The mediating role of sense of place in relationship between localized social ties and residential satisfaction

Abstract

Residential communities, especially those in urban areas, face significant challenges due to rapid urban growth. Due to society’s continual shift toward a personalized, anonymous, and mobile one, one of these challenges is the disappearance of close-knit communities of family and friends. Neighborhoods nowadays are therefore multipurpose systems for creating localized social ties and networks. In light of the significance of social ties, this study investigates the relationship between localized social ties and residential satisfaction via the mediation of a sense of place. This study therefore has three main objectives: 1) to determine the relationship between localized social ties (LST) and residential satisfaction (RS); 2) to examine the relationship between LST and sense of place (SOP); and 3) to investigate the mediating role of SOP between LST and RS. To collect data for the study, self-filling paper questionnaires were distributed by door-to-door visits. The collected data from Rezvan complex residents in Shiraz, Iran (n = 400) were used then for analysis using a causal model. The causal model adopted revealed appropriate goodness of fit. The sense of place and residential satisfaction were positively related to localized social ties. We also found that SOP mediates the relationship between localized social ties and residential satisfaction.