Analysing The Concept of Place Attachment in The Context of Spatial Factors: Kuzguncuk İstanbul

Abstract

In contemporary globalised cities it has become increasingly important,for those of us who live in monotonous so-called cloned-environments,to find a sense of place we can identify with. When ties betweeninhabitants and places are disrupted, people are estranged from theirneighbourhoods. As a result, not only people’s relations with places areharmed, but also their social relations are affected, leading to isolation,alienation and socio-economic disruption.The causes of these relations are analysed through the concept of placeattachment. Since the 1970s, research on place attachment has grownconsiderably. These studies are mostly focused on sense awareness andaffectiveness, with the physical attributes of places accorded lesserattention (Lewicka, 2011). In a similar vein Christopher Alexander (et al,1977) has asserted that, when studying place attachment, influencesassociated with human feelings only comprise ten percent of totalinfluences, while the rest derive from the physical characteristics ofplaces. And yet these are the least examined objects of study.In this context, the aim of this paper is to examine more closely thespatial qualities of places in the formation of place attachment. For thestudy, a long-established neighbourhood of Istanbul, Kuzguncuk, has been chosen to analyse the works of Christopher Alexander, KevinLynch, Jane Jacobs and John Montgomery. As a result, a matrix showingthe spatial/physical qualities which have allowed the inhabitants ofKuzguncuk to develop a stronger attachment to their neighbourhood willbe presented.