Place qualities, sense of place and subjective well-being: a study of two typical urban neighbourhoods in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the interrelationships of place qualities, people’s sense of place and subjective well-being in the ultra-high-density environment of urban Hong Kong. We argue that place qualities affect people’s sense of place that predicts their subjective well-being. The study develops two scales on place qualities and sense of place, and develops five hypotheses. A total of 814 questionnaire responses were obtained from two urban neighbourhoods in the city, 399 from the elderly (aged 65 or above) and 415 from other adults (aged 18–64). The results reveal a positive relationship between people’s assessment of place qualities and their sense of place: public and community spaces are prominent predictors of a stronger sense of place; people who have lived longer in the community show a stronger sense of place; people having a stronger sense of place display greater emotional well-being; and people who have a stronger affective and behavioural sense of place also demonstrate greater social and psychological well-being. The research findings have significant implications for urban planning and design practices in high-density urban forms, underlining the importance of place qualities, especially socio-petal spaces for people’s sense of place. Sense of place is a good predictor of people’s multi-faceted subjective well-being.

KEYWORDS:

• Place qualities
• sense of place
• subjective well-being
• neighbourhoods
• Hong Kong

This article is related to:

Research for city practice

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their perceptive, constructive and critical comments as well as professional suggestions. The research team also wants to thank the editors for their patient curation of the review process. All the faults, of course, remain ours.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

D ata a vailability s tatement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, M.K. Ng, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This project is supported by CUHK VC's One-off Discretionary Fund [4930752 and 4930787] and Research Sustainability of Major RGC Funding Scheme 2018-19 [3133239].

Notes on contributors

Mee Kam Ng

Mee Kam Ng is a professor of the Department of Geography and Resource Management and an associate director of the Institute of Future Cities at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Tsz Chun Yeung

Tsz Chun Yeung is a researcher of the Institute of Future Cities at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Mei-Po Kwan

Mei-Po Kwan is Choh-Ming Li Professor of Geography and Resource Management and the Director of the Institute of Space and Earth Information Science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Hendrik Tieben

Hendrik Tieben is a professor and Director of the School of Architecture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Tony Yuk Tai Lau

Tony Yuk Tai Lau is an MPhil student in the Department of Geography and Resource Management, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Jiageng Zhu

Jiageng Zhu is PhD candidate in the Department of Geography and Resource Management, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Ying Xu

Ying Xu is PhD candidate in the Department of Geography and Resource Management, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.