Analysis of the relationship between the two concepts of place identity and place attachment in urban open spaces (Case Study: Eram Garden of Shiraz)
Subject Areas :
ali akbar Heidari
1
,
fahimeh jamshidi
2
1 - Assistant Professor of Architecture, Faculty Member of Yasuj University of Technology and Engineering, Yasuj, Iran
2 - Master of Architecture, Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Natanz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Natanz, Iran
Keywords: Shiraz, place identity, place attachment, open spaces of the city, Eram garden,
Abstract :
The emotional relationship between man and place has been studied in different areas. Based on each domain, it is known as a specific title. For example, in the literature of architecture and urbanization, it is referred to as psychology. This relationship is formed at different levels and is introduced in the form of various concepts, including the concepts of place and identity attachment. In the field of architecture and urban planning, several studies have been done in relation to each of these cases. In these studies, the appearance of these relations in spaces has been studied. However, no research has been conducted on the theoretical relationship between these two concepts. Accordingly, the present study seeks to investigate the relationship between the two concepts of place and identity attachment and how these two concepts can be displayed in an open urban environment as the field of research. For this purpose, the Eram Garden of Shiraz was selected as a case study. By examining how these two concepts were used for users of this space, the relationship between these concepts was analyzed. The present study is a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods in collecting and analyzing data. In this regard, library and field methods are used to collect data and to use content analysis methods as well as statistical tests To analyze them. The statistical population in this research is the users of Eram Garden in Shiraz in spring and summer and the sample size in this regard was 326 people who were randomly asked at the garden level. The results of the research indicated that there is a significant and strong relationship between the two concepts of place attachment and place identity in urban open spaces; thus, increasing the attachment to the location lead to formation of place identity for users of the place. Also, factors such as individual emotions, spatial configuration, are both the most important in order to formation of place attachment to the location and place identity, respectively. However, the factor of memories and events in the place attachment and social activities in the environment, have a greater impact on the formation of place identity.
Extended abstract
Introduction:
One of the most important issues that have been considered by researchers and urban affairs experts in contemporary cities today is the identity crisis and the impossibility of forming an emotional connection between citizens and urban spaces in these cities. The existence of this crisis in urban spaces has provided the possibility of creating boring, low-quality, inhuman and meaningless spaces in these cities and has raised it as one of the most important urban problems. One of the most important spaces in which the crisis can be clearly seen are urban open spaces. In the eyes of citizens in contemporary cities, these spaces are known only as an urban use, which at best, can be used as a place for leisure. However, these spaces themselves contain features and characteristics that can be used at a higher level than just a physical or functional place, and therefore they can be used as a platform for the formation of types. He used emotions, memories, social actions, and so on. With this explanation, the main issue in this regard is how to identify urban open spaces and how to improve the level of attachment to the place for users of such spaces. However, so far, various studies have been conducted on a case-by-case basis in relation to the concepts mentioned in the context of urban open spaces. But examining how these two concepts relate to each other at the level of urban open spaces is a topic that has received little research. With this description, the present study intends to examine the theoretical and empirical relationship between the two concepts of place identity and place attachment at the level of an urban open space.
Methodology:
The method of data collection in the present study is the use of closed and open questionnaires in the form of interviews. The closed questionnaire consisted of 8 questions related to measuring the identity of the place and 8 questions to measure the degree of attachment of people to the place and the open questionnaire consisted of a question in which the motivation of people in the garden was asked. Data analysis was performed in quantitative dimension using SPSS software and in qualitative dimension content analysis method was used.
In relation to the statistical population, according to Cochran's formula, 326 questionnaires were published among the statistical population consisting of visitors of different age, gender, social and ... spectrums. The questionnaires, including questions related to the extraction of demographic information in the statistical population, consisted of 22 questions that were designed in a Likert scale.
Results:
- In general, all five indicators related to the theoretical framework of the research, in relation to people's sense of attachment to the Eram Garden, had a greater value than the identity of the place. This means that in general, the feeling of attachment of people to Eram Garden is more than its sense of identity for people.
- The configuration and physical appearance of the garden has the greatest impact on both the attachment of people to the garden and its identity for them. The occasional special cover of this garden as well as the unique shape and appearance of this garden compared to other gardens in Shiraz are among the things that people admitted in their interviews in this regard.
- The factor of individual feelings of individuals has been the second factor influencing the formation of people's sense of attachment and also their sense of identity towards the Eram Garden. Emotions such as "peace", "security", "cheerfulness" and "head of life" were some of the things that people mentioned in their interviews about their feelings of attachment to the garden; Also, items such as "pride", "rootedness" and "glory" were among the items that people had tools related to the identity of the Eram Garden space.
- Findings also showed that the time factor is in the third category of factors affecting the formation of people's sense of identity and their sense of attachment to the Eram Garden. As mentioned before, the time factor means the number of visits of people during the year and also the duration of their presence during each visit. Interviews with people show that generally people who had both a sense of attachment and an identity to the garden visited more than 10 times during the year and experienced at least one to two hours per visit.
- In relation to the fourth factor affecting the attachment to the place and the sense of spatial identity in Eram Garden, the obtained data show that in relation to the attachment of people to the place, the social factors of the environment are in the fourth category. However, the fourth factor influencing the identity of the place is the memorable factors. These two factors have also appeared differently in the fifth level of attachment to a place. This means that the fifth factor influencing the formation of a sense of attachment to the place is a memorable factor; While in connection with the formation of spatial identity, the set of social factors is in the fifth category of its shaping factors. This means that attachment to a place is influenced more by the type of actions that take place between people in the place than by the memories of the people in the place. On the other hand, it should be noted that the details of actions between people are subject to the conditions of time and place and therefore are forgotten over time. Therefore, the memories that people have of the place in their minds are more lasting, and this leads to the formation of different mental images of the place in the person's mind. Based on this, it can be assumed that different memories that people have of a place, over time, turn into mental images of people from that place, which ultimately leads to the formation of a sense of belonging at a very deep level and as a result There is a sense of rootedness, or in other words, identity towards the place.
Conclusion:
According to the definitions provided, attachment to a place is a kind of emotional connection between a person and a place that is formed due to factors such as physical characteristics of the environment, individual feelings, social actions governing the environment and the duration of people in the place. Come on. In place identifiable, it is a sense of rootedness in place that distinguishes that place from other similar places and also the continuity of a set of values in it over time. The findings of the present study showed that, firstly, there is a significant relationship between the two concepts of attachment to place and place identity; This means that increasing one promotes the other and vice versa. Therefore, when a person feels positive about a place, the ground for that place to take root is also provided for him. Therefore, it can be thought that the formation of a sense of attachment to a place in a person's mind also provides the ground for that person to be identified. Certainly, this is a function of the passage of time, so that the longer a person is in the place and the number of times he encounters that place, the more people feel attached to that place and the feeling of being rooted in that place increases. That place is developing.
Findings also showed that among the five factors presented in the theoretical framework of the research, the factors of individual feelings and the configuration and body of space had the greatest impact on both attachment to the place and the identity of the place. Regarding the role of time in this regard, the research findings indicated that with increasing communication time with the garden, the degree of attachment to the garden and its identification with users has increased. This issue can be considered as the formation of different memories and also the increase of social interactions with others due to the increase in garden usage time.
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