The relationship between residents’ sense of place and sustainable heritage behaviour in Semarang Old Town, Indonesia

Abstract

Sustainable urban heritage conservation requires an understanding of the influence of sense of place on the residents’ conservation behaviour. However, in the context of urban heritage studies, the relationship between these two concepts has not been explored sufficiently. Therefore, this paper investigates the relationship between the dimensions of sense of place (place identity, place attachment, place dependence) and the dimensions of sustainable heritage behaviour (general behaviour and specific behaviour). The study was conducted in Semarang Old City, Central Java, Indonesia. The respondents were individual owners of old buildings who fit the predetermined criteria. Using Somers’ D correlation, this study found that despite all the correlations formed between the dimensions being unidirectionally positive, only place identity had a significant effect on specific behaviour. Moreover, social bonding that builds the building owner’s identity was strongly associated with the intention to take communal action in the form of specific behaviour. The implications of the research findings on theory and practice are also discussed.