Nostalgic neighborhood belongings: Theorizing the interrelationship among nostalgias, belongings and neighborhood changes

Abstract

Depending on one’s socio-territorial contexts, age, and time spent residing in the same place, the spatial-temporal experience of belonging is lived differently. Within this framework, this article looks at perspectives of neighborhood belonging in long-term residents aged 65 years and older. Based on the narratives of 51 people from three neighborhoods of Valparaíso, Chile, who participated in the 2019 workshops and/or in-depth interviews, I identify different types of nostalgic senses of belonging; and examine the social and spatial conditions that influence their formation. From this empirical research, I argue that these belongings are based on daily practices that refer to the past neighborhood and that, at the same time, are embodied in their current materialities. The results show, on the one hand, the role of nostalgia in the formation of a belonging, from the past to the present; and, on the other, the influence of place in these experiences. From the above, this article contributes to the conceptualization of the material dimension of nostalgic belongings and their interrelationships among nostalgias, belongings, and changes in social and physical environments.