Profiling Attached Residents in an Urban Community in the U.S.: An Empirical Study of Social–Landscape Interactions within a Park

Ying Xu,David Matarrita-Cascante,Jae Ho Lee

doi:10.3390/socsci11010005

Abstract

Community attachment has been studied predominantly in terms of the social dimensions of community life, which explains what makes residents feel connected to a locality. Following a more recent trend within the community attachment literature, this study examined the role of communities’ physical dimensions in fostering sentiments of rootedness and connections to communities. More specifically, the study sought to better understand the role that urban parks play in predicting community attachment using a discriminant analysis technique to profile attached residents. We selected Discovery Green Park in Houston, Texas, as the study site, where we administered 606 total surveys to park visitors inquiring about their interactions with the park itself, emotional connections to it, and social interactions within the park. We found that strongly attached residents tend to be older, have a greater reliance on the park service and programs, and have meaningful interactions with new people in the park and frequently visit the park in groups to socialize and relax. Additionally, those who are strongly attached to the community attribute greater symbolic meanings to Discovery Green and more strongly identify with the park. The profile of residents attached to the community, given their interactions with the park and its visitors, provides important knowledge to both park managers and community leaders; they can use this information to create conditions, fostering more strongly attached residents who tend to be active agents of positive change in the community.

Highlights

Introduction published maps and institutional affilCommunity scholars have long been interested in understanding the emotional bonds to specific localities and the implications of such bonds for community life (Brehm 2007; Kasarda and Janowitz 1974)
We conducted exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using direct oblimin extraction (Table 1), and the results indicated the existence of a single dimension comprised of the five items
Discriminant analysis showed that individuals with a stronger attachment to the community more strongly identify with the Discovery Green Park environment

Summary

Introduction

Community scholars have long been interested in understanding the emotional bonds to specific localities and the implications of such bonds for community life (Brehm 2007; Kasarda and Janowitz 1974). In understanding such bonds, community research has examined the notion of ‘community attachment,’ which refers to people’s emotional connection to their community through feelings of rootedness and belonging (Matarrita-Cascante et al 2010). Beyond romanticized notions of attachment, the relevance of people’s sentimental bonds with their communities can produce desirable outcomes 1994), job satisfaction (Apostle et al 1985), social development (Hummon 1992), community participation

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