A pilot study: Is belonging one of the effective factors for perception of cities?

Abstract

Objective: The identification of the person develops when he/she can distinguish between himself/herself and other relevant persons, and it includes objects, some areas and places that he/she considers his/her own. Thus, place identity is a substructure of self-definition and consists mostly of what one perceives about the physical world in which she lives. In this sense, belonging can be considered as a common field of study psychology, psychiatry and architecture. This study is planned as the first pilot study of a multidisciplinary research series to determine; reflections of the human-place relationship on the selection process and behavior, the perceptions of people about the homeworlds and how changes and/or distortions in perceptions affect people's psychology, and the importance of these effects in terms of psychiatric disorders and what preventive/preventive practices may be. Methods: In order to determine whether the sense of belonging is effective in the perception of a city or not, to measure the current perception of the city, a field study was conducted with the secondary school and undergraduate students who lived in Bursa but had never seen the Iznik before. On a day trip with two groups of students, the city of Iznik was visited by foot on a specific route. At the end of the trip, mental (cognitive) maps were obtained from students about their perception of the city, and then a 12-item General Belonging Scale was applied. Afterwards, the structures which were drawn on the maps and other symbolic elements were grouped as Ottoman, and Roman/Byzantine structures and the dominant preferences were determined for each subject. Conclusion: By comparing the characteristics of these preferences in terms of high and low belonging students' groups, it is concluded that belongingness is an essential factor in the perception of the city.