Sense of Place

Sense of place refers to the emotive bonds and attachments people develop or experience in particular locations and environments, at scales ranging from the home to the nation. Sense of place is also used to describe the distinctiveness or unique character of particular localities and regions. Sense of place can refer to positive bonds of comfort, safety, and well-being engendered by place, home, and dwelling, as well as negative feelings of fear, dysphoria, and placelessness. The concept of sense of place has served an important role in debate in human geography over the past 30 years. When first introduced, the concept drew attention to the often subjective nature of human environmental experience, as well as to the perceptual and cognitive dimensions of those experiences. Sense of place remains a bridge among a number of subdisciplines, as well as a link between humanistic and positivistic geographies.