The Impact of Local Green Spaces of Historically and Culturally Valuable Residential Areas on Place Attachment

Environmental qualities significantly affect the behaviors and place attachment of users, especially in residential areas. In addition to creating environmental comfort, local green spaces can increase users’ place attachment, improve their mood, enhance friendly company and facilitate social interactions. The study sought to investigate the impact of local green spaces in the historically and culturally valuable residential fabric of Hamadan City in Iran on increasing residents’ social attachment. Derived from the literature on the subject, the conceptual model of the study shows the impact of such factors as social, functional, emotional and spatial bonds on place attachment in the residential context. A total number of 410 residents in the old neighborhoods of Hamadan City were selected by random sampling with a balanced proportion of gender and residence duration in the selected area. The designed questionnaire was distributed among the sample population and the collected data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling method. Then, the t-test and bootstrapping in Smart PLS software were used for testing the research hypotheses and evaluating the significance of the relationships between the research variables in the structural model. The results indicated that among the four types of bonds examined in relation to place attachment, emotional bonds, functional bonds, social bonds and spatial bonds, respectively, had a direct and significant impact on place attachment from the viewpoint of residents. The stronger the sociocultural bonds in historically and culturally valuable residential areas, the more prominent the role of local green spaces in place attachment based on residence duration becomes.