Place Attachment in Socially Sustainable Neighborhoods(Case Study: Jolfa, Esfahan)

Place attachment and place dependence are two aspects of people’s bonding to place that are considered complimentary components. Place attachment is a measure of the emotional bonding that people have to their neighborhood or other places. When place attachment is applied to the neighborhood it can be expressed as a strong feeling of being at home or the unwillingness to leave the place. The associations between physical place and social networks to place attachment have not been at the forefront of sustainable community planning. The predominant approach has avoided the question of how to guide people towards becoming a key factor of their communities. Even though the concept has originally been developed for American and European neighborhood planning, it could also be adapted to other neighborhoods. This paper will examine the predictors of place attachment in the neighborhood of Jolfa in search of their relationship with sustainability. Surveys and face-to-face interviews were conducted to investigate place attachment and the relationship between attachment and the physical and social predictors of the social sustainable neighborhood. The findings indicate a significant attachment to the neighborhood, which contributes to the persons’ tendency to remain in the community. Also, physical dimensions of attachment are regarded as essential in developing place dependence resulting in attachment.