Place Attachment in Land Use Changes: A Phenomenological Investigation in Residents’ Lived Experiences with a Renewable Energy Project Deployment

Abstract

Despite growing interest in issues of place attachment and land use changes, scholars of renewable energy have tended to overlook the ways that people–place relations affect local acceptance/opposition of renewable energy projects. We address this gap drawing on the concept of customer experience to capture the meaning of place attachment in a specific context of climate change adaptation (e.g., proposals to site large-scale low-carbon energy technologies such as wind farms) and deepening understanding of the role of place attachment in shaping community responses to the local siting of renewable energy technologies. This research adopts a phenomenological approach that focuses on the narrators’ impressions of their experience with the local place where they live (a village in Northeast Tunisia) as well as the meanings they attribute to the project. Results show that according to the evaluation of change, whether the renewable energy project enhances or disrupts the different aspects of place experience, residents will exhibit respectively either positive or negative emotions and attitudes and will take action accordingly either by supporting or protesting the project.

Influence of Environmental Perception on Place Attachment in Romanian Rural Areas

“…When considering the personal dimension of place attachment, it is necessary to consider the multitude of individual and collective meanings related to places. The connection between the person and sense of place, cognition, and behavior is focused on the psychological process [8,9]. The importance of this dimension derives from the inclusion of human beings and the way they relate to the place.…”

“…Therefore, place attachment cannot be defined apart from social interactions and the psychological components that occur at the level of these interactions. In this context, therefore, "spatial level, specificity, and the prominence of social or physical elements" are the characteristics of place attachment that provide place dimension, namely the social, symbolic, and physical aspects of place [9].…”

“…There is a sociological point of view according to which place becomes a location for social interactions or is valued as a symbol for a social group. Social relationships are included in attachment formation, and place attachment "is a significant positive predictor of social norms" [7,9]. The ways in which sociological indicators are classified, categorized, and used lead to the investigation of the diversity of relationships.…”

“…The ways in which sociological indicators are classified, categorized, and used lead to the investigation of the diversity of relationships. For example, Fried conducted a study that shows that even though place attachment is a characteristic feature of life in many poor, ethnic, or immigrant communities, the development of sense of spatial identity for members of these communities is a critical component [9]. Therefore, the diversity of the reports and relationships between place and attachment or between place attachment and other indicators may be better understood depending on the definition of groups and communities as well as the indicators for measuring place attachment.…”

“…From the point of view of human geography, the relationship with the natural environment predominates, in which the relationship between the person and the physical environment opens up to place attachment as a universal phenomenon [9]. Edward Relph, professor of geography at the University of Toronto, developed a measurement scale that relates the physical characteristics of place to the connection between people and social environment, on the one hand, and to subjective perceptions of place of origin, on the other hand [16].…”