A great place to live, work and play: Conceptualising place satisfaction in the case of a city's residents
Abstract
Purpose
A city's resident population is strategically the most valuable segment among those targeted by place marketing practitioners. Residents' quality of life and their satisfaction with their city of residence should be the ultimate aim of place management. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to develop a conceptualisation of place satisfaction for city residents that can be applied by place managers.
Design/methodology/approach
By reviewing prior definitions and conceptualisations of the related concepts of quality of life and satisfaction, a model of city resident place satisfaction is presented.
Findings
From a broad survey of the literature, three main fields were identified that have dealt with satisfaction – psychology, sociology and human ecology, and marketing. Drawing on, and integrating insights from, these separate, yet interrelated fields, the concept of resident place satisfaction is established and then the identified components of the working model of resident place satisfaction are presented.
Practical implications
The tensions facing place managers in satisfying internal targets' interests are outlined, followed by examples of performance measures and indicators designed to support place managers' complex task of positively shaping the lifestyles of their city inhabitants, workers and pleasure seekers.
Originality/value
The sub‐field of place management and marketing has emerged in the last decade and recognises satisfaction with a place as important, but, as yet, this concept remains theoretically undeveloped. This paper draws on concepts from other, related disciplines to establish the concept of resident place satisfaction as a contribution to the theory and practice of place management.
Keywords
Citation
Insch, A. and Florek, M. (2008), "A great place to live, work and play: Conceptualising place satisfaction in the case of a city's residents", Journal of Place Management and Development, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 138-149. https://doi.org/10.1108/17538330810889970
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited