Towards sustainable urban communities: Investigating the associations between community parks and place attachment in master-planned estates in Sydney

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our living experiences in cities and neighbourhoods. It is urgently necessary to understand more about place attachment and human-environment interactions in urban communities. Master-Planned Estate (MPE) as a sustainable residential form, provides physical and social infrastructures to build a healthy community and sustainable environment. Place attachment is one essential factor of community sustainability. However, there is a significant research gap in exploring the relationship between neighbourhood built environment and place attachment in MPEs. This study investigates the associations between community parks and place attachment in MPEs in Sydney. Using the data collected via a resident survey in two MPEs in Sydney during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, we found that three factors of community park use are significantly and positively associated with place attachment: pedestrian accessibility to parks, pedestrian connectivity with surroundings and satisfaction with children's playground in parks. This study provides theoretical, empirical, and practical contributions to sustainable communities. It tests place attachment theory in the Australian MPE context. It provides first-hand empirical evidence to understand human-environment interactions in MPEs and adds evidence from the COVID-19 context to the literature. The findings provide practical implications for sustainable urban communities in Sydney or wider regions.