Towards Enhancing Place Attachment in Urban Spaces of Vertical Residential Complexes (Bismayah as a Case Study)

Abstract

The place is a refuge for humans and human activities and interactions. Humans give value and meaning to a place through interaction with it and attachment to it. Positive feelings towards the place and its tangible appearance are place attachment, the most important dimension in the reciprocal relationship between humans and the place that urban designers must pay attention to. As a result of urban growth and the housing crisis, open spaces have lost their value and importance, especially in urban areas in vertical residential complexes. Therefore, the research paper aimed to evaluate the effect of the social and physical aspects of open spaces in vertical residential complexes on enhancing place attachment. This theoretical and practical research relies on literary and library studies and a mixed research strategy. The research used a common methodology by discussing previous literature and extracting the main vocabulary to build the conceptual framework for each. First, the social aspects are represented by demographic and psychological factors and social activities and interactions. Secondly, the material aspects are described by formal and functional characteristics. In the practical part, a field survey was conducted. The questionnaires (150 questionnaires) were distributed using a random method at the selected case study site (Bismayah Residential Complex).The results were analysed to determine the most influential factors based on their priority in enhancing attachment to a place. Thus, the research reached the most prominent indicators that contribute to developing an attachment to a place. with regard to the social aspect Indicators of length of stay, protection and safety, and social activities and interactions had the greatest impact on developing feelings of attachment to a place. This was followed, in varying proportions, by indicators of housing ownership, comfort and tranquility, and cohesion and social communication among the residents of the complex. As for the physical aspect, the indicators of enclosure and accessibility had the largest role, followed by the indicators of dependence on place and visual richness. And arriving at the indicators with the least impact on stimulating residents' feelings towards the place in the social and physical aspects, such as privacy, social homogeneity, clarity, and the human scale.