Urban Social Identity and Sustainability

Abstract

One of the most recent fields of investigation in environmental psychology focuses on the relationship between human behavior and management of environmental resources, aspects related to what is known today as sustainable human development. For the authors, this kind of behavior is linked to the relation that people establish with particular environments, specifically, the processes of socioenvironmental identity that condition the people-environment relationship. The authors present the results of a study conducted in the Olympic Village of Barcelona. The urban social identity of residents was analyzed, focusing on three main factors: identification-satisfaction, image of the neighborhood, and perceived social homogeneity. These three factors were analyzed in relation to a series of items in the initial questionnaire referring to proenvironmental behavior, representation of particular natural resources, and environmental attitudes. The authors expected the answers to these questions would differ significantly according to the degree of identification of residents with their neighborhood.

Theorising the Relationship between Major Sport Events and Social Sustainability

“…Although these analyses purport to measure its sustainable credentials generally, both pay commendable attention to the social dimension. Valera & Guardia (2002) conclude that the neighbourhood has gained a distinctive image amongst its residents and that this was derived from the (event-related) publicity used to promote it as a residential area. So the area fulfils one criteria of social sustainability: it has a strong sense of place.…”

“…The example that has been analysed most extensively is the Olympic Village in Barcelona, constructed for the 1992 Games. Both Hemphill et al (2004) and Valera & Guardia (2002) have attempted to assess the sustainability of this development. Although these analyses purport to measure its sustainable credentials generally, both pay commendable attention to the social dimension.…”

“…Barcelona's Olympic Village was planned to encourage social interaction; it was organised in blocks, with inner courtyards and gardens for public use. However, the onerous work commitments of affluent residents have contributed to somewhat distant relations between neighbours (Valera & Guardia, 2002). Although the community may not be cohesive, the opportunities, facilities and services provided for residents contribute to Hemphill et al's (2004, p. 770) conclusion that Barcelona's Olympic Village 'displays a high degree of adherence to sustainability principles'.…”

Perceived insecurity in the public space: personal, social and environmental variables

“…The second scale elaborated from the data has to do with residential satisfaction and urban identity, one of the variables that have more clearly been related to the multitude of phenomena around the concept of neighbourhood. From Milgram's studies (1984) on social representation of the urban space, to the elaborations of Amérigo (1995) on residential satisfaction or the works on urban social identity (Valera and Pol 1994;Valera 2002) and the CIS-paradigm (CIS: City-Identity-Sustainability) (Pol 2002;Valera and Guàrdia 2002), the factors of 'satisfaction with the neighbourhood', 'social cohesion' and 'social identity' have shown their relevance in the explanation of many different urban social phenomena. The scale that is derived from this study, denominated 'Scale of Residential satisfaction and urban identity', consists of six items and includes residential satisfaction, identification with the neighbourhood, social cohesion and perceived social homogeneity (Tables 3, 4).…”

Urban identity and tourism: different looks, one single place

“…Lewicka, 2011), traditions and social events (Low, 1992) (Bonaiuto et al, 2006). The external factors include the prestige and the external image of the place (Valera and Guàrdia, 2002).…”