What facilitates the socio-spatial reattachment after a disaster? A sense of place approach

Disasters disrupt the socio-spatial bonds of the people and communities that they affect. Even though there is a large body of research on the impacts that these events produce, we know less about how people reconnect to transformed environments. To understand how the re-establishment of ties is experienced, in this study, we examine how sense of place develops in post-disaster settings. We conducted 18 group interviews and 80 walking interviews (n = 205), distributed across three cases of emblematic disasters in Chile caused by a volcanic eruption, an earthquake and tsunami, and a fire. We used thematic analysis to examine these interviews. Results show that sense of place, in connection with the re-establishment of bonds, is produced in the assemblage of natural, material, personal, and community aspects, grouped into three major topics: appropriation of space, opening of the self, and community activation. We discuss the relevance of natural landscapes and socio-ecological networks for well-being, as well as the need to address the psychosocial working-through dimension in reconstruction policies. We conclude that sense of place is an integrative theoretical-analytic tool that makes it possible to examine the configurations of socio-spatial reattachment in individuals affected by disasters.