Linking place attachment and social interaction: towards meaningful public places
Abstract
Purpose
A public space is a place of significance when it fulfils the human need for social interaction and attachment. However, the scarcity of public spaces poses a challenge to support socialisation for people within a defined social and cultural group. The purpose of this paper is to explore the association between place attachment and social interaction within public spaces in the city centre of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach
Face-to-face interviews with urban users were conducted to examine the users’ engagement in three main public spaces in the city and the significance of these spaces to everyday social interaction. Field observations were carried out to examine patterns of users’ activities and interactions.
Findings
The authors uncover a lack of multi-functional spaces to support diverse forms of interactions in the city. A street has an important function to generate activities. However, spaces for people to sit and stay remain scarce, and are in most cases consumed by extended commercial use and thus considered private. Opportunities for social interaction are very limited. The significance of the places relates strongly to commercial and tourism functions, and hence place attachment evolves around those activities. Participants associated their familiarity and engagement with interaction between familiar people, close ethnic relationships and business acquaintances.
Practical implications
The authors argue that more robust and socially responsive public spaces should be reclaimed for the culturally diverse users.
Social implications
Development of attachment through meaningful spaces for people to stay and interact could enhance the role of public spaces in the city.
Originality/value
By understanding the social meanings of places, particularly in a multi-cultural setting, a stronger basis for designing and managing urban places towards resiliency and social sustainability can be provided.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to acknowledge that parts of this paper has been presented in the 6th AicE-Bs2015Barcelona, Spain and the proceeding has been published in E-BPJ, Maiden Issue, 1(1) June 2016 (pp. 28-35). The research has been conducted with the support from GP-IPB Universiti Putra Malaysia Grant Scheme and Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), Ministry of Higher Education.
Citation
Ujang, N., Kozlowski, M. and Maulan, S. (2018), "Linking place attachment and social interaction: towards meaningful public places", Journal of Place Management and Development, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 115-129. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMD-01-2017-0012
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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