Investigating the spatial imprint of sense of place dimensions among foreign residents of Lisbon

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geospatial TechnologiesPlace is a part of the geographic space which people have imbued with symbols and connotations unfolded through psychological mechanisms. Places carry meanings for individuals, communities or even nations evidenced by bonds referred collectively as sense of place. Dissecting sense of place can aid planners in providing a social-psychological layer of the world characterized by the distinct relationships people possess towards the physical settings. In this research, different dimensions of sense of place experienced by foreign residents in the city of Lisbon were investigated through a map-based survey and following spatial analysis. First, the map-based survey was structured on sense of place dimensions drawn from the environmental psychology and human geography research. The dimensions examined here were: (i) place dependence – functional attachment; (ii) place awareness – familiarity and exploration; (iii) place identity – special bonds and self-identity (iv) place inherited – rootedness and belongingness. The survey was shared online among international residents of the city and hand-drawn polygons were processed in order to represent the spatial lay-outs of sense of place. Subsequently, answers were split into two participant categories: short-terms and long-terms. Overlay analysis, spatial comparison metrics, cluster evaluation, statistics and the confection of map products were carried out in order to compare and visualize the distinct sense of place components. Results, discussion and interpretation were brought forward through comparing dimensions between participant groups; between dimensions themselves, as well as identifying meaningful places within the urban landscape. The spatial imprint of sense of place in the specified context of study provided insights regarding the distinction between groups. Long-term and short-term dwellers’ geographic dimensions of sense of place were found to have different patterns, properties and characteristics. Lastly, similar to other works within the same scope, this research asserts the potential of using GIS in providing new perspectives and methodologies from which humanities research can greatly benefit