From functional bonds to place identity: Place attachment of Polish migrants living in London and Oslo

Abstract

The relationship between spatial mobility and place attachment has always been an important part of the psychology of place. However, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the context of international migration. Thus, this paper brings together the existing scholarship on place attachment and migration studies in order to discuss the development of place attachment among settled migrants, focusing on the example of Poles living in London and Oslo. Drawing on 60 semi-structured in-depth interviews, it is argued that people's bonding with a new place of residence could be described more adequately as a dynamic process rather than through static typologies. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that different aspects of place attachment, namely place dependence, place discovered, place identity, and place inherited, often coexist and may emerge gradually in the process of adaptation to a new urban setting.