An Analysis of the Relation between Sense of Place and Belonging in Urban Neighborhoods (Case Study: Bagherabad Neighborhood of Rasht)

Belonging is one of the key themes of urban studies. In the redevlopment of neighborhoods located in the Inner city, the participation of residents in redevlompment is a key factor. Belonging provides a platform for participation. Given the prevalence of Service industry and consumerism in cities, belonging is more symbolic and pragmatic. Most of the research in this field also pays attention to the social and pragmatic nature of belonging in the process of neighborhood change and neglects human agency and subjectivism (sense of place) in this issue. This study seeks to fill this gap and examine the correlation between the two. Thus, the purpose of this article is to show that despite the cultural, social and economic diversity in the neighborhoods, the mere emphasis on symbolic and pragmatic belonging causes social segregation and moderates the sense of place (being in place). And it makes for more coherence. The statistical population of the study is the residents of Bagherabad neighborhood of Rasht, the area of which is determined by the comprehensive plan of Rasht and the neighborhood development document. Using Morgan table, 375 people were selected as the study sample. Data were collected by surveying and completing a questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicate that there is a significant positive relationship between sense of place and belonging and sense of place affects belonging at a moderate level. Honestly' personal feelings are always influential in the actions and behaviors that express their belonging. This means that a person's personal and sincere feeling of belonging to a place must always be consistent with the words and forms of socio-spatial demands. The results also show that the most important indicator sense of place is the Neighbourhood sentiment, which is 84% of the variance, and the most important indicator of belonging is the Influence, which explains 64% of the variance.