Investigating the effect and relationship between attachment to place and spatial identity in indigenous and non-indigenous people in three scales: city, neighborhood and home

Spatial attachment is an emotional connection that people make with certain places that they prefer to stay in and feel safe and secure in. Spatial identity, however, is defined as part of personal identity and is the process by which people describe themselves as belonging to a particular place through interaction with places. Many studies have found a positive association between these variables in populations that have maintained continuous interactions over a long period of time. This article will present a study in which we have compared place attachment and place identity in samples that differ from place to place based on place of birth and length of stay and the size of these links. Despite the fact that the intensity of attachment and identity that is built with the place is hypothetically affected by the size of the environment. In order to explore the differences between the two associations and the size of the environment, we conducted a study in neighborhoods, cities, and homes. The results of the study show possible differences in place attachment and place identity between residents who were born in the city and residents who are originally from other cities. Also, the identity and attachment of the place are the same for the natives, while the people of other places give a higher score for the attachment instead of the identity. The sample includes 208 people (54.8% native and 45.2% from other cities). The results of the study enable us to consider that spatial attachment develops before spatial identity, and the connection to the house is stronger than the connection to the neighborhood, but the attachment and identity to the city is stronger than either. There is a higher level of attachment and identity in the city than at home and less in the neighborhood.