Finding Common Ground: The Importance of Place Attachment to Community Participation and Planning

This article draws connections between the environmental and community psychology literature on place attachment and meaning with the theory, research, and practice of community participation and planning. Each area of inquiry has much to offer the other, yet few links have been made between them. Typically, literature on place attachment focuses on individual feelings and experiences and has not placed these bonds in the larger, sociopolitical context in which planners operate. Conversely, the community planning literature emphasizes participation and empowerment, but overlooks emotional connections to place. Yet these attachments can motivate cooperative efforts to improve one’s community. Literature across disciplines is examined and synthesized to develop a framework for understanding the psychological dimensions of people’s interactions with community. An ecological model is then proposed that integrates multiple environmental domains and analysis levels. This model can accommodate place attachments and meaning as well as social and political aspects of community participation.