Determining the effective factors on promoting the "place attachment" for the residents of contemporary neighborhoods centers (Case study: Kooy-e-Asatid neigborhood in Yazd city)

Place attachment is one of the topics in the field of urban design. This concept is a result of linking people with their environment in order to improve environmental quality. The concept of place attachment includes different scales, including city, house, and neighborhood attachment; however, peoples' attachment to their residential environments is the most important. Place attachment is manifested in neighborhood attachment formation by staying and living in the residential environments and eventually developing strong interest. Neighborhood centers are considered the most prominent component of neighborhoods and play an important role in keeping the neighborhood alive to shape neighborhood attachment for residents. Kooy-e-Asatid neighborhood center located in district three of Yazd is the main part of the neighborhood; however, it is faced with many environmental issues such as deteriorated social relationships and declined security due to the reduced presence of people. There are other destructive problems in this neighborhood center, such as the loss of cohesion and spatial integrity due to unbuilt spaces and consequently reduced place attachment and bad quality of life. However, there are some considerations that place attachment can increase people's presence and make sense of attachment in their neighborhood center and functionally save it from isolation. Therefore, the main purpose of this quantitative study is to determine the affecting factors and their impacts on promoting place attachment.

In this regard, in order to collect information, library documents and resources, interviews, field observations, and questionnaires have been used. Eventually, in order to analyze the obtained data SPSS software has been used. The questionnaire designed to be distributed among the residents of the Kooy-e- Asatid neighborhood consisted of 44 questions of variables, and in order to measure the results, a 5-point Likert scale was used. The statistical population included all 1182 people (342 households), and the sample size was 181 questionnaires, calculated by Cochran's formula at 95% confidence level with p = q = 0.5 and with error d = 0.1. Then, they were distributed among the respondents by using the available sampling method. In order to assess the reliability of the questionnaire, the "Cronbach's alpha" test was used, and to evaluate the normality of data distribution, the "Kolmograph-Smirnov" test was utilized. The Bartlett test was applied to determine the correlation between the research data. Finally, the exploratory factor analysis test was used to analyze the affecting factors on the promotion of residents' place attachment.

Findings indicate that among the factors extracted from the questionnaires, physical-visual factors (cumulative factor load of 20.769), individual characteristics (cumulative factor load of 36.645), personal and collective memories and values ​​( Cumulative factor load 45.760), spatial facilities (cumulative factor load 544.184) and distance from neighborhood center (cumulative factor load 58.900) have the most impacts on Kooy-e- Asatid neighborhood residents' place attachment, respectively. Furthermore, among the obtained factors, the physical-visual factor with indicators such as architectural features, visual signs, type of materials, etc., had the most impact on Kooy-e- Asatid neighborhood residents' place attachment. Apart from the similarities in physical-visual contributors in Kooy-e Asatid and other studied urban areas, architectural features such as designing living spaces by considering proportions and their differences from other contemporary neighborhood centers are very important features in Kooy-e-Asatid neighborhood.

After examining the findings, it can be stated that according to physical-visual factors, some features such as individual characteristics, personal and collective memories and values, spatial facilities, and distance from neighborhood center can help the creation of place attachment in contemporary urban centers. Some different suggestions can also be made to promote place attachment in contemporary urban neighborhoods centers: 1. Accurate and calculated design of space in  neighborhood centers and paying attention to design features such as the proportions, balance and harmony of space with the existing texture in order to differentiate it from other neighborhood centers; 2. Designing contemporary urban context based on historical context to shape the identity of new urban neighborhoods; 3. Consideration of neighborhood values ​​ in designing the neighborhood centers in order to engage people with the place and encourage them to have a greater presence. 4. Creating a connection between different spaces and providing an atmosphere of a collective space into the neighborhood centers in order to create continuity and integrity of spaces.