The influence of place attachment on community leadership and place management

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to draw on Seamon’s(2012a, 2012b, 2014, 2015, 2018) theories on the “processes of place attachment” to understand the influence of place attachment on community leadership and the management of four towns in the Barossa region of South Australia. Design/methodology/approach The research methodology combines photo-elicitation, participant observation and in-depth interviews with 12 community leaders across four town groups. Scannell and Gifford’s(2010) tripartite model for place attachment is used to segment qualitative interview data to understand the nature of place attachment of community leaders. This was followed by thematic analysis using Seamon’s(2012a, 2014, 2018) six processes of place attachment to understand how the dynamics of place attachment as a series of processes interact to influence community leadership and place-based action. Findings The research revealed that community leaders in the Barossa region regularly confront a tension between the “Being” and “Becoming” of Place. It also suggests that place attachment for new residents is accelerated by engaging multiple place attachment processes; these can be measured using the research methodology in this study. The result is a tipping point where place leadership from new residents can accelerate towards the “Being of Place” showing a tendency towards protectionist behaviour commonly seen amongst long-term residents. Research limitations/implications Testing the findings in this paper in other rural regions and other cultural contexts will add further insight and validation of these findings. It is recommended that future research could further develop this approach through engaging multiple place-based community groups in the same town and across different locations to understand the pattern language of communities with more accuracy. Practical implications This study has enabled a deeper understanding of place-based community groups and their motivations to protect the status quo or promote change in the development and management of the place. Each community requires a tailored approach to place management and development to activate community resources and partnerships successfully. This research also provides knowledge on how to accelerate place attachment for new residents to improve their sense of belonging, value and purpose by engaging programs that engage all six place attachment processes. Social implications The research reveals that place relations are dynamic, complex and often political. Rural towns display a pattern language for how they engage networks and resources that government needs to understand to engage community stewardship of place – its social, environmental and economic setting. This research offers a method to better understand the pattern language of place attachment that drives community leadership and place management to help communities sustain themselves and adapt to change. Originality/value The research explores the inter-relationship between the place attachment of community leaders and their response to change from different types of community impacts such as bushfires or the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding these processes is valuable in informing place management partnerships between community, business and government.

COVID-19 and the participatory place branding impasse: a study of actor agency

“…Building on these studies, this paper also shows how actors obtain and deploy their connection to their locality, local knowledge, networks and community cohesion to facilitate and justify their participation now and into the future. In doing so, this study contributes to the place (brand) attachment literature (Grocke et al, 2022;Swapan et al, 2022), highlighting how periods of sudden change and disruption can inadvertently strengthen actors' ability to accumulate legitimacy for their involvement.…”

“…These changes incentivise and justify participation (Hakala, 2021), which can involve sharing positive associations and narratives (Swapan et al , 2022), as well as facilitating resistance to activities not considered in the local interest (Grocke et al , 2022):…”

“…The city has a population of 369,200 (StatsWales, 2022a) and a workforce of approximately 182,800 (StatsWales, 2022b). An exploratory qualitative inquiry provides a flexible and comprehensive method for gaining in-depth insights from real-life settings (DeRuyter and Scholl, 1998), making it a popular approach in place branding studies (Grocke et al , 2022; Rebelo et al , 2020; Sandbach, 2022).…”

“…Collectively, these dimensions of ambassadorship help to build place (brand) attachment, shaping the “emotional and social bonds people develop with their surroundings” (Swapan et al , 2022, p. 443). Increasing attention is therefore being paid to the ways that internal actors build and communicate their place attachment and the outcomes for the people and places involved (Grocke et al , 2022; Leal et al , 2022).…”

Online student engagement and place attachment to campus in the new service marketplace: an exploratory study

“…Thus far, place attachment has been developed to examine people’s attitude towards a physical setting (Chen et al , 2021). Scholars have investigated place attachment to places in pandemic and post-pandemic contexts, including home (Meagher and Cheadle, 2020), town (Grocke et al , 2021) and city (Wnuk and Oleksy, 2021). These studies indicate that enhancing place attachment can contribute to individual well-being during a pandemic.…”