Guest Editorial. Place Attachment during Territorial Development Challenges

Iwona MARKUSZEWSKA¹, Oana-Ramona ILOVAN*²
* Corresponding author
¹ Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, Institute of Physical Geography and Environmental Planning, Department of Environmental Remote Sensing and Soil Science, Poznań, POLAND
² Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, Department of Regional Geography and Territorial Planning, Territorial Identities and Development Research Centre, Cluj-Napoca, and The Network for Women’s History Research and Promotion of Gender Studies in Romania, ROMANIA
E-mail: iwona.markuszewska@amu.edu.pl; ORCID: 0000-0003-3615-1313
E-mail: oana.ilovan@ubbcluj.ro; ORCID: 0000-0003-2075-1808
Pages: 1-4. DOI: 10.24193/JSSPSI.01.PATDC

Cite: Markuszewska I., Ilovan O.-R. (2022), Guest Editorial. Place Attachment during Territorial Development Challenges. Journal of Settlements and Spatial Planning, Special Issue 9, 1-4. DOI: 10.24193/JSSPSI.01.PATDC

Abstract. Place is a holistic entity defined by meanings, spatial features, and attachments. The richness of meaning is considered in specific spatial and historical/cultural contexts and place, as the object of attachment, is a nurturing space. The articles in this Special Issue discuss how people create places through their diverse experiences, they show what theoretical and empirical information can help understand present attachments to community and places. In addition, these contributions underline that social and economic practices create meanings, validate identities and enable the construction of attachment, as they imply continuity with the past. As such, meanings and intentions, as well as people’s behaviours make up place and attachment to place, especially during territorial development challenges, both in historical time and at present. Out of the two main approaches to study place attachment – one supported by Psychology, with focus on the individuals and their emotions, and the other endorsed by Geography, with focus on place and its meanings – this Special Issue explores the latter, showing that research on the meanings of places should be added to the study of the strength of bonds between people and places in order to understand place attachment and its production.

K e y w o r d s: emotional affiliation, territorial identities, qualitative methodology, perceptions, representations