For better or worse: Exploring multiple dimensions of place meaning

Abstract

This paper explores the nature of people's emotional relationships to places in order to learn about the kinds of places that are meaningful for people, the role these places play in their lives and the processes by which they develop meaning. Because such relationships have been most commonly explored through positive experiences of the residence, this research was undertaken to explore other dimensions of our relationships to places. To accomplish this, in-depth interviews were conducted with 40 participants in the New York metropolitan area. Qualitative analysis reveals the diversity and richness of people's emotional relationships to places, indicating that place meaning develops from an array of emotions and experiences, both positive and negative. Moreover, findings demonstrate the socio-political underpinnings of our emotional relationships to places, particularly the impact of gender, race, class and sexuality, suggesting a need to further incorporate the full magnitude of the human experience into the current discourse on people–place relationships.