Civil Engineering and Architecture Vol. 12(5), pp. 3353 - 3375
DOI: 10.13189/cea.2024.120517
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Urban Topophilia and Social-spatial Interaction: A Comparative Study Highlighting Urban Space in High-rise Residential Buildings in Iraq

Mustafa M. Anas Al-Mendilawi , Haider Jasim Essa Al-Saaidy ^*
Department of Architecture Engineering, University of Technology, Iraq

ABSTRACT

Human societies are witnessing several transformations due to their growth and urban development; this has led to the shrinkage of urban spaces and the loss of the values and meanings they carry. It has also resulted in a lack of interaction between humans and their urban environment. Although Iraq is witnessing remarkable development in its vertical residential complexes, it lacks a clear vision of the importance of open urban places and their role in achieving the goals and desires of individuals. Therefore, this research studies the positive dimensions of humans' attitudes towards place, including the underlying concepts and vocabulary, such as place attachment. Place attachment manifests a human desire to settle into a place. The study sought to evaluate the effect of the physical, social, and moral dimensions of place on topophilia and place attachment within vertical residential complexes in an urban environment. The research adopted a dual approach by first discussing the existing literature on the topic to build a knowledge base and extract the main concepts of the research problem, and secondly developing a conceptual framework. To test the validity of the hypothesis and measure the extent to which the variables of the theoretical framework were achieved (including their impact values), the framework's concepts were applied to samples of vertical residential complexes within governorates of Iraq: Baghdad, Kut, and Basra. The research adopted a field survey method by distributing a questionnaire form and interviewing residents to collect information. The results were analysed using the statistical program (IBM SPSS Statistics-24), and Cronbach's alpha coefficient test was conducted to measure the reliability of the questionnaire. The arithmetic mean was calculated to compare the results in the selected residential complexes. Furthermore, the Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated between the characteristics of place, and the study concluded that the following were the most influential variables in such contexts: accessibility from the physical characteristics, social activities and interactions from the social characteristics, and safety and protection from the moral characteristics. Thus, the research verified the validity of the hypothesis and identified the most influential variables in enhancing place attachment.

KEYWORDS
Urban Topophilia, Place Attachment, Physical Characteristics, Social Characteristics, Moral Characteristics

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Mustafa M. Anas Al-Mendilawi , Haider Jasim Essa Al-Saaidy , "Urban Topophilia and Social-spatial Interaction: A Comparative Study Highlighting Urban Space in High-rise Residential Buildings in Iraq," Civil Engineering and Architecture, Vol. 12, No. 5, pp. 3353 - 3375, 2024. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2024.120517.

(b). APA Format:
Mustafa M. Anas Al-Mendilawi , Haider Jasim Essa Al-Saaidy (2024). Urban Topophilia and Social-spatial Interaction: A Comparative Study Highlighting Urban Space in High-rise Residential Buildings in Iraq. Civil Engineering and Architecture, 12(5), 3353 - 3375. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2024.120517.