PLACE, SPRAWL, AND CONCERN ABOUT DEVELOPMENT AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

Three forms of place attachment are tested to see if they predict local environmental concerns and feelings about development. Two forms of attachment are social, focused on objective roots and subjective identity. The other model focuses on appreciation for and contact with the natural environment. Analyses indicate that each model contributes to our understanding of attitudes about these issues even when controlling for environmental worldview, a strong predictor of these attitudes itself. These findings are also notable because the area from which the data is drawn is distinct from others typically examined in this literature for its geography and because it is undergoing and threatened by rapid and intensive land development.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Susan Libes, Professor of Marine Chemistry, Coastal Carolina University, for her support of this research. The survey data on which the research relied was made possible by a U.S. EPA Region IV, Wetlands Program Development Grant CD-96416209-0, “Community-Based Watershed Management Planning for the Waccamaw Basin Starting with the Kingston Lake Watershed,” with additional support provided by the Horry Telephone Cooperative, Inc. Dr. Susan Libes served as Principal Investigator.

Notes

¹The census definition of this metropolitan area includes Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Conway, South Carolina, and North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

²Carolina Bays are biologically rich elliptical wetland depressions, oriented northwest to southeast. They are found along much of the Atlantic coast of the United States, but a considerable number are found in the Myrtle Beach area (see Clemson University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, n.d.).

^a Dummy variables for place of residence. Urban excluded as reference category.

^b 0 = more than one mile from a waterbody; 1 = a mile or less from a waterbody.

^c Ordinal Regressions performed. Cox and Snell Pseudo R ² reported.

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

^a Dummy variables for place of residence. Urban excluded as reference category.

^b 0 = more than one mile from a waterbody; 1 = a mile or less from a waterbody.

^c Ordinal Regressions performed. Cox and Snell Pseudo R ² reported.

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

^a Dummy variables for place of residence. Urban excluded as reference category.

^b 0 = more than one mile from a waterbody; 1 = a mile or less from a waterbody.

^c Ordinal Regressions performed. Cox and Snell Pseudo R ² reported.

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.