Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Constructing Place Attachment and Planning the Future of the Neighbourhood. Case Study: Mănăştur, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Preserving and Constructing Place Attachment in Europe

Part of the book series: GeoJournal Library ((GEJL,volume 131))

  • 352 Accesses

Abstract

We aimed to assess how strong was the relationship between territorial identities and place attachment at the neighbourhood level. To achieve this goal, we had two objectives. The first was to explore how locals used and thought about Mănăştur neighbourhood of Cluj-Napoca City, in Romania, considering how identities, webs of familiarity, and attachments were exhibited in a local newspaper. The second objective was to find out whether local initiatives and practices enhanced people’s place attachment to their neighbourhood. For this two-fold purpose, we used the case study approach and discourse analysis to process the research material represented by the community-led newspaper: Buletin de Mănăştur. The research questions were the following: How is the identity of the neighbourhood and place attachment reflected and constructed in the newspaper? How do representations about the neighbourhood and bottom-up civic initiatives impact inhabitants’ place attachment? Which are the features of attachment in Mănăştur? Are research results relevant to inform spatial planning policy decisions? We did not measure attachment to place, but we did explore how the distinctiveness of the neighbourhood and place attachment were represented. We also discussed the diversity and complexity of processes that contributed to the construction of territorial identity and place attachment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Altman, I., & Low, M. S. (Eds.). (1992). Place attachment. Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banini, T. (2021). Chapter 1. Towards a methodology for constructing local territorial identities. In O.-R. Ilovan (Ed.), Territorial identities in action (pp. 13–39). Presa Universitară Clujeană.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banini, T., & Ilovan, O.-R. (2021). Introduction: Dealing with territorial/place identity representations. In T. Banini & O.-R. Ilovan (Eds.), Representing place/territorial identity in Europe. Discourses, images, and practices (pp. 1–19). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66766-5_1

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bonnes, M., Mannetti, L., Secchiaroli, G., & Tanucci, G. (1990). The city as a multi-place system: An analysis of people-urban environment transactions. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 10, 37–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buletin de Mănăştur. (2017, 2018, 2019). 1st to 7th editions. Cluj-Napoca: Arcadia Media S.R.L.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buttimer, A., & Seamon, D. (Eds.). (1980). The human experience of space and place. Croon Helm.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunder, M. (2005). The production of desirous space: Mere fantasies of the utopian city? Planning Theory, 4(2), 173–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hummon, M. D. (1992). Community attachment. Local sentiment and sense of place. In I. Altman & M. S. Low (Eds.), Place attachment (pp. 253–278). Plenum Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Husseini de Araújo, S., & Batista da Costa, E. (2017). From social hell to heaven? The intermingling processes of territorial stigmatisation, agency from below and gentrification in the Varjão, Brazil. In P. Kirkness & A. Tijé-Dra (Eds.), Negative neighbourhood reputation and place attachment. The production and contestation of territorial stigma (pp. 158–177). Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ilovan, O.-R., Medeșan, S., Colcer, A.-M., Adorean, E.-C., Dulamă, M. E., Cîineanu, M.-D., & Benedek, R. (2020). In V. Chiș (Ed.), Raising civic awareness and involvement through urban regeneration: At the playgrounds, Mănăștur (Vol. 85, pp. 273–281). 7th Edition of Education Reflection Development International Conference 2019, European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2020.06.27

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Iwańczak, B., & Lewicka, M. (2020). Affective map of Warsaw: Testing Alexander’s pattern language theory in an urban landscape. Landscape and Urban Planning, 204, Art. no. 103910. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103910

  • Jorgensen, B. S., & Stedman, R. C. (2001). Sense of place as an attitude: Lakeshore owners’ attitudes toward their properties. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21, 233–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirkness, P., & Tijé-Dra, A. (Eds.). (2017a). Negative neighbourhood reputation and place attachment. The production and contestation of territorial stigma. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkness, P., & Tijé-Dra, A. (2017b). Voices from the quartiers populaires: Belonging to stigmatised French urban neighbourhoods. In P. Kirkness & A. Tijé-Dra (Eds.), Negative neighbourhood reputation and place attachment. The production and contestation of territorial stigma (pp. 119–137). Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lewicka, M. (2005). Ways to make people active: Role of place attachment, cultural capital and neighborhood ties. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 4, 381–395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewicka, M. (2008). Place attachment, place identity, and place memory: Restoring the forgotten city past. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 28(3), 209–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2008.02.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewicka, M., Rowinski, K., Iwanczak, B., Balaj, B., Kula, A. M., Oleksy, T., Prusik, M., Torunczyk-Ruiz, S., & Wnuk, A. (2019). On the essentialism of places: Between conservative and progressive meanings. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 65, Art. no. 101318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.101318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Low, M. S., & Altman, I. (1992). Place attachment. A conceptual inquiry. In I. Altman & M. S. Low (Eds.), Place attachment (pp. 1–12). Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mannarini, T., Tartaglia, S., Fedi, A., & Greganti, K. (2006). Image of neighborhood, self-image and sense of community. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 26(3), 202–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2006.07.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manzo, C. L., & Devine-Wright, P. (Eds.). (2014). Place attachment. Advances in theory, methods and applications. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D. (1994). Space, place and gender. Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Medeșan, S., & Panait, L. (2017). cARTier. Interventii Periferice [cARTier. Peripheral interventions]. Idea.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paasi, A. (1986). The institutionalization of regions: A theoretical framework for understanding the emergence of regions and the constitution of regional identity. Fennia, 164(1), 105–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pellow, D. (1992). Spaces that teach. Attachment to the African compound. In I. Altman & M. S. Low (Eds.), Place attachment (pp. 187–210). Plenum Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pohl, L. (2017). Imaginary politics of the branded city: Right-wing terrorism as a mediated object of stigmatisation. In P. Kirkness & A. Tijé-Dra (Eds.), Negative neighbourhood reputation and place attachment. The production and contestation of territorial stigma (pp. 27–41). Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Relph, E. (1976). Place and placelessness. Pion.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scannell, L., & Gifford, R. (2010a). Defining place attachment: A tripartite organizing framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scannell, L., & Gifford, R. (2010b). The relations between natural and civic place attachment and pro-environmental behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30(3), 289–297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.01.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seamon, D. (2014). Chapter 1. Place attachment and phenomenology. The synergistic dynamism of place. In C. L. Manzo & P. Devine-Wright (Eds.), Place attachment. Advances in theory, methods and applications (pp. 11–22). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sebastien, L. (2020). The power of place in understanding place attachments and meanings. Geoforum, 108, 204–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.11.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tuan, Y. F. (1974). Topophilia: A study of environmental perception, attitudes, and values. NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuan, Y. F. (1980). Rootedness versus sense of place. Landscape, 4, 3–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Y. (2017). ‘This is my “Wo”’. Making home in Shanghai’s lower quarter. In P. Kirkness & A. Tijé-Dra (Eds.), Negative neighbourhood reputation and place attachment. The production and contestation of territorial stigma (pp. 138–157). Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the support offered by Mihai Armanca, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Buletin de Mănăştur. He answered our questions about the newspaper, about the editors’ aims and intentions, and he kindly helped us during the process of collecting the research material we needed.

Note

All translations from Romanian are by the authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Regional Geography and Territorial Planning, Faculty of Geography and Territorial Identities and Development Research Centre, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Oana-Ramona Ilovan

  2. Department of Human Geography and Tourism, Faculty of Geography and Territorial Identities and Development Research Centre, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Bianca Sorina Răcăşan

Authors
  1. Oana-Ramona Ilovan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bianca Sorina Răcăşan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bianca Sorina Răcăşan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Geography and Territorial Identities and Development Research Centre, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Oana-Ramona Ilovan

  2. Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poznan, Poland

    Iwona Markuszewska

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Ilovan, OR., Răcăşan, B.S. (2022). Constructing Place Attachment and Planning the Future of the Neighbourhood. Case Study: Mănăştur, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. In: Ilovan, OR., Markuszewska, I. (eds) Preserving and Constructing Place Attachment in Europe. GeoJournal Library, vol 131. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09775-1_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09775-1_6

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-09774-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-09775-1

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation