Generating meaningful landscapes for globalized mobile societies: pushing an international research agenda

Context

People’s well-being is influenced by the ability to establish a bond with a place and attach meanings to it. Many studies show that the longer people reside in a place, the stronger their place attachment becomes. In today’s global societies, the length of residency is vastly reduced because of, e.g., individualistic lifestyles, global workplaces and forced migration (e.g., caused by war or climate change). This trend challenges landscape science: people increasingly need places (landscapes) that can be appropriated easily and quickly by many cultural groups. At the same time, however, these places should not simply become trivial and exchangeable.

Objectives

Place attachment/place making studies have become popular in landscape science. However, we have identified a deficit in both the development and application of theory. The research agenda proposed here shall initiate a fundamental discourse on balancing the demands of a global society with the requirements for sustainable landscapes.

Methods

Literature review.

Results/conclusions

We propose a research agenda with the following pillars: (1) to expand theories and concepts of place attachment, to accommodate the new and unprecedented drivers generated by 21st century mobile societies, (2) to improve the understanding of how landscapes afford place attachment and identity-building in both long- and short-term resident and migrant groups, and (3) to establish scientific knowledge on the inclusive role of landscapes. Proposed research methods range from qualitative social science studies, in situ interviews and psychological experiments to the use of social media data and 3D landscape visualization tools.