Original scientific paper

INFLUENCE OF NEIGHBORHOOD SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS ON NEIGHBORHOOD ATTACHMENT

Margareta Jelić orcid.org/0000-0002-2478-0756 ; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Ajana Löw Stanić

Abstract

Recent research show that an individual’s attachment to a certain physical environment leads to a number of positive outcomes for that individual, as well as for their surroundings. Therefore, an increasing number of researchers have started to take a closer look at social determinants of place attachment. Recent US research reveal that population ethnic/race homogeneity is positively related to their place attachment. However, some European research argue that these results are context dependant – in the European context, for example, economic inequality, i.e. low socio-economic status of a place, can be a determining factor in place attachment.
In this research, we examined these contradictory findings within the context of Croatia, i.e. we studied the influence of neighborhood socio-economic status on neighborhood attachment, as well as social determinants of neighborhood attachment related to specific Croatian cultural context. Emotional and functional neighborhood attachment were examined, while the operationalization of neighborhood socio-economic status was two-fold: the perception of the number of the poor in the neighborhood, and the perception of neighborhood economic heterogeneity.
The results reveal an influence of neighborhood socio-economic status on neighborhood attachment. The perceived number of the poor proved to be a more relevant predictor than the perceived neighborhood socio-economic heterogeneity – it is directly related to a decrease in functional neighborhood attachment and, indirectly (through feeling of safety) to emotional neighborhood attachment. The results also show that an important predictor of both functional and emotional neighborhood attachment is the frequency of visits to the neighborhood. Additionally, significant predictors of emotional attachment are feeling of safety, the number of years spent in the neighborhood, as well as the number of neighborhood friends. The only additional significant negative predictor of functional attachment is the perceived number of poor people in the neighborhood.

Keywords

place attachment; emotional neighborhood attachment; functional neighborhood attachment; neighborhood socio-economic heterogeneity

Hrčak ID:

132486

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/132486

Publication date:

22.12.2014.

Article data in other languages: croatian german

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