Routes with roots: Pedestrian route choices and sense of place of an urban university community

Understanding how people choose routes in urban environments is essential for effective urban planning. While conventional transportation studies focus on utilitarian decision-making, this research investigates the complex interplay between human-environment interactions and emotional attachments to places, which influence transportation choices. Specifically, we examine the impact of sense of place in pedestrian route choice within a densely populated urban university community. Unlike typical urban settings characterized by clear roads and landmarks, university environments often feature intricate layouts with diffuse pathways, shared spaces, and a lack of clear spatial hierarchies. This complexity challenges conventional spatial knowledge acquisition methods. Individuals navigating such environments tend to rely on socio-sensory wayfinding strategies, developing emotional connections to specific places and routes over time. Consequently, route choices in these contexts may not always be deliberate but rather subconscious and nuanced. Our study focuses on elucidating the impact of the sense of place—a composite of conscious and subconscious perceptions, emotions, and attachments to a location—on daily route decisions. Through structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, we demonstrate that the sense of place significantly influences route choices within community building complexes, surpassing utilitarian considerations as a primary explanatory factor. These findings underscore the importance of emotional and psychological factors in shaping urban route decisions, offering valuable insights for urban planning and management strategies.