Design Strategies for Orphanage with the Aim of Increasing Place Attachment in Isfahan

Subject Areas : architecture

samira bahmanyar ¹ (M.A. in Architecture, Department of Architecture, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran.)
Narges Dehghan ² (Assistant professor, Department of Architecture, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran.)

Received: 2020-12-28 Accepted : 2021-05-30 Published : 2022-06-22

Keywords: Orphans, Social Bonding, Place Identity, Place attachment,

Abstract :

Children are the most vulnerable individuals getting the worst effects of crises and conflicts happening around the world. Child population makes up 2.2 billion of 7 billion world populations, and 143 to 210 million of this population are orphaned. This number reaches 10,000 in Iran. Also, in Isfahan province, 1100 children in the age group under 18 are kept in welfare centers, of which only 480 are in suitable orphanages. According to statistics of the State Welfare Organization in Iran, Isfahan has sixteen orphanages, the majority of which are buildings regardless of place attachment. Among the existing ones, two buildings are operating with the change of the school building or the old residential building, which do not have the necessary quality in order to increase the place attachment. Place attachment, which is one of the most basic elements in the design of children's spaces, especially orphans, is a challenge that faces very few resources. However, researchers studied the relationship between children with a general view and their impact on location, place identity, and social bonding in the case of orphans. But a building to increase place attachment is very rare for orphans in the city of Isfahan, also orphans Isfahan have not been studied due to recognizing their environmental psychology’s needs. In this regard, research is necessary to achieve design strategies that need to respond to child psychology. In connection with the existing orphanages in Isfahan, design strategies for places that are usually limited and insufficient have been considered. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to use the components of place attachment (place dependence, place identity, and social bonding) to achieve design strategies to increase the attachment of orphans in Isfahan to their living space. Using a sequential-exploratory mixed research method, this article gathered and analyzed data in four stages. First, content analysis of library sources was used to determine the three main components of place attachment: social bonding, place identity, and place dependency. Then, four phases of the research process were completed: participatory observation, mental picture analysis, and Semi-structured interview. The findings indicate that organizing private and public open spaces promotes social interaction. Making a memory and paying attention to the child's privacy lead to place attachment. Often, by creating space with the aim of experiencing the environment, the place's identity is enhanced. Moreover, the present paper has demonstrated that place dependence is directly related to the length of time the children stay in that environment and their memories they gained. And of course, increasing children's social interactions with social activities in an environment with favorable spatial diversity is effective in eliminating children's anomalies and increasing their attachment, and by designing workshops to cultivating every child’s talents the identity of each child's place will rise and also experience of each space by himself and increasing excitement in the child will increase place attachment. Also, using tools that the child has designed or made; in-home furniture; increases the child's confidence and increases place attachment. 

References:

1.   ناجی، محمد. (1399). واگذاری امور مهدهای کودک به آموزش و پرورش/تعطیلی ۲۰۰ مهدکودک در ایام کرونا. بازیابی 18 اردیبهشت‌، 1400، از https://b2n.ir/f46487.

2. مستغنی، علیرضا و اعتمادی شهرزاد. (1395). چگونگی شکل گیری تعلق به مکان در کودکان. آرمانشهر (17)، 103-113.


3. Aleshinloye, K. D., Fu, X., Ribeiro, M. A., Woosnam, K. M., & Tasci, A. D. (2020). The influence of place attachment on social distance: Examining mediating effects of emotional solidarity and the moderating role of interaction. Journal of travel research, 59(5), 828-849.


4. Anton, C. E., & Lawrence, C. (2014). Home is where the heart is: The effect of place of residence on place attachment and community participation. Journal of environmental psychology, 40, 451-461.


5. Asgari, Z., & Naghavi, A. (2020). School, A Focal Point for Post-Traumatic Growth: The Lived Experience of Adolescent Students after Father’s Sudden Death. Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences, 9(2), 101-110.


6. Bettmann, J. E., Mortensen, J. M., & Akuoko, K. O. (2015). Orphanage caregivers' perceptions of children's emotional needs. Children and Youth Services Review, 49, 71-79.


7. Chatterjee, S. (2005). Children's friendship with place: A conceptual inquiry. Children Youth and Environments, 15(1), 1-26.


8. Chawla L. (1992) Childhood Place Attachments In: Altman I., Low S.M. (Ed.), Place Attachment. Human Behavior and Environment (Advances in Theory and Research)( vol 12, pp. 63-86). Boston, MA: Springer.


9. Chen, C., Luo, W., Kang, N., Li, H., Yang, X., & Xia, Y. (2020). Serial Mediation of Environmental Preference and Place Attachment in the Relationship between Perceived Street Walkability and Mood of the Elderly. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(13), 1-18.


10. Fleet, A. & Britt, C. (2011). Seeing spaces, inhabiting places: Hearing school beginners. Abingdon: Routledge.


11. Foroudi, P., Cuomo, M. T., Foroudi, M. M., Katsikeas, C. S., & Gupta, S. (2020). Linking identity and heritage with image and a reputation for competition. Journal of Business Research, 113, 317-325.


12. Groark, C. J., & McCall, R. B. (2005). Improvements in early care in Russian orphanages and their relationship to observed behaviors. Infant Mental Health Journal: Official Publication of The World Association for Infant Mental Health, 26(2), 96-109.


13. Gündüz, M. (2020). Project MIMPI: A Homelike Orphanage. Unpublished master’s thesis, Delft University of Technology, Netherland.


14. Harcourt, D., Perry, B., & Waller, T. (2011). Researching young children's perspectives: Debating the ethics and dilemmas of educational research with children. Newyork: Taylor & Francis.


15. Hay, R. (1998). Sense of place in developmental context. Journal of environmental psychology, 18(1), 5-29.


16. Japutra, A. (2020). Building enduring culture involvement, destination identification and destination loyalty through need fulfilment. Tourism Recreation Research, 1-13.


17. Johnson, D. E., Guthrie, D., Smyke, A. T., Koga, S. F., Fox, N. A., Zeanah, C. H., & Nelson, C. A. (2010). Growth and associations between auxology, caregiving environment, and cognition in socially deprived Romanian children randomized to foster vs ongoing institutional care. Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine, 164(6), 507-516.


18. Khanbabaei, A. (2016). Designing Orphanage With The Approach Of Creating Sense Of Belonging To The Environment. Retrieved March 18, 2018, from DOI: 10.7456/1060AGSE/020.


19. Kyle, G. T., Absher, J. D., & Graefe, A. R. (2003). The moderating role of place attachment on the relationship between attitudes toward fees and spending preferences. Leisure sciences, 25(1), 33-50.


20. Lewicka, M. (2011). Place attachment: How far have we come in the last 40 years? Journal of environmental psychology, 31(3), 207-230.


21. Liu, Q., Wu, Y., Xiao, Y., Fu, W., Zhuo, Z., van den Bosch, C. C. K., Huang, Q., & Lan, S. (2020). More meaningful, more restorative? Linking local landscape characteristics and place attachment to restorative perceptions of urban park visitors. Landscape and Urban Planning, 197, 103-763.


22. Menatti, L., Subiza-Pérez, M., Villalpando-Flores, A., Vozmediano, L., & San Juan, C. (2019). Place attachment and identification as predictors of expected landscape restorativeness. Journal of environmental psychology, 63, 36-43.


23. Morgan, P. (2010). Towards a developmental theory of place attachment. Journal of environmental psychology, 30(1), 11-22.


24. Patwardhan, V., Ribeiro, M. A., Payini, V., Woosnam, K. M., Mallya, J., & Gopalakrishnan, P. (2020). Visitors’ place attachment and destination loyalty: Examining the roles of emotional solidarity and perceived safety. Journal of travel research, 59(1), 3-21.


25. Peng, J., Yan, S., Strijker, D., Wu, Q., Chen, W., & Ma, Z. (2020). The influence of place identity on perceptions of landscape change: Exploring evidence from rural land consolidation projects in Eastern China. Land Use Policy, 99, 104-891.


26. Pretty, G. H., Chipuer, H. M., & Bramston, P. (2003). Sense of place amongst adolescents and adults in two rural Australian towns: The discriminating features of place attachment, sense of community and place dependence in relation to place identity. Journal of environmental psychology, 23(3), 273-287.


27. Proshansky, H. M. (1978). The city and self-identity. Environment and behavior, 10(2), 147-169.


28. Ramkissoon, H., & Mavondo, F. T. (2015). The satisfaction–place attachment relationship: Potential mediators and moderators. Journal of Business Research, 68(12), 2593-2602.


29. Ramkissoon, H., Weiler, B., & Smith, L. D. G. (2012). Place attachment and pro-environmental behaviour in national parks: The development of a conceptual framework. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 20(2), 257-276.


30. Raymond, C. M., Brown, G., & Weber, D. (2010). The measurement of place attachment: Personal, community, and environmental connections. Journal of environmental psychology, 30(4), 422-434.


31. Reese, G., Oettler, L. M., & Katz, L. C. (2019). Imagining the loss of social and physical place characteristics reduces place attachment. Journal of environmental psychology, 65, 101-325.


32. Roche, S. (2020). Conceptualising children’s life histories and reasons for entry into residential care in the Philippines: Social contexts, instabilities and safeguarding. Children and Youth Services Review, 110, 104-820.


33. Scannell, L., Cox, R. S., Fletcher, S., & Heykoop, C. (2016). “That was the last time I saw my house”: The importance of place attachment among children and youth in disaster contexts. American journal of community psychology, 58(1-2), 158-173.


34. Sebastien, L. (2020). The power of place in understanding place attachments and meanings. Geoforum, 108, 204-216.


35. Soltanzadeh, H. (2018). How to establish religious schools in historical cities of the Islamic period (Case study: Qazvin and Isfahan). Human Geography Research, 50(2), 449-466.


36. Sönmez, M. J. (2016). Place Identity and Detection in When We Were Orphans. Kazuo Ishiguro in a Global Context, 79-89.


37. Soylu, B., Ünüvar, P., & Çivik, S. P. (2015). Lineal development chracteristics of preschool children paintings. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 174, 687-692.


38. Spencer, C. (2002). Arkwright town rebuilt: But a sense of community lost. A commentary on Speller, Lyons & Twigger-Ross (2002), A community in transition. Social Psychological Review, 4(2), 23-24.


39. Tournois, L., & Rollero, C. (2020). “Should I stay or should I go?” Exploring the influence of individual factors on attachment, identity and commitment in a post-socialist city. Cities, 102, 1-17.


40. Tsaur, S.-H., Liang, Y.-W., & Weng, S.-C. (2014). Recreationist-environment fit and place attachment. Journal of environmental psychology, 40, 421-429.


41. Van Riper, C. J., Yoon, J. I., Kyle, G. T., Wallen, K. E., Landon, A. C., & Raymond, C. (2019). The antecedents of place attachment in the context of an Australian national park. Journal of environmental psychology, 61, 1-9.


42. Yendork, J. S. (2020). Vulnerabilities in Ghanaian orphans: Using the ecological systems theory as a lens. New Ideas in Psychology, 59, 1-18.


43.