How do physical characteristic indicators of urban green spaces affect residents’ place attachment: an analysis based on a spatially explicit measure approach

Enhancing place attachment in urban green spaces can contribute to residents’ well-being and quality of life. However, traditional scale-based psychometric measures of place attachment fail to identify the settings where place attachment occurs, which largely limits knowledge on the linkages between place attachment and physical characteristics of urban green spaces. The purpose of this study is to propose a spatially explicit measure approach integrating place attachment scale with public participation GIS and explore how physical characteristic indicators of urban green spaces influence residents’ place attachment. Taking five sample urban green spaces in Changchun City of China as examples, we identified the spatial distribution of place attachment based on data from 787 respondents and selected 139 sample sites at more detailed parcel scales to examine the relationship between place attachment and physical characteristics using stepwise regression analysis. The results validated the spatially explicit measure approach in precisely mapping place attachment intensity and showed that place attachment was significantly associated with four dimensions of physical characteristics: site composition, facility, landscape, and spatial configuration. For polygonal sites in urban green spaces, six physical characteristic indicators played a more important role in determining place attachment: total area, tree canopy cover in activity zone, number of recreational facilities, number of formal seatings, visible waterscape elements, and visible historic landscape elements. For linear sites in urban green spaces, five physical characteristic indicators exerted a more important effect in determining place attachment: pathway width, tree canopy cover in the pathway, number of formal seatings, presence of informal seatings, and visible public art installations. These findings provide pertinent guidance for designing and managing urban green spaces to promote place attachment.