Place-Identity Formation in New Urban Developments of Tehran Metropolis

Abstract

Place identity as a complex concept is formed through the mutual connection and interaction between the resident and the residency. A significant way to explain this incremental and continuous process is considering the key levels and stages of it that have been explored in this study. Therefore, based on the relevant research, three key levels and stages of place identity formation, including behavioral, empathetic, and existential insideness, have been suggested and developed as a conceptual theoretical framework. This triple is generally categorized by the immediate, self-conscious, and unself-conscious place experience through looking, seeing, perception, and cognition. Moreover, each phase has been defined by special functions as the sublevels of awareness, orientation, subjective reconstruction, belonging, being identified, and attachment with regard to the place. Accordingly, District 22, as the most extensive new urban development connected to the Tehran metropolis, has been focused on in reference to the Dehkadeh-Olympic, Cheshmeh, Rah-Ahan, and Sadra neighborhoods, respectively with 18, 16, 11, and 9 years as the average length of residence. The empirical evidence assessing the status of the first, second, and third levels and stages of place identification and their measures on a Likert-type scale shows different scores of 3.68, 3.43, and 3.8 in total. These statuses with a downward trend are quite the same in each community, too. This finding indicates that each level and stage defines and reflects a distinct degree of place identity in terms of the formation process.