is the scientific study of experience. It can be seen as an attempt to describe human consciousness in it is immediate lived state, before it becomes subject to theoretical development or conceptual systematisation. Instead of investigating the epistemological status, it is seen as more important to explore existential use and consequences. Our focus therefore shifts from what things mean in themselves, to what meaning they can have in the future”

This is how the anthropologist Michael Jackson, referenced in Hjemdahl (2002), defines the concept of phenomenology. As a method for fieldwork, a phenomenological approach can be practical because it negates time consuming semiotics and can help us understand why people act like they do in certain places and within a certain context. Instead of using a semiotic analytical approach, one can “become part” of the context and live within it. One experiences by doing. The aim is to understand how a place “happens” by experiencing the place for oneself. This is part of our aim for this case study; to experience the place. Although we will not have adequate time to understand the place fully, this is more of a framework for us to work within.

In the tradition of humanist geography it has not been uncommon to rule out, or at least put less emphasis on, the physical aspects of a place and concentrate on the human experiences as

the factors and ingredients that create a place. A person can “extract” the essence of a place by his or her senses – hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and touching the surroundings. Our memories and mental images also play a part in creating place. By using our memories to create images and conjure up feelings, an image of a place can be imagined. These memories and images of place can be a factor when one is considering to return to a place, i.e tourist attractions. All these elements are what make up “the lived”, a world in constant change as one moves through space and time (Holloway & Hubbard, 2001).

David Seamon (1979, in Holloway & Hubbard, 2001) has contributed a great deal in the development of theorising people and place. One example is his “Triad of Environmental Experience”, which contains the three most important aspects of “the lived world”. It was important for Seamon to express that human existence is satisfied by strong bonds to a place. This existence is challenged by external forces, such as globalisation, that reduce the possibility for obtaining a strong connection to place. Seamon still argues that by using the dialectical relationship between movement in space and time and staying in a place can gather the experienced world and therefore tie it together. Dialectical in this context simply means that the two are opposites and together they create a sort of inner debate. This debate arises, according to Seamon, because man is always chasing the new and undiscovered. The meaning of “home” is not something specific and people can, through movement in space and time, change their opinions about “home” and attachment to certain places and the “undiscovered” becomes “discovered”. This also allows us to understand the challenges facing small villages. The inhabitants are drawn towards the outer world, by forces like employment, comfortable living and a greater range of services.

Seamon's (1979) framework for analysing sense of place consists of three main influencing factors.

Movement: Focus on how one in a bodily way moves through through space on a daily basis Rest: Human attachment to a place, in this context home is central Encounter: How people notice and observe the world they encounter every day

Figure 3. Seamon’s (1979) “Triad of Environmental Experience

The figure shows how all these elements are connected and together create a total experience of a particular environment. It also shows that one cannot only use thoughts to create an environment, but also have to use the body to physically become aware of a place. Seamon's (1979) aim with this figure is to show how routines and repetitive movements in known environments can work in a choreographing way and help create what he calls the “human ballet” (Seamon, 1979). It is possible to experience this sort of interaction between people, for example in the streets or in a work setting. Through physical interaction it is possible to see if expectations and previous experiences align with reality or give reality a new meaning. All of this leads to what can be called place identity, place connection or sense of place. A place of belonging, not just a physical space – a place that is felt with the entire body and all the senses (Holloway, 2001). This is useful in the rural context where the “feeling of peace and quiet” is often mentioned as reasons for choosing to leave the urban for the country life.

Creating places

In the book “Performing Tourist Places” (Bærenholdt et. al, 2004) tourism is described as “a way of being and relating to the contemporary”. Places are created through interaction between meaning and surroundings, they are not just the physical, but are also made up of the meanings given to it. When does a place earn the title “tourist destination”? When there are a lot of things for tourists to see? Well, if there were no tourists to see them, would it be a tourist destination? The logical conclusion here would be no! The place becomes a tourist destination not just because of it is physicality, but because of the tourists that visit the place and give it meaning.

Bærenholdt et. al (2004) exemplify this in a brilliant manner with a sand castle. The physical landscape, the beach, is transformed into a place with meaning and expectations – the physical landscape itself is just a backdrop, and the beach only has meaning when it gets populated, and human interaction takes place. A place therefore “achieves” meaning when it is given meaning by human actions. The sand castle itself is only temporary and will be torn down by waves and wind, but the memories of it is construction, the social interactions and pride will live on (Bærenholdt et. al, 2004).

From production to consumption?

The last couple of decades, employment in the primary sector of the economy has seen a noticeable decline and as a consequence, rural areas have had to adapt to these changes by shifting their focus from production to consumption (Cloke, 1992, in Woods, 2005). A large part of this shift has come through commodification of the rural and through tourism. According to Woods (2005) commodification is when the sales value of something that can be sold becomes higher than the use value. The object is therefore appreciated more than it is uses, often in shape of esthetical qualities like pristine and “untouched” nature. Some of the reasons behind this are the relative decline i the primary sector in comparison to the economic gains in tourism (Woods, 2005). In addition there has also been a tendency towards a capitalistic society where brands and symbols are basic building blocks in our understanding of the world around us, and commodification is therefore a natural consequence of this development (Woods, 2005). For small places this can be a great challenge, and the question remains; have Saulepi and Matsi tackeld these changes? Have they managed to create arenas for social and cultural innovation that will drive their community together, or is there no activity of note in the area?

Analysis All the people who live permanently in Saulepi and Matsi are middle-aged and old people. There are no children in these two villages. The majority of the people are pensioners, some of them still work, for example in the local grocery store, municipality and school. More than half of the population of Matsi and Saulepi are old women, living alone in their houses. The locals, usually, have their children and grandchildren for summer and holidays. There are also actors, musicians and artists owning property in these villages, however, they are more like summer-time dwellers.

Satisfaction

The aim of the report is to explore the impacts that determine residential satisfaction in Matsi and Saulepi villages. To answer the main question of our research we did eight semi- structured interviews with locals who live in Matsi and Saulepi villages. Generally, from the interviews, we have discovered that people are extremely satisfied with living in these villages and that the summertime visitors and the summerhouse owners are having a positive effect on their satisfaction levels.

Two important factors of residential satisfaction are accessibility to services and opportunities for leisure activities (Kearney, 2006; Dekker et al., 2011; Kährik et al., 2012). From our observation public services are quite poor. We have discovered that the accessibility to different services is extremely poor. The interviewed people claimed that there is a huge problem with getting medical help. The nearest emergency services are in Pärnu, which means that people cannot get medical aid as quickly as they should. The nearest medical facility is in Tõstamaa (14 kilometers away from Varbal). On the one hand, the interviewees said that in the wintertime the whole parish is quite empty and some of the interviewees even described the village as a dead area. On the other hand they said that they have a lot of traditions in the wintertime. For example, they have quiz nights in the wintertime and on New Years Eve, citizens, their relatives and friends from all over Varbla parish come together to have a big firework display and a party afterwards for everybody. However, some informants told us that they are not satisfied with the leisure opportunities in the villages. So it shows, that all the opportunities that they have created to themselves are not enough to please their feeling of satisfaction.

It is important to have a good bus connection in the neighbourhood and good quality of the local shops (Wilson et al., 1995 cit Dekker et al., 2011). Going to the grocery shop we have discovered that the store shelves are quite empty and this has also been mentioned by some of the locals as well, especially they have this kind of problem in the summertime when a lot of people are coming over to the parish. One of the interviewee told us that she gets all the necessary things for her from the local shop which is two kilometres away, but the majority of all the grocery she needs is bought by her son, who brings the goods from Pärnu. In rural areas it is quite common that the food for older people is brought from bigger shop from the city.

From our interviews we have found out that the tourism in these villages does not effect the feeling of safety. This is one of the factors which heavily effects residential satisfaction. From the interviews we have discovered that people are mostly concerned about the safety during wintertime and when the villages are almost empty. There have been some occasions when the summerhouses, which have not been actively used, had been robbed: one lady mentioned that somebody broke into her grandson’s house two years ago. Other interviewee said that there have been some minor cases like stealing food, but usually there are no crimes or any fights going on; the villages are too far away from Pärnu to bring some people with wrong intentions here. It is quite often mentioned in the literature that vandalism and crime rate of the areas effect satisfaction of residents (Wallace, 2001; Dekker et al., 2011). In our case we can conclude that locals feel more safely and also more satisfied when there are more people in the villages as in the summertime.

The research has shown that people are more satisfied with their place of residence when they have greenery around them (Kearney, 2006). The people that we have interviewed mentioned that they like to be in nature. For example, one of the informants passionately described his life in the village during the summertime: “I like the view of my land, there are bushes and here is my road to the seaside. And you see, the weather forecast said that it will rain, but clouds there and there, but no clouds above our heads and here is 300 days of sun. It is like a paradise!” Many of the informants claimed that they like to be here surrounded by trees and that they cannot imagine themselves living in the city. It confirms what the other research found out.

From the perspective of residential satisfaction, people are saying that they are satisfied with living there and the second home owners, who are coming here in the summertime and also

on the weekends, are not effecting their satisfaction. Furthermore, the interviewees are saying that the buzz that is created by second home owners in summertime is contributing to an increase in residential satisfaction.

Factors According to the theory we have been discussing three main impacts of second home tourism which are influencing lives of local people. There are economic, environmental and socio- cultural impacts. We have been analyzing interviews and then we have sorted out the answers into three groups. We have to mention that all informants are locals. Only one man is a second home owner. But he lives there for such a long time so that his local knowledge is extremely rich.

Economic impacts People have not mentioned so many economic impacts that influence life in the village. One lady mentioned that shops are located too far away from her place (three kilometres) and therefore she is dependent on relatives who have to bring food for her from Pärnu. One man has also mentioned that during the summer time local grocery is very busy because summertime people are buying out food and sometimes it is problematic to buy what you need. Generally, economic impacts of second home tourism are not so visible like environmental and socio-cultural impacts.

Environmental impacts Taking the interview as a basis for our research we have made analysis of the impacts. From the interviews it is obvious that the most frequently mentioned impact of second home tourism is environmental impact. People have been often talking about environmental impacts of second home owners towards the local community. People are mostly concerned about garbage, which is left after second home tourists as well as the increase of transport during summertime. In our interviews we have also asked people what do they think about wind turbines which are located very close to Saulepi and Matsi. In most cases people were satisfied with them because the wind turbines are not visible from their properties and they are not influenced by their noise. So in most of cases were people satisfied. Only two people had pretty negative attitude towards the wind turbines. One of the informants, a local person, said: “the motion of

the blades of the wind turbines make the light from the sun flicker in an irritating fashion”. Another lady with the negative attitude represents local council, she said that she is representing people’s opinion and she said that people are against wind turbines. Another problem is the increase of transport during the summertime. One lady claimed: “there is a lack of parking places, so people parking cars practically everywhere.” “They are also destroying nature, because they are driving over plants and bushes.” mentioned another local woman. She also referred to his relative who is a scientist, she said: “The island and sea shore are under the ecological protection, but no one takes care of it.” From the municipality interview it was obvious that there is also problem with waste collection. “Visitors are throwing rubbish everywhere”, mentions man from municipality.

Socio-cultural

At first glance Saulepi and Matsi look like an empty space without life. But we have to say that our area of study is not an example of place without culture and social events. As we heard from local people there is relatively rich social life if we take into account the number of people who live there. A few people said that their houses are places where they have meeting with their friends and relatives.

In the centre of the parish there are social events, arranged by the locals where summer people and local people have a fun together. As one of the informants said: “people do a lot of things together, there is no difference between hosts and locals”. For example, New Year’s Eve is the day when locals and hosts celebrate together. Once a year people are together and they are working on the common project “Let’s do it”. “The main goal of this event is to create something together for parish, clean the parish or build something like a playground,” local woman says. Another event where locals and hosts are getting together is for example Midsummer day, when people set a fire and then they have barbecue or an outdoor coffee event. In the middle of village there is a good example of community development. As we mentioned before during the common events people have already built a small volleyball playground and fireplace. One lady also mentioned that two famous people have summer houses in close surrounding. However, this people do not participate in the events. Only one famous person who participated in is a famous Estonian actor Lauri Nebel, who is one of the leaders of the big

party which takes place every five years. The influx of summertime people also brings an increase in thefts. None of the interviewed people mentioned any serious criminal acts. According to one local lady: “In the vast majority these thefts are not so serious, these are only petty crimes.”

Sense of place

Analysis of small villages like Saulepi and Matsi is in itself a difficult task. There are so few people living in these villages that the answers one gets through interviews are bound to be very similar. All the people who agreed to be interviewed said in one way or another, there is a lot of interaction between the villagers, and they all know each other. This fact was to a large extent reflected in the answers we got, there was for example a large amount of satisfaction with both the local community and tourists. In addition, no one is exempt from the processes of creating a sense of place. It is important for the researcher to keep in mind his or her own views of a place when analysing other people's opinions and views. Analysis of a place is always affected by the inherent subjectivity of our minds – the researcher is always a part of the process of creating a sense of place, and this will influence one's views.

Sense of place is strongly linked to experiences, meanings and interactions with surroundings. A lot of informants expressed that the peace and quiet is a factor that they greatly appreciate about the villages. One woman said “I've been here since the 70s, it is really nice here, and quiet”, while another agreed, and thought that the place was perfect for tourists “it is a clean and quiet place, perfect for relaxation”. This notion of the countryside as a quiet and peaceful place is not a new one, and it is perhaps not surprising that our informants expressed this during the interviews. However, it is still a great part of the creation of a sense of place, and attachment.

Using Seamon's “Triad of Environmental Experience” we can organise “sense of place” and try to understand how different factors influence it. For one man, encountering a beach that was “not for him” because of the tourists is a part of his creation of a sense of place – he has formed an opinion based on his encounter with tourists on this beach, and instead uses his own private beach, where there is, presumably, more peace and quiet – and where he gets his rest. His opinion of the beach was also connected to the previous activities on the beach; “In

Matsiranna there used to be fishing port and fish factory and the smell was not that good”. Our sense of place is always informed by previous experiences and memories – this might be one example. It can also serve as an example of how the whole body is active in the creation of a sense of place as he mentions the smell of the fish factory. A beach blanketed by the smell of fish will feel different from one that doesn't have this smell and the sense of place will therefore differ.

Alarmingly, almost all the informants stated that they were very happy with the situation in Saulepi and Matsi, regardless of the demographic situation, where a decline in population is the dominant factor. There are mostly old people living in the villages, and they mainly seem unaffected by external forces of a globalising world. The primary sector no longer employs that many people, and the rural has gone through a process of commodification. Tourism is a dominant factor in the economy, but Saulepi and Matsi are not exploiting the situation. Most of the tourism in the villages comes from friends and relatives of locals, and there seems to be a lack of entrepreneurship to market the area.

Conclusion

The main target of the research was to explore the impacts that determine residential satisfaction in Matsi and Saulepi villages. To answer the main question of our research we did eight semi-structural interviews with the people, who live in Matsi and Saulepi villages in Varbla parish and conducted observation in these areas.

In conclusion we found out that, the second home owners are effecting people’s residential satisfaction positively. From the eight interviews we discovered that people are not satisfied with the fact, that wintertime in these villages is quite empty and there is nothing to do. In the summertime more and more people are coming to Matsi and Saulepi villages and create a buzz, which makes the locals feel more satisfied with the neighbourhood. All in all, people are used to that kind of seasonality and they would not change anything. The interviewees mentioned that they are not satisfied with the accessibility of services, for example the medical help and there are not enough leisure opportunities.

The most visible impacts of second home tourism in Saulepi and Matsi are environmental impacts and socio-cultural impacts. Environmental impacts are negative. In most of cases people mention increase of traffic and problems with rubbish witch tourists leave on the properties of local people. Socio-cultural impacts are seen positive. There are examples of cooperation between locals and summertime residents. There are events where local people participate together with tourists.

Sense of place has been a large part of this case study – and is in many ways a balancing act. It might be tempting to overanalyse the weight of peoples’ statements, but we have seen that a sense of place is very important when people are describing their feelings towards a certain place, and when deciding to stay in this place. A lot of different factors contribute to the generation and creation of sense of place, and they can be very different from person to person. This fact does not help make sense of place an exact science, but it can help us systematise research. However, for the people of Saulepi and Matsi there are some “uniting” factors. A lot of people say that they have decided to stay because of the peace and quiet, and are staying regardless of how “boring” the place is during wintertime. The positivity of the inhabitants is in many ways a “shock”, considering that the population is declining and the inhabitants are all pensioners or close to being so. There are no children of school age in the villages, but this was never expressed as a concern by the informants. In many ways this is alarming, and is something that should be an area of further research, as we did not have the time for follow up questions. Why are the inhabitants so satisfied with the situation, regardless of outside forces?

In summary, we have to say that this area of research should be studied more in-depth. There are a lot of aspects left unexplored, aspects that could potentially benefit not only the development of Saulepi and Matsi, but also other rural areas of both Estonia and other parts of the world. Residential satisfaction is affected by a lot of factors and it is difficult, if not impossible, to realise the full scope.

References

Benson, M., & O'Reilly, K. (2009). Migration and the search for a better way of life: critical exploration of lifestyle migration. The Sociological Review.57:4. p. 608-624.

Benson, M., & O'Reilly, K. (Eds.). (2009b). Lifestyle migration: Expectations, aspirations and experiences. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Bærenholdt, O.J., Haldrup. M., Larsen. J & Urry. J. (2004). Performing tourist places. Aldershot, Ashgate publishing Company.

Brida, J., Osti, L., Santifaller, E. (2011). Second homes and the need for policy planning.

Buying property.

Dekker, K., de Vos, S., Musterd, S. & van Kempen, R. (2011). Residential Satisfaction in Housing Estates in European Cities: A Multi-level Research Approach. Housing Studies, 26(04), 479-499.

Gustafson, P., (2001). Retirement migration and transnational lifestyles. Ageing and Society, 21, pp. 371-394

Hay, I., (2010). Qualitative research methods in human geography.3utg. Canada, Oxford University press

Hjemdahl, K. M. (2001). Tur/retur temapark, oppdragelse, opplevelse, kommers. Akademisk avhandling, Universitetet i Bergen

Holloway, L & Hubbard, P., (2001). People and place, the extraordinary geographies of everyday life. Harlow, Essex, Prentice Hall.

Kearney, A. R. (2006). Residential Development Patterns and Neighborhood Satisfaction: Impacts of Density and Nearby Nature. Environment and Behavior, 38(112).

Kährik, A., Leetmaa, K. & Tammaru, T. (2012). Residential decision-making and satisfaction among new suburbanites in the Tallinn urban region, Estonia. Cities, 29, 49-58.

Marjavaara, R., (2008). Second home tourism. The Root to Displacement in Sweden? GERUM – kulturgeografi 2008:1

Müller, D.K., (2002). Second home tourism and sustainable development in north European peripheries. Tourism and Hospitality Research Surrey Quarterly Review, Vol.3

Parkes, A., Kearns, A. & Atkinson, R. (2002). What Makes People Dissatisfied with their

Neighbourhoods? Urban Studies, 39(13), 2413-2438.

Siwek, T. (2011). Percepce geografického prostoru (Vyd. 1.). Praha: Česká geografická společnost.

Eesti Statistika Amet. Available at: http://www.stat.ee/ [Accessed: 23/05/2014].

Temelová, J. & Dvořáková, N. (2011). Residential satisfaction of elderly in the city centre: The case of revitalizing neighbourhoods in Prague. Cities.

Terra Maritima. (2006). Tourism area Terra Maritima - Land by the sea. http://www.terramaritima.ee/ [Accessed: 23/05/2014]

Varbla vald, (2013).: Varbla valla arengukava 2012-2022 [pdf] Varbla vald. Available at: http://www.varbla.ee/ul/Oige_Arengukava_2012-2022_muudatustega2013.pdf [Accessed: 23/05/2014]

Wallace, M. (2001). A New Approach to Neighbourhood Renewal in England. Urban Studies, 38(12), 2163-2166.

Wilson, D., Aspinall, P. & Murie, A. (1995). Factors Influencing the Housing Satisfaction of Older People. Birmingham: CURS

Appendix

The interview questions: 1. Do you know how many people there are in Saulepi and Matsi village? How many of them are staying here for the long term and how many of them are just visitors? 2. Could you describe how the life is in wintertime and how is it in the summertime? 3. Are you satisfied with that situation? What would you change here? 4. How is the relationship between the summer residents and the locals? 5. What is your favourite place here? 6. What do you think about the wind turbines?