The discourse of 'Place attachment' in urban parks
Feeling home and experiencing a sense of belonging are often the missing pieces of the puzzle for migrants and their well-being. Empirical evidence shows urban parks have the potential to help migrants generating 'Place attachment'. In research conducted in Iran, bicultural inhabitants express their feeling on how they perceive historical Persian gardens and modern parks.
The discussion stimulus led us to develop ten main categories for assessing the level of place attachment. Amidst the categories, 'memory and meaning' plays an essential role in describing two different physical settings.
To improve the quality of life and mental well-being of city dwellers in increasingly mobile societies, cultural differences in how people form bonds with a place must be understood. This requires researching the different attitudes towards public spaces. In particular green spaces and the different meanings associated to these places. To elaborate a qualitative study was conducted in Iran during summer 2018. The goal was to research and assess the perceptions and experiences of individuals of either Persian or Afghan cultural backgrounds in urban parks. A diverse sample of participants were given a standardised round trip of Persian gardens and modern urban parks. They were interviewed during the round trips, in order to understand the way in which they associate with places whilst moving through them. The statements of interviewees were assigned to the ten main categories in terms of forming bonds with a place. The categories are based on fundamental theories of landscape identity, place dependency and place attachment, as well as the restorative environment. Our analysis provides profound insights into how different cultures associate with urban parks. There were considerable cultural differences in how the analyzed green structures were perceived. Historical urban park structures, like the Persian garden, provided several opportunities to establish bonds to a place, more so than contemporary structures. This is true for both locals and migrants. For migrants childhood memories were found to play an important role in establishing a bond with a place.
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