The Meta-Analysis of Theoretical Approaches of "Place attachment" with Emphasis on Iranian Studies.

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Associate. Prof., Department of urban and regional planning, Tarbiat Modares University

2 Ph.D student. Department of urban and regional planning, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Place attachment is one of the word which is used in placemaking. This concept has been attended by various researches in varius disciplines in the past few decades. This diversity has created many challenges.
Therefore, the present study tries to explane theoretical framework, meanings, dimensions, characteristics, methods and the consequences of place attachment by using descriptive-analytical method. The results of this research indicate that the concept of place attachment is an interdisciplinary concept. There are three different approaches to place attachment. The first approach considers this concept as a single-dimensional concept. The second approach considers place attachment as a dependent variable, which is influenced with other factors. The third approach considers it as an independent variable of a more general conception. According to these approaches, factors which influence on place attachment can be categorized in three dimensions: individual, social and physical. In the methodology of measuring and evaluating place attachment, three quantitative, qualitative and combined methods are observed in published articles. One of the most important issue is the increase of studies with a qualitative approach.
The scale of place attachment is in a wide range of scales from home to country. The neighborhood scale is more aplication in researches. By comparing published articles in Iran with global studies, in Iran a large volume of studies have been considered place as a dependent variable and evaluated it by using quantitative by methodology. Despite the move of global studies towards a qualitative approach, researchers in iran still focuse on quantitative approach.

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