The Physical and Social Aspects of Place Attachment Their Role in Self-Sustaining Communities

The physical and social aspects of place attachment Their role in self-sustaining communities

Patrick Mooney teaches Place Attachment and Place Identity and Perkins 2009). To be attached to a place and sustainable landscape particularly to our home is a As planners and designers relinquished planning and management, fundamental human need and is part of this area of study, research in place ecological restoration, the foundation of ourselves and our attachment increasingly emphasized the identities (Eyles, 1989). Places are social connections of place and design studio and planting spaces to which meaning, feeling or neighborhood. In recent work the social design at the University of emotional attachment have been given. constructs of neighbourhood have been British Columbia, School of They may be locations or even affective emphasized to such an extent that the characterizations that embody a biophysical place has been little studied Architecture and particular environment with emotional (Manzo and Perkins, 2006; Trentelman, Landscape Architecture. attachment. The meaning ascribed to a 2009). So pervasive has this perspective place can be achieved through become that in reviewing current Patrick has received individual, social, or cultural processes research one could be forgiven for research awards from both (Low and Altman, 1992). concluding that attachment to place is, the CSLA and ASLA for his in fact, a manifestation of attachment to Place attachment and place identity are people and social networks and not to work on the effects of two aspects of people’s bonding to place physical place (Hidalgo and Hernandez, exterior environments for that are considered complimentary 2001). As a result of this emphasis on people suffering from components. Community or place the social, the role of physical place attachment is a measure of the meaning and attachment has neither Alzhei-mer’s disease and emotional bonding that people have to found or nor maintained a central role in related dementias. He has their neighborhood or other places planning theory and practice. (Kim and Kaplan, 2004). It occurs when also received professional geographical space has become a Communities and Community awards for communication, positively viewed place. When place Attachment heritage restoration, attachment is applied to the A community is a voluntary joining of neighborhood it can be expressed as a people for a collective purpose. It is also planning and ecological strong feeling of being at home and a a place of shared work, aspirations, restoration. reluctance to leave the place (Hidalgo problems and solutions. Thus, and Hernandez, 2001). Place identity is community is both a social network and a measure of the personal dimensions its geographical location. In urban of self that are linked to particular centers the neighborhood is the places. This concept is based on the fundamental physical unit and understanding that a person’s self-image psychological boundary in which and values are often influenced by their humans interact and is the geographical relationship with the physical location of the community. environment they inhabit (Proshansky et al., 1983; Manzo and Perkins, 2006). Research has shown that long-term residency, with its associated networks Beginning in the mid 20th century, many of social relations, significant life urban theorists, planners and other memories and social involvement in the researchers sought to understand the neighborhood are strong predictors of social dynamics of place attachment and community attachment (St John et al., the nature of place identity (Jane Jacobs 1986; Sampson, 1988). Other social 1961, Herbert Gans 1968, Edward aspects of place that foster community Relph 1976, Yi-Fu Tuan 1977). Their attachment include shared social values, purpose was to understand place and the approval of neighbours and political place attachment as a basis of planning joining at time of crisis. Patrick Mooney practice. However, in recent decades, University of British Columbia, planners have neglected the exploration Although neighborhoods differ in their School of Architecture and Landscape of the role of place meaning and physical layout and content, they should Architecture attachment in planning practice (Manzo be planned to support common user

28 TOPOS / 02 / 2009 Figure 1. Typical Streetscape in Strathcona neighbourhood showing heritage housing and care- fully tended gardens. needs. Quality of housing and proximity affluent neighborhoods than in affluent stewardship. This stewardship began to local landmarks increase community neighborhoods (Quayle and van der with a joining together in a time of crisis attachment, while dissatisfaction with Like, 1997). and has been facilitated by government the physical quality of the neighborhood policies, and grassroots initiatives. If reduces it (Hummon 1992). The need When communities change over time, communities are to evolve to a more of residents to have a connection to incremental changes are more palatable sustainable condition such processes their past, a physical connection to their since they allow people to maintain must be understood and facilitated by current place and an environment that psychological linkages to both time and planners. supports their daily activities may also be space (Tuan, 1977). The preservation of provided by their neighborhood. A heritage architecture, for example, The Strathcona Neighbourhood is neighborhood that provides views of provides a link to a person’s past and a located in Vancouver’s east side and is and access to urban nature affords sense of stability in the physical bordered on the west by Vancouver’s psychological and physical benefits to environment, which can make other Chinatown, on the south by the railway the residents. In this regard, street trees, changes more acceptable. tracks of the Canadian National and landscaping and opportunities for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railways gardening have been shown to be more Strathcona Neighbourhood and on the north by Vancouver’s important contributors to neighborhood The Strathcona Neighbourhood has Downtown east side - the poorest and satisfaction than parks or large open undergone redevelopment in the last most drug - addicted postal code in spaces (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989, Kaplan five decades and exhibits many aspects Canada. It is one of the oldest 2001). This need for a positive physical of community attachment and neighbourhoods in Vancouver with environment correlates even more stewardship. The key to its success many of the wooden Victorian houses strongly with neighbourhood seems to be the facilitation of dating from the late 1800s. satisfaction and attachment in less incremental change through community

TOPOS / 02 / 2009 29 In the 1950’s the neighbourhood was slated demolition so that a freeway could be extended into downtown Vancouver along the city’s waterfront. The government of the day initiated a moratorium on development in preparation for the associated “urban renewal” housing and public work projects. The massive public groundswell of opposition that succeeded in stopping the freeway has become the catalyst for neighborhood changes that are still continuing. The development moratorium saved the existing housing stock, which was in various stages of decay, from wholesale demolition and bonded the neighbors together against the common enemy of City Hall.

Although not an affluent community, the Strathcona community, through its past history, has acquired the political means and the organizational expertise to obtain public funds, corporate Figure 2. Strathcona Community Gardens, Garden Centre building with rainwater cistern in sponsorship and volunteer help for foreground. community development projects. In 1993, the Strathcona Residents L-shaped property that was formerly a amending the existing zoning to allow Association initiated the Porch Project city dumping site. Besides providing for two dwelling units per land parcel and secured a $90,000 grant from The small gardening plots for approximately (City of Vancouver, 1995). Today the Bronfman Foundation in Montreal. 200 gardeners, the garden has an neighborhood community is a mix of This “self-help” project operated with orchard with heirloom apples, a herb home owners and renters, of long-term the underlying goal to “catalyze a new garden with a covered trellis, children’s Chinese residents, artists and musicians period of repair and renovation in the play area, green houses, communal and middle class couples and families. In neighborhood”, according to John composting area, a marsh, rambling general these changes have been slow Atkins, a long time Strathcona resident blackberry bushes and managed and incremental. There has been an and area activist (Atkins, 1997). This was perimeter “wild” planting. It has ongoing trend of more people doing followed by “The Paint Project” in 1995. become an urban oasis for the residents, more visible caring of the private and The neighborhood association joined is a haven for birds and urban wild life public realms, which continues today. forces with a local paint manufacturer to and has created a social network in the supply paint at half price to area neighborhood. Conclusion residents wishing to repaint the exterior The relations of physical place and of their homes. Other projects since As housing prices in Vancouver social networks to place attachment and then have included the addition of a increased over the years, young middle- stewardship have not been at the children’s water playground in one of income families who wanted to remain forefront of sustainable community the neighborhood parks, and the in the city discovered Strathcona and planning. The prevailing approach has development of Strathcona Community began restoring and redeveloping the avoided the question of how to cause Gardens. housing in the neighborhood. They people to become stewards of their were, of course, followed by local communities. The Community Gardens are the heart developers but on a very small scale, of the Strathcona neighbourhood. This usually one lot at a time. The 1992 In the Strathcona neighbourhood a 1.6-hectare, community garden was Strathcona Local Area Planning variety of strong social networks such as established in 1985. It is located on an Initiatives supported redevelopment by the Strathcona Residents Association,

30 TOPOS / 02 / 2009 the Strathcona Community Gardens and Literatuur Sampson, R. J., 1988. Local Friendship Ties and the informal social networks associated Atkins, John. 1997. Personal communication. Community Attachment in Mass Society: A Multilevel Systemic Model. American Sociological with long-term residency can be found. City of Vancouver. 1995. Policy Report, Urban Review 53: 766-779. At the same time the physical attributes Structure RW. Unpublished Document, City of of place attachment are present. These Vancouver Planning Department. St. John, C., Austin, D.M. and T. Baba. 1986. The include the preservation of heritage, a Question of Community Attachment Revisited. Eyles, J. 1989. The Geography of Everyday Life. Sociological Spectrum 6: 411-431. well cared for public and private realm In Horizons in Human Geography eds. D. and access to urban nature. Since the Gregory and R. Walford, 102-117. London: Trentelman, C.K. 2009. Place Attachments and social and physical conditions necessary Macmillan. Community Attachment: A Primer Grounded in for place attachment to develop are the Lived Experience of a Community Sociologist. Gans, H. 1968. People and Plans: Essays on Urban Society and Natural Resources 22 (3): 191-210. found in the neighbourhood, it seems Problems and Solutions. New York: Basic Books. reasonable to conclude that place Tuan, Yi-Fu, 1977. Space and Place: The attachment is present and is manifest in Hidalgo, M.C. and B. Hernandez. 2001. Place Perspective of Experience. Minneapolis: the long-term stewardship evident in the Attachment: Conceptual and Empirical Questions. University of Minnesota Press. Journal of Environmental Psychology 21: neighbourhood. Such stewardship is 272-281. necessary for communities to evolve and sustain themselves. The planning Hummon, D. M. 1992. Community Attachment: initiatives of the City of Vancouver have Local Sentiment and Sense of Place. in Place Attachment. eds. I. Altman and S. M. Low, both intentionally and unintentionally 253-278. New York: Plenum Press. fostered this stewardship. Today this unlikely neighbourhood, in the poor Jacobs, J. 1961. The Death and Life of Great part of town, stands an example of how American Cities. New York: Vintage Books. the physical and social aspects of place Kaplan, R. 2001. The Nature of the View from attachment foster the long-term Home: Psychological Benefits. stewardship necessary for urban Environment and Behavior 33 (4): 507-542. sustainability. Kaplan, R. and S. Kaplan. 1989. The Experience Samenvatting of Nature: A Psychological Perspective. Patrick Mooney, docent aan de Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. University of Britisch Colombia in Vancouver, Canada, pleit in ‘The Kim, J. and R. Kaplan. 2004. Physical and physical and social aspects of place Psychological Factors in Sense of Community: New Urbanist Kentlands and Nearby Orchard attachment: Their role in Self- Village, Environment and Behavior 36 (3): sustaining communities’ dat een 313-340. duurzame gemeenschap er een is waarin bewoners verbondenheid Low, S. M., and I. Altman. 1992 Place Attachment: voelen tot elkaar, hun thuis en de A Conceptual Inquiry. in Place Attachment: wereld. Volgens hem is het de Advances in Human Behavior and Environment combinatie van de fysieke vorm van 12 eds. Low, S. M., and I. Altman, New York: de plek en sociale en psychische Plenum Press. processen van de bewoners die Manzo, L.C. and D.D. Perkins. 2006. Finding zorgen voor het gevoel van Common Ground: The Importance of Place verbondenheid tot de (woon)plaats. Attachment to Community Participation and Deze verbondenheid is een Planning. Journal of Planning Literature 20(4): voorwaarde voor de lange termijn zorg 335-350. van bewoners die een duurzame gemeenschap verlangt. Proshansky, Harold M., Abbe K. Fabian and Aan de hand van de herontwikkeling Robert Kaminoff. 1983. Place-Identity: Physical World Socialization of the Self. Journal of van de ‘Strathcona Neighbourhood’ in Environmental Psychology 3: 57-83. Vancouver Britisch Columbia laat hij zien hoe deze verbondenheid bereikt Quayle, M. and T. C. D. van der Lieck. 1997. kan worden en hoe dat een Growing community: A Case for Hybrid Figure 3. Pathside planting in Strathcona duurzamere gemeenschap creeërt. Community Gardens, Landscapes. Landscape and Urban Planning 39: Patrick Mooney is ervan overtuigd dat 99-107. deze verbondenheid niet berust op toeval en dat planners een belangrijke Relph, E. 1976. Place and Placelessness. London: Pion Limited. rol in dit proces kunnen spelen.

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