The emergence of research on sense of place is a major topic in the human dimension of natural resource management (Kaltenborn & Williams 2002; Moore & Graefe 1994; Williams & Stewart 1998), and has become more prominent in a wide range of land management arenas, including protected area management. Understanding sense of place, its composition, and how it may be affected can provide land managers with in-depth information on the context of the reserve. The increasing focus on sense of place
indicates that managers need to address a broad range of place-based meanings. This does not imply ignoring traditional natural science data, but the need to embrace a new form of management that integrates both social and ecological data in response to particular circumstances. As people confer particular meaning to the environment in ways that reflect their social and cultural experiences and interactions (Eisenhauer et al. 2000), no value associated with the natural environment can be understood independent of the context of particular human-environment relationships (Kaltenborn 1998; Williams & Patterson 1996). The importance of the human perspective is addressed by Peet (1998, p.48), who argued that place is the ‘locales in which people find themselves, live, have
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experiences, interpret, understand and find meaning’. Paying attention to both shared and contested meanings may lead to more productive dialogue because sense of place and place meanings are often connected to attitudes and expectations about appropriate and inappropriate management or use (Kruger & Hall 2008). The findings of Amsden et al. (2011) who studied residents’ sense of place in a tourism-dependent community in Seward, Alaska suggested that meanings surrounding Seward’s identity as a tourist destination could be causing people to engage in actions that further develop this identity. In examining qualitative aspects of people’s thoughts and feelings for Illinois State Parks, Fishwick and Vining (1992) also found that recreational places are sensed not only as a setting or landscape but also as sites of ritual, routine and personal experience.
Exploring people’s senses of place can help managers to understand place-specific values. Place qualities and landscape characteristics can be identified through evaluating the way people sense a place. This information can serve as a base for protected area categorisation and guidelines for developing appropriate management objectives. Place-based values can also provide a basis for comparison with further changes to the place that would be caused by new development. This is crucial for future decisions such as approving proposals for development in protected areas or placing conditions on such developments. Stewart et al. (2004) also discovered that residents’ felt senses of their community have the potential to serve as visions for landscape change within strategic planning processes. They analysed the meanings of environments that connected participants to their community in Chicago metropolitan areas and identified that residents used places to learn about community, enact community, and improve community landscapes.
Place-based values also have mental benefit for individuals and society. Korpela (1989, 1992, 2009) showed that people actively used place-based meanings to regulate their self definitions and senses of coherence by humanising a favourite place, fixing memories there, and naming it. Korpela also found that the physical environment was used as a means of maintaining the psychic balance of pain and pleasure, the coherence of one’s self and self-esteem. Place attachments have been acknowledged in psychology as significant in the development of self-identity (Searles 1960; Wenkart 1961).
Residential attachments can promote and provide stability, familiarity, and security (Brown et al. 2003). Human geographers argue that through personal attachments to geographically locatable places, people acquire a sense of belonging and purpose that
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can give meaning to their lives (Buttimer 1980; Giuliani & Feldman 1993; Relph 1976; Shamai 1991; Tuan 1980; Williams & Roggenbuck 1989). People-place bonding can form a part of a conscious process where people interact with the physical environment to fulfil their needs, express themselves and develop their self-concept (Manzo 2003). Such connection can also represent family continuity and provide places of spiritual significance and emotional regulation; they can be vehicles for learning and personal growth (Rogan et al. 2005). Settings rich in features can also create a common symbol system that may evoke a shared past and be more likely to evoke a strong sense of community (McMillan & Chavis 1986). Place identity can increase feelings of belonging to one’s community (Relph 1976; Tuan 1980). In addition, place-based values can contribute to a diverse environment that has mental benefits. For example, natural areas such as wilderness are valued because they may be perceived to remain relatively constant and untrammelled by humans, hence offering a constant basis of comparison (Haggard & Williams 1991). People have an intuitive sense for restorative environments such as wilderness and visiting such settings can give a sense of being away from the constraints of the everyday environment, of fascination and coherence (Kaplan 1983). This diversity has psychological benefits because it stimulates and satisfies people’s psychological desires for novelty (Schwartz 2007).
Sense of place also has implications for land use planning. Williams and Stewart (1998) examined reasons for the increasing interest in sense of place and suggested a need to integrate the concept and management into the planning process in terms of: 1) knowing and using the variety of local names for places, 2) communicating management plans in locally recognised place-specific terms, 3) understanding the politics of places, and 4) paying close attention to places that have different meanings to different groups. Manzo and Perkins (2006) proposed an ecological model of land use planning that
accommodates place attachments and meaning as well as social and physical aspects of community participation. This was based on the literature review that drew connections between the environmental and community psychology. For instance, Tapsuwan et al. (2011) discovered that sense of place (incorporating the notions of identity, attachment and dependence) can be used to predict intention to accept or reject land use planning decisions. Mitchell and colleagues (1997) reported that attachment to an area was an important reason for visiting the area, and noted the value of adding the affective
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components of place in future planning by directly involving users in the planning process. Cheng and Mattor (2010) also found that insight into place-based meanings can assist in planning and complement and supplement traditional issue-based strategies by an examination of a national forest landscape assessment process in western Colorado.
Sense of place can assist managers in selecting key stakeholders for public participation processes. How users relate to a place is associated with attitudes that can influence how they respond to changes and why they resist imposed change. Such information in decision-making would help policy-makers to devise appropriate planning and
management strategies. Warzecha and Lime (2001) analysed place attachment and found it a useful variable for segmenting visitors who differ in their preferences and attitudes concerning recreation settings. Vorkinn and Riese (2001) examined the relationship between place attachment and environmental concern. They found that residents’
attachment to areas affected by hydropower development is a better predictor of attitudes toward the hydropower development overall than socio-demographic characteristics. Williams et al. (1995b) studied residents’ attachments to the community and to town and their relations with the attitudes towards tourism. The outcomes revealed that attached residents are favourable toward tourism. Place attachments have been found to be related to attitudes to management priorities for resource protection in a study comparing the perspective of the community with that of tourists regarding place attachments in a World Heritage Site in Southern Norway, where there is a wilderness-type national park and a historic mining town (Kaltenborn & Williams 2002). Research into place
attachments and levels of support for specific management actions in the Canyonlands National Park indicated that river users on the Green and Colorado Rivers with a high level of attachment expressed less support for potential management actions such as reserving campsites and maintaining a predetermined itinerary (Warzecha & Lime 2001). Bricker and Kerstetter (2000) discovered place dependence was positively related to support for management development of amenities, trails, and extractive uses, whereas place identity decreased support. Some evidence suggests place identity was a significant positive moderator of support for fee programs as well as spending fee revenues,
whereas place dependence was unrelated to fee support policies (Kyle et al. 2003a; McCool & Martin 1994). Hull et al. (2001) discovered that locals living near a national forest valued an appropriate balance between human amenities and high-quality natural environments, which influenced participant evaluations of federal forest management.
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Understanding the way people sense a place can also provide insight into the users of that place. People-place relationships can influence how they perceive, experience, and value the place (Cheng et al. 2003; Jorgensen & Stedman 2001; Manzo 2003, 2005; Stedman 2003) and even how they react to environmental effects (Kaltenborn 1998). For instance, Mowen et al. (1997) found that evaluations of setting and experiences were more positive as attachments increased in intensity after examination of place attachment and activity involvement to understand visitor evaluations of a national recreation area. Place
attachment was found to be associated with higher sensitivity to tourism impacts (Kyle et al 2003a; McCool & Martin 1994; Williams et al. 1992; Young et al. 1990). Groups strongly attached to a place seem to be more affected by increasing tourism than those expressing a moderate or weak sense of place (Kaltenborn 1998). Warzecha and Lime (2001) investigated how visitors assess the setting attributes in the Canyonlands National Park and demonstrated significant differences in tolerances for encountering other
watercraft between those with different levels of place attachment. The study of activity involvement and place attachment on hikers on the Appalachian Trail revealed that respondents scoring high on the place identity dimension were more likely to report feeling crowded, while respondents scoring high on the place dependence dimension were inclined to assess setting density more favourably (Kyle et al. 2004a). That sense of place is related to the environmental impacts can be because place meanings can be affected or lost as a result of human decisions and activities. The physical landscape may change to a degree that preferred meanings become untenable (Stedman 2003).
Experiencing environmental degradation with damaged biophysical components can lead people to reassess their perspective of the land and influence the way they structure their relationship with their surroundings (Rogan et al. 2005).
The literature has shown that evaluating sense of place can provide better knowledge of recreational behaviours. The significance of understanding the needs and behaviour of the users was identified in a review of current practices of Australian protected area agencies (Griffin & Craig 2010). Understanding how users related to a place can lead to more closely targeted provision of facilities and recreation opportunities and to enhanced visitor satisfaction (Cochrane 2006; Moore & Graefe 1994). Schreyer et al. (1981) studied four-wheel drivers of the Canyonlands National Park and found that better understanding of the kind of experience visitors pursued helped to identify whether their
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orientation was to place itself or to the activity. Kaltenborn (1998) found that sense of place had played an important role in the substitution of recreation settings for some users. Those expressing a weak sense of place reported that they would choose other areas for recreational activities in the event of potential environmental disturbance associated with tourism, as well as oil and gas exploration in the Norwegian high Arctic islands.
Assessing sense of place can also assist in resource-based conflicts that affect recreation and tourism resources and opportunities. In the research into implications of place meanings for managers and practitioners, Stedman (2008) argued that the meanings may help managers understand phenomena such as conflict over land use. Williams and Vaske (2003) stated that natural resource management commonly involves some level of conflict among different groups of stakeholders who are attached to the same
resources; at the heart of such conflicts is competition by people over the allocation and distribution of scarce resources as a result of different meanings they assign to the same resources. Thus, measuring sense of place and examining the commonalities and
divergences in stakeholder groups can provide managers with insight into such conflicts and may offer paths to resolution. Moreover, natural resource conflicts are often
premised on an ‘insider-outsider’ distinction in values, preferences, interests, and lifestyles, or in political power, whether defined as locals versus tourists, local versus national interests, seasonal versus permanent residents, or newcomers versus old-timers (Blahna 1990; Brown & Raymond 2007; Egan & Luloff 2000; Kaltenborn & Williams 2002; Knaap et al. 1998; Selman 1998; Weber 2000). Yet, the empirical support for such distinctions between insiders and outsiders is often weak or absent (Nelson 1997). For example, Blahna (1990) found that although there were value differences between newcomers and long-term residents, people from these two groups worked together in the opposition to forest clear-cutting. Research into sense of place for the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area near Missoula, Montana, between mountain bike riders and hikers with colliding interests discovered similar environmental attitudes, interests in the setting, and attachments to the wilderness resource (Watson et al. 1991). Williams and Stewart (1998) also found that conflicts between American Indians who ascribed sacred value to geologic formations, and rock climbers who valued the challenge of cliff faces, were not an issue until the values of both groups converged in the same place.
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Studies have also showed sense of place is related to environmentally responsible behaviours and positive feelings. Therefore, maintaining the people-place relationships that lead to the behaviours and feelings can be a way of encouraging visitors to take initiatives to look after the place. For example, Kaltenborn (1998) discovered that those articulating a strong sense of place are distinguished by a generally stronger interest and willingness to contribute to solutions to environmental problems. On the other hand, people reporting a weak sense of place are characterised by a larger degree of
indifference, not reacting to the problems or willing to contribute to finding solutions. The findings of a study of place attachment and environmental attitudes in India suggested that enhancing emotional connections with places can lead to increased environmental care and concern (Budruk et al. 2009). An examination of the linkages between place-based meanings and conservation program involvement in the
Community Baboon Sanctuary in Belize revealed a significant relationship between initiative involvement and higher perceived benefits and place attachment toward riparian forests and conservation (Wyman & Stein 2010). Other studies showed that place identity or place attachment with natural areas promoted environmentally responsible or pro-environmental behaviours (Halpenny 2010; Hernandez et al. 2010; Vaske & Kobrin’s 2001). The study of residents’ attachments to two towns in British Columbia, Canada also supported the claim that individuals who were more attached to the natural aspects of their areas reported engaging in more pro-environmental
behaviors (Scannell & Gifford 2010). Stedman (2002, p.577) noted: “We are willing to fight for places that are more central to our identities and that we perceive as being in less-than optimal conditions”. These constructive behaviours can also lead to positive visitor experiences and vice versa. Visitors can be made aware of and maintain values while they participate in desired activities (Eagles et al. 2002). People may form bonds with particular landscapes or places because their use has come to symbolise the user’s sense of identity (Williams & Vaske 2003). It can be this sense of identity that leads to positive feelings. Utilising positive experiences within the environment is a potent means of generating support for conservation initiatives, while negative experiences may lead to feelings of helplessness and despair and the abandonment of conservation programs (O’Brien 1995). However, there are also conflicting findings showing that place attachment is associated with less pro-environmental behaviour (Uzzell et al. 2002). A survey of the relationship between farmers’ pro-environmental behaviour and
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their place attachment in northwest Victoria, Australia showed that place attachment was not related to vegetation protection behaviours (Gosling & Williams 2010).