Is It Really Just a Social Construction?: The Contribution of the Physical Environment to Sense of Place

TLDR

Sense of place research has focused on social construction, overlooking the role of physical environment in shaping place meanings and attachment. The study tests models integrating environmental characteristics, human uses, constructed meanings, and place attachment and satisfaction. Data were collected via a mail survey of 1,000 property owners in Wisconsin’s Northern Highlands Lake District. Structural equation modeling showed that a meaning‑mediated model linking shoreline development to meanings of attachment and satisfaction best fit the data, demonstrating that landscape attributes significantly influence constructed meanings and are not purely social.

Abstract

Although sense of place definitions nominally include the physical environment, much research has emphasized the social construction of sense of place and neglect the potentially important contributions of the physical environment to place meanings and attachment. This article presents research that tests several models that integrate (1) characteristics of the environment, (2) human uses of the environment, (3) constructed meanings, and (4) place attachment and satisfaction. The research utilized a mail survey of 1,000 property owners in a lake-rich region (the Northern Highlands Lake District of Northern Wisconsin). Structural equation modeling revealed that the best fit model integrating environmental variables with sense of place was a meaning-mediated model that considered certain landscape attributes (i.e., level of shoreline development) as predictive of certain meanings related to attachment and satisfaction. This research demonstrates that landscape attributes matter a great deal to constructed meanings; these constructions are not exclusively social.