1. Croydon’s Facelift: Exploring the Impacts of Urban
Regeneration through Place Attachment
Jack Waterman
I certify that this dissertation is entirely my own work and no part of it has been
submitted for a degree or other qualification in this or another institution. I also certify
that I have not constructed data nor shared data with another candidate at Exeter
University or elsewhere without specific authorisation.
(BA) with Honours in Geography at the University of Exeter
............................. March 2016

2. Ethics Approval

3. i
Table of Contents
List of Figures ............................................................................................................ ii
List of Tables ............................................................................................................ iii
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. iv
Abstract .................................................................................................................... v
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Aims and Objectives ....................................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Dissertation Structure ................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Literature review ................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Urban Geography ............................................................................................................................................ 5
2.2 Urban regeneration ........................................................................................................................................ 7
2.3 Rebranding the City ..................................................................................................................................... 10
2.4 Place Attachment .......................................................................................................................................... 13
3. Methodology ....................................................................................................... 18
3.1 Context .............................................................................................................................................................. 18
3.2 Research Design ............................................................................................................................................ 20
3.3 Methods ............................................................................................................................................................ 21
3.4 Data Sampling ................................................................................................................................................ 25
3.5 Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................................................... 26
4. Results ................................................................................................................ 27
4.1 Descriptive Statistics .................................................................................................................................. 27
4.2 Testing the Usability of the PPP-Model .............................................................................................. 30
4.3 Exploring the Relationship between Place Attachment and How Residents Perceive the
Impacts of Urban Regeneration ..................................................................................................................... 34
5. Discussion ........................................................................................................... 45
5.1 Assessing the Usability of the PPP-model ......................................................................................... 45
5.2 Place Attachment and Urban regeneration ....................................................................................... 47
6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 51
References .............................................................................................................. 53
Appendix 1 .............................................................................................................. 61
Appendix 2 .............................................................................................................. 65
Appendix 3 .............................................................................................................. 70
Appendix 4 .............................................................................................................. 74
Appendix 5 .............................................................................................................. 80

4. ii
List of Figures
Figure 2.1 The person-process-place model 16
Figure 3.1 Map of the Boroughs of Greater London 18
Figure 3.2 Map of Croydon 19
Figure 3.3 Flow diagram visualising the research design 21
Figure 3.4 Sites selected for door-to-door sampling 25
Figure 4.1 Distribution graph for place attachment scores 29
Figure 4.2 Model visualising the relative loadings of each measure
of the PPP-model onto component 1 (place attachment)
35
Figure 4.3 No.1 Tower, Croydon, an example of Brutalism
architecture in Croydon
38
Figure 5.1 Graph indicating the positive correlation between place
attachment and perceptions of the impacts of urban
regeneration
48

5. iii
List of Tables
Table 2.1 Various definitions for place attachment 13
Table 3.1 Questions used to measure place attachment and their sources 24
Table 4.1 Descriptive statistics for the sample population 27
Table 4.2 Descriptive data for place attachment scores 29
Table 4.3 Tests for the normality of the place attachment sample 30
Table 4.4 Frequency table for responses about issues concerning
residents
31
Table 4.5 Correlation matrix: Place attachment and length of residence 32
Table 4.6 A rotated component matrix for a factor analysis comprising
of the measure of the PPP-model
33
Table 4.7 Correlation matrix: Place attachment and response scores 34
Table 4.8 Correlation matrix: Increasing pride, improving reputation,
and reducing crime and anti-social behaviour
37

6. iv
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank all those who gave their time to participate in this study,
particularly those who took part in interviews and focus groups. Their insights into the
issues that face residents of Croydon were invaluable and inspiring.
Thank you also to my personal tutor John Wylie for starting me off in the right
direction, and also my supervisor Neil Adger for keeping me on track.

7. v
Abstract
Regeneration can alter the perceived images of urban areas. Whilst often aiming to
modify the external image of urban areas, in many cases more can be done to appeal to
internal images or to overcome social and economic problems that frequently impact the
internal image of these urban areas. This study utilises the concept of place attachment
to investigate the influence urban regeneration has upon the internal image of place. It
also seeks to advance place attachment theory by applying the person-process-place
(PPP) model to the context of urban regeneration. A two-stage methodology of
qualitative and quantitative methods explores how place attachment can be impacted by
urban regeneration and how place attachment may be used as a metric for examining the
impact regeneration has on the internal image of the city. Place attachment has a
moderate positive correlation to optimism surrounding the impact urban regeneration
has on resident-held perceptions of place. The PPP-model is shown to be valid to some
extent. The relative importance of each measure in the PPP-model is discussed in the
context of urban regeneration. This finding suggests that using place attachment as a
metric offers a potential way of better understanding the impact of urban regeneration
on the internal image of the city and on internal audiences. Further research is needed to
confirm or contest these findings.

8. 1
1. Introduction
“Advertiser survey of life in Croydon Reveals a town weighed down by its
own reputation”
(Davies, 2015)
A survey by the Croydon Advertiser reveals that the London Borough of Croydon is
hampered by its reputation. A reputation for crime, anti-social behaviour and out-dated
building design is widespread throughout media perceptions of the borough. Croydon is
also linked to the 2011 riots and a flagging local economy (Watts, 2015). Reversing this
trend is very much on the agenda for Croydon Council, who have orchestrated a £5.25
billion public-private regeneration plan which hopes to turn Croydon into a thriving
town centre (Watts, 2015).
Croydon Council is not unique in this endeavour. Indeed many local councils in
the UK and beyond seek to rebrand their town through regeneration. Geographical
scholarship, particularly in urban geography, has a long-standing interest in enquiries
relating to urban regeneration and to place branding (Hall and Barrett, 2012; Hubbard,
2006). In particular geographers have explored how urban regeneration increasingly
aims to rebrand cities in order to attract investment or discard an old city image (Vivant,
2013; Bennett and Savani, 2003). City rebranding is broken down into two facets;
namely appealing to external audiences in forming a unique selling point (USP) and
appealing to internal audiences in forming a place identity (Colomb and Kalandides,
2010). Increasingly, rebranding strategies overlook internal audiences in pursuit of
attracting investment and thus further development, leading to poor representation of
local narrative and lower place ties among residents and local communities (Aitken and
Campelo, 2011). Academics stress the importance of building an internal image of the
city in successful rebranding strategies (Warnaby and Medway, 2013). Given this

9. 2
importance, there is a need to explore how urban regeneration impacts the internal
image of the city. This study proposes the mobilisation of the concept of place
attachment as a means of exploring the impact urban regeneration has on the internal
image of the city. Place attachment is defined as an affective bond between people and
places (Hidalgo and Hernanadez, 2001). Theory on place attachment has developed
significantly since Altman and Low (1992) published their landmark book on the
concept. Much work, particularly through modelling, has focused on how place
attachment is conceptualised. Scholars now call for advancement through the
application of place attachment theory into empirical research. This study seeks to
contribute to place attachment theory by utilising the person-place-process model (PPP-
model) (Scannell and Gifford, 2010). This model is highlighted as a consolidation of
previous models for place attachment (Lewicka, 2011).
1.1 Aims and Objectives
The aims of this study are detailed below:
- To assess the usability of the Person-Place-Process Model,
o How well does the PPP-model output correlate to proxy measures for
place attachment?
o Is each measure within the PPP-model significantly explained by one
component in a factor analysis?
- To examine the role place attachment can play in examining how the internal
image of the city is impacted by urban regeneration.
o Does place attachment correlate positively with resident perceptions of
the impacts of urban regeneration?

10. 3
o Which measures of the PPP-model are most significant in the context of
urban regeneration?
These aims will be assessed through a mixed methodology of both quantitative
and qualitative methods, employing questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and
focus groups. A two-step methodology is used, primarily involving inductive
approaches, which then inform larger scale data collection. Not only does this mixed
methods approach continue a long tradition for urban geography of rigorous empirical
research, it also appeals to calls for more considered approaches of meaning and
subjectivity within the sub-discipline (Thrift, 1993). Moreover, place attachment
theorists including Lewicka (2011) call for the sustained use of qualitative methods
alongside a rich founding of quantitative methods in better understanding the inherently
social phenomena.
Place image and branding is inherently geographical in nature. It is through our
perceptions of place that place identities are formed (Kalandides, 2012). Place
attachment is also a distinct people-place relationship, exploring the concept and how it
varies through place, scale and time can give valuable insight to geographical
scholarship. This study contributes, through the concept of place attachment, a potential
way of examining how urban regeneration can influence resident perceptions of place
image.
1.2 Dissertation Structure
Section 2 reviews the current literature on urban geography, urban regeneration and
rebranding and also place attachment. Section 3 details the methodology; the
epistemological and ontological frameworks adopted for this study, along with a
presentation of the methods that were used and how they were deployed. Section 4

11. 4
presents the results and begins an analysis of these results. Section 5 consolidates these
results into key findings, considering the limitations and wider implications. Section 6
concludes the dissertation, considering questions that have arisen from this study, along
with suggestions for further research that may build on the findings and improve on the
shortcoming of this research.

12. 5
2. Literature review
This section begins by tracing the evolution of Urban Geography, the theory, methods
and contentions that have shaped it and the implications this has for current research.
Urban regeneration and specifically urban rebranding are then discussed. The image of
the city is incorporated into this discussion, broken down into the internal, external and
self-reflecting image and the roles each plays in rebranding cities. The concept of place
attachment is then introduced, with critical discussion of the theory and methods
surrounding it. The relationship between place attachment and urban regeneration is
examined with particular focus on how place attachment may be mobilised to assess
how urban regeneration may interact with the internal image of the city.
2.1 Urban Geography
Throughout its history, several theoretical ‘turns’ that Geography as a discipline has
experienced, including the quantitative revolution, critical theory and the cultural turn
have impacted urban geography. The sub-discipline has a long tradition of positivist,
empirical enquiry and modelling; there is call to maintain traditional frameworks of
applied research however academics are now acutely aware of the limits to the external
validity of findings.
Abstraction and the creation of nomothetic laws were prevalent in urban
geography, from political ecology research of the Chicago School of Sociology to more
formalised positivist empirical research after the quantitative revolution in the 1960s.
Urban geography sought to observe urban forms and processes objectively in order to
create generalised models (for example Christaller’s Central Place Theory) (Gregory et
al, 2009).
The development of critical theory in the 1970s and 1980s including Marxist
theory acknowledged that some processes that impact subjects of enquiry are not always

13. 6
observable. Marxist urban geographers consider capitalist regimes of accumulation and
other structural processes in order to explain social processes (Pacione, 2009). Critical
theory however continued the tradition of creating far-reaching laws to explain
phenomena.
Postmodernism, post-structuralism and the cultural turn in urban geography
sought to move away from out-dated, theoretical ideas. Academics incorporated late-
modern concepts including globalisation, neoliberalism and de-urbanisation in
geographical enquiry, avowing an increased awareness of the complexities of urban
change and layers of subjectivity. This caused a degree of splintering in the sub
discipline. Whilst academics such as Daniel Sui stated the need to “eliminate the
postmodern virus” (1999: 409), academics including Dear and Flusty (1998) were
pioneering the new approach, theorising new models of the postmodern city. Despite
this, urban geography still failed to overcome tendencies to abstraction and
reductionism (Hall and Barrett, 2012). Leading to what Nigel Thrift (1993) detailed as
an ‘urban impasse’; the loss of the urban as an object and subject of enquiry.
Urban geography has seen a long evolution of theory and practice, shaping the
research that takes place today. Hubbard (2006) highlights the importance of
maintaining traditional frameworks for research whilst also questioning established
concepts in urban geography and remaining reflexive of the fact that our interpretations
of wider urban form can only ever be partial. This has been taken into account for this
study and has influenced research design and methodology. Scannell and Gifford’s
(2010) person-process-place model is used to measure place attachment. Whilst it is a
consolidation of research in place attachment, there is awareness of the shortcomings
and potential limits to how comprehensively abstract models can measure social
phenomena.

14. 7
2.2 Urban regeneration
Urban planning and regeneration has long sought to turn space into place (Jones and
Evans, 2012). Hall and Barrett (2012) highlight that regeneration is most often carried
out to meet goals such as improving quality of life, the physical environment or
economic prospects. Harvey (1982) identifies urban regeneration as a method of
revalorising cities for new waves of capital accumulation after a cycle of decline. How
urban regeneration is carried out undoubtedly has impacts for stakeholders, particularly
for those living in the spaces of regeneration. Gentrification has been a key process in
urban regeneration and is discussed below. Increasingly, regeneration seeks to rebrand
cities, making them more attractive to investment.
Like Geography more widely, the theory and practice of urban regeneration
have undergone many changes. Formerly, the state played a major role in coordinating
large-scale redevelopment, rolling out ‘master plans’ aiming to comprehensively
redesign cities. Urban planners including Le Corbusier were highly influential during
the 1960s when brutalism became a widespread architectural design in the UK and
elsewhere. Jacobs (1961) describes these master plans as ‘state bulldozers’, excluding
entire communities and distinct heritages from cities. These regeneration initiatives, as
Jones and Evans (2008) explain, simplified development by effacing existing values and
history, thus damaging people-place relations through a ‘tabula rasa’ approach. Despite
undergoing a process of ‘whitewashing’ cities, the Keynesian city of the 1960s,
described by Smith (2002) as a centre of capitalist reproduction underwritten in many
forms by the state, is considered a space of the social reproduction of many class,
gender and race inequalities. Urban regeneration in many cases reproduced these
inequalities. In the 1980s these development strategies fell out of favour with successive
waves of privatisation and neoliberalism.

15. 8
Now it is widely agreed in the literature and more broadly that the ‘new right’
dominates urban regeneration practices in Western Europe and North America (Hall and
Barrett, 2012). This is an ideal that states that the free market is the best way to bring
about urban regeneration, assuring the correct services are provided at minimal cost.
Whilst the benefits have been noted, there is much to be said for the spatial injustices
that come with this current form of urban regeneration. It is worthwhile comparing
current and former processes of urban regeneration because, through means of
gentrification and revanchism, social exclusion is still prevalent (Smith, 1996).
Traditionally, funding was allocated based on perceived need. Whilst often still coming
from central government, more recently funding is attained through competitive
bidding. This leaves a gap for deprived areas that do not have the means to self-organise
to create funding campaigns (Oatley, 1998). The impetus is thus on local stakeholders
to self-organise to compete against other urban areas in neoliberal frameworks (Catney
et al, 2014).
Neil Smith (1996) has examined gentrification and its extensive links to wider
processes of urban restructuring and revalorisation. He defines the term as the process
in which inner-city working class neighbourhoods are refurbished by private capital.
The definitions of gentrification held by many scholars have been influenced by Glass
(1964), who asserts that gentrification is the subtle replacement of the working class by
the middle classes in residences formerly seen as shabby and modest, until no original
residents remain. Ley (2003) highlights the exclusionary effects of gentrification for
artists in urban space that becomes aestheticised and thus more expensive. Atkinson
(2004) lays out both benefits and costs of gentrification, whilst many are priced out of
housing, the increased influx of capital brings with it the opportunity for higher local
spending and thus job creation, bringing revitalisation to run down urban areas.

16. 9
Atkinson (2004) suggests that much UK urban policy has moved to favour
policies that pursue revitalisation through gentrification. These policies have recently
moved to include place-marketing processes. Indeed several academics highlight that
cities now market themselves in particular ways in neoliberal and increasingly
globalised networks as entrepreneurial cities, attracting investment and interest from
certain demographics, particularly from the so-called creative class (Enright, 2013;
Vivant, 2010; Swyngedouw, Moulaert and Rodriguez, 2002). The creative class is a
demographic of skilled and mobile workers who are employed in creative sectors,
sometimes labelled the ‘Bobo community’ for their bohemian yet bourgeoisie tastes for
places with a creative identity (Enright, 2013). Richard Florida (2012) argues that the
creative class can foster new business growth and enhanced regional spending,
contributing to a thriving urban economy. The validity and long term sustainability of
this theory has been criticised. Peck (2005) raises the issue of the transient and therefore
unstable nature of the creative class, who may fleetingly respond to policy
implementation in any given place, thus removing the ‘place’ from creative place
marketing. This potentially limits the possibility of long term economic growth whilst
giving rise to the notion that countless urban areas can become ‘creative spaces’
regardless of actual authentic place-based creative identity. Indeed, Murray (2001)
comments on the homogenising effect of multiple cities in a global network marketing
themselves as creative places. Nonetheless this form of place marketing has become
popular (Foord, 2013).
Processes of urban regeneration have thus undergone significant changes,
however the implications for spatial justice are still prevalent today. Considering these
implications is critical in geographical research. Gentrification particularly has been and
remains a powerful process in urban restructuring, and is important to consider in any
examination of urban regeneration. As briefly explained, place marketing can be linked

17. 10
to the revalorisation and thus the gentrification of urban space. How cities are branded
and marketed has significant impacts for stakeholders, this theme is continued in the
next section.
2.3 Rebranding the City
As mentioned above urban policy makers have become increasingly aware of marketing
cities in particular ways to attract investment. West (1997) states that a significant
majority of UK towns and cities have attempted to rebrand themselves using marketing
techniques. Indeed Young and Lever (1997) write that in 1995 93% of local authorities
in the UK undertook place-marketing activities. The reasons for rebranding are similar
to those for physically regenerating urban environments, several academics draw
reference to rebranding in order to increase tourism and investment (Bramwell and
Rawding, 1996; Jacobsen, 2012). Bennett and Savani (2003) discuss the role of
rebranding in replacing an out-dated place image. They specifically draw upon
Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester as post-industrial cities that sought to discard an old
imagery of production and urban decline linked to the shrinking of heavy industry in
favour of images that would encourage leisure and tourism, differing vastly from their
industrial pasts.
Brands are formed in peoples’ minds (Kavaratzis and Hatch, 2013). Therefore
urban rebranding is about influencing how people perceive cities. Rebranding is a
strategic attempt to alter the perceived image of cities (or the place image) people hold
in their minds (Kalandides, 2011). Place image, as Kalandides (2012) states, is an
integrated part of place identity. Since the cultural turn in Geography, the image of the
city has come to be examined as a construction of discourse and practice (Hubbard,
2006). This social constructionist approach defines places to exist through
representations, which can be both read and written (Jones and Natter, 1997). This is

18. 11
contrary to Löw (2001: quoted in Kalandides, 2012) who sees place image as a
combination of both ‘social goods’ positioned in space and also how these goods relate
to each other and are perceived; a critical realist perspective. Indeed Jones (2011) draws
on the importance of the physical landscape, particularly architecture and the built
environment in creating place identities. Creswell and Hoskins (2008) identify place to
be constituted of materiality: the tangible element of place (i.e. the built environment),
and a realm of meaning: relating to social processes and how people perceive and feel
towards a specific place. Significant amounts of literature on place image are based in
social constructionist epistemologies because place image is based on perception
(Warnaby and Medway, 2013), however the materiality of place remains important as it
can also influence place image if it is seen as iconic or representative in some way
(Warnaby and Medway, 2010).
Managing place brands involves appealing to several different audiences in a
specific site, connecting with business investors and local communities alike (Bennett
and Savani, 2003). Academics have drawn on the need to appeal to both internal
audiences and external audiences (Hall and Barrett, 2012; Warnaby and Medway,
2013). Colomb and Kalandides (2010) explain two facets to place branding, namely the
need to form a unique selling point to external audiences (e.g. investors) and to
reinforce local identity to internal audiences (e.g. residents). Similarly, Rijpers and
Smeets (1998) identify three differing forms of place image when referring to a city’s
reputation: the internal, external and self-reflecting image. The internal image entails
how internal audiences perceive the city (i.e. local stakeholders and communities) and
the external image refers to how people outside of the city perceive it (i.e. investors,
prospective property buyers). They find that the internal image is influenced mostly by
the degree of social inconveniences (e.g. vandalism, anti-social behaviour) whilst the
external image is influenced more by the visual quality of an area. The self-reflecting

19. 12
image incorporates a noteworthy dynamic, referring to the reputation that internal
stakeholders feel is held among people not living in their place of residence (i.e. what
do people who don’t live here think about this place?). Anderson (2008) builds on this,
residents may wish to move out of a place because they believe that people outside a
place perceive it negatively, which may carry with it implications for their reputation
and status. This is a manifestation of the self-reflecting image, becoming to some extent
a mirror of the internal image as residents extend their perceptions of place to assume
that those outside perceive it in the same way. Thus the degree of connectedness
between both the internal image and external image is exemplified; both become
important in place image and urban rebranding research.
The importance of appealing to all audiences is repeated throughout literature on
place branding, Colomb and Kalandides (2010) draw reference to the importance of the
participation of both internal and external audiences in (re)branding place, this is
exemplified by Anderson (2008) above. Despite this much attention is turned to
marketing place to external audiences whilst overlooking the importance of internal
audiences (Hall and Barrett, 2012). As previously discussed cities market themselves
competitively to gain investment in neoliberal frameworks (see section 2.2). This need
to compete with other cities for investment may lead to the neglect of internal audiences
in rebranding and urban regeneration more widely (For examples relating to the creative
class in world cities including Paris, London and Berlin, see Vivant, 2010; Foord, 2013;
van Schipstal and Nicholls, 2014). This exclusion from the branding processes of
internal audiences, as Aitken and Campelo (2011) discuss, leads to poor representation
of local narrative and lower place ties among residents and local communities.
There is therefore a disparity between urban rebranding theory, which states the
importance of appealing to both internal and external audiences, and practice, which
often overlooks the benefits of marketing place towards internal audiences. Given this

20. 13
distinction, there is perhaps a need to examine the influence urban regeneration has on
how internal audiences (e.g. residents) feel towards place as this in turn has implications
for (re)structuring place image; the overarching aim of many regeneration initiatives.
The next section discusses the role place attachment studies may hold in examining how
regeneration influences internal perceptions of place image.
2.4 Place Attachment
As the previous section has explored, often more can be done to incorporate the views
of internal audiences into urban rebranding strategies. The concept of place attachment
has the potential to be utilised in order to examine how internal audiences (particularly
residents) perceive their locality, which has been shown to be a vital part of any urban
regeneration initiative. This section will outline place attachment, the theory and
practice in place attachment research and the current state of the discourse.
Although place attachment is inherently intuitive, there are varying definitions
throughout the literature. Several of these are briefly summarised in table 2.1. Each
Author(s) Definition of Place Attachment
Hidalgo and Hernandez
(2001)
An affective bond or link between people and specific places
Löw (1992) An individual’s cognitive or emotional connection to a
particular setting or milieu
Scannell and Gifford
(2010)
The bonding that occurs between individuals and their
meaningful environments
Moore and Graefe
(2003)
The extent to which an individual values or identifies with a
particular environmental setting
Table 2.1: Various definitions for place attachment.

21. 14
definition refers to a people-place relationship that describes a bond with place in one
form or another.
Several concepts have been mobilised in order to explain attachments to place,
leading to some confusion in the discourse. Concepts that academics have explored
include sense of place, topophilia, rootedness and place dependency (Lewicka, 2011).
This has led some to question the vitality of place research (Pretty et al, 2003), however
others see this as a sign of strong theoretical advancement and a need now to move to
applications of place attachment (Scannell and Gifford, 2010). There is an emergent
division between methods used to measure place attachment. This is seen through a
division between quantitative and qualitative methods.
Quantitative methods emerged primarily through proxy measures such as length
of residence, house ownership and neighbourhood ties (Riger and Lavrakas, 1981).
These measures imply positive attachment; they are partially beneficial as a method of
confirming the results of place attachment models, as a positive correlation would
indicate that place attachment measurement has been accurate with some degree of
confidence. Quantitative methods have allowed for the development of models that
enable for numerical assessment of place attachment, which has many similarities to
urban geographical enquiry. Several models have sought to examine multiple
dimensions of place attachment, which has led partly to the conceptual confusion in the
discourse. Williams and Vaske (2003) distinguish between place attachment and place
dependence; the former being linked to affective bonds whilst the later refers to the
fulfilment of instrumental needs in place. This model has been advanced extensively in
different directions, incorporating other such concepts as social bonding (Kyle et al,
2005) or familiarity, belongingness and rootedness (Hammitt et al, 2006). In a different
fashion, Jorgensen and Stedman (2001) address sense of place as a construct of place
attachment, place identity and place dependence. It is evident therefore that there is

22. 15
much divergence in the discourse on place attachment; Scannell and Gifford (2010)
have developed the person-place-process (PPP) model (see figure 2.1) in an attempt to
consolidate the extensive literature. The model is an incorporation of multiple measures.
Its usability is yet to be fully explored (Hidalgo, 2013), the authors stress that it should
be utilised in as many contexts as possible in order to advance the application of place
attachment theory.
The PPP model is broken down into a tripartite framework of person, place, and
process. The person aspect refers to cultural measures: group attachments to a specific
place, and individual measures: significant experiences in place that have influenced the
person. The place dimension is broken down into social: individual identification with
people in a place, and physical: attachment to physical aspects of place. Finally the
process dimension is comprised of affect: emotions linked to place, cognition:
considering yourself as linked to place, and behaviour: actions that perpetuate
connection to place.
A majority of place attachment research focuses on quantitative methods
(Lewicka, 2011). This tendency is criticised as people-place relationships are defined as
inherently embodied. Qualitative measures include interviews and focus groups in
which different statements carrying meaning about certain places are analysed
(Lewicka, 2011). Focus groups are particularly useful as they allow deeper elicitation of
detail regarding place relations and perceptions. The value of both qualitative and
quantitative methods is noted. Whilst a mixed methodology is not specifically purported
as most beneficial for place attachment research, the importance of not excluding
qualitative methods is stressed (Lewicka, 2011). Thus a mixed methodological
framework for place attachment studies may allow for more advancement. Devine-
Wright (2011) utilises a two stage methodology two mobilise place attachment in the
context of the public acceptance of renewable energy. The first stage involved focus

23. 16
Figure 2.1: The person-process-place model. Source: Scannell and Gifford, 2010: 2.

24. 17
groups to establish key issues linked to the local energy project. This then informed the
second stage of questionnaires that measured place attachment with more specific detail
to local meanings and understandings of the implications of the renewable energy
project. This is a particularly interesting utilisation of place attachment as it links to
how residents perceive a development project will influence their place. Place
attachment may then be a useful means of measuring how urban regeneration influences
the internal image of a city.

25. 18
3. Methodology
This section outlines the epistemological, ontological and methodological standpoints
from which research is carried out in this study. The methods used are then justified,
alongside an assessment of how they were carried out. Sampling procedure is specified
followed by the ethical considerations that arose in undertaking this research.
3.1 Context
This study is situated in the London Borough of Croydon, the second largest London
Borough by population with approximately 370,000 inhabitants (Office for National
Statistics (ONS), 2014). It is one of the most southerly Boroughs in the Greater London
Authority (see figure 3.1). In the late 1950s and early 1960s Croydon was developed as
a commercial centre, the Whitgift Shopping Centre was the biggest in Europe at the
time. It has on several occasions applied for city status but has been rejected on each
Figure 3.1: Map of the Boroughs of Greater London. Source: London Councils, 2015.

26. 19
occasion as it was seen to not have a distinct identity from the rest of the London
Boroughs. Croydon remains a substantial services and retail hub today but has seen
significant decline in recent years. Marred by a poor reputation: particularly for crime
and an unattractive architectural design (Davies, 2015), Croydon has a large media
reputation for being a hotspot for anti-social behaviour. It has on many occasions been
the subject of ‘stabbing’ jokes by comedians such as Jimmy Carr and was famously
used as a derogatory remark by David Bowie:
“I think it’s the most derogatory thing I can say about somebody or something: ‘God,
it’s so f*****g Croydon!”
(Source: Ali, 2016)
Figure 3.2: Map of Croydon. Source: Weatherly, 2009.

27. 20
Croydon is currently undergoing significant redevelopment. There are several
projects underway alongside major infrastructural improvements, totalling a £5.25
billion public-private regeneration scheme (Watts, 2015). Very much the flagship
development in the borough, Hammerson and Westfield are in partnership to build a
new shopping centre to replace the Whitgift Centre, due for completion in 2019
(Croydon Advertiser, 2015). BoxPark is due to open a new food centre in June 2016,
after the success of BoxPark Shoreditch. Alongside this a grassroots organisation
known as Croydon Tech City (CTC) is developing Croydon as a new Tech Hub. CTC
has seen some success; Croydon is currently the fastest growing tech cluster in the UK,
achieving 23 per cent growth of new tech and media businesses since 2011, a rate
higher than the London average of 17% (Rose, 2014).
Croydon is a location that has significant reputation issues; it is also undergoing
substantial redevelopment, which hopes to rebrand Croydon as a place for retail, culture
and leisure (Croydon Partnership, 2016). It is thus a suitable location for studying the
impacts of regeneration on the internal image of the city.
3.2 Research Design
As discussed in the literature review, urban geography has traditionally taken a broad
positivist empirical epistemology to research. However recent developments have
drawn urban geography into a realm of subjectivity and meaning. This study takes on
board the summary of the sub-discipline by Hall and Barratt (2012): namely that
research should continue a tradition for empirical investigation of urban form and
processes whilst balancing this alongside the exploration of a realm of subjective
meaning. Studying place attachment allows for the continuation of this stance because
whilst much of the research in this field follows a quantitative approach, seeking to

28. 21
create models for explaining place attachment, there is a strong call for more qualitative
research (Lewicka, 2011). This study thus adopts a mixed methodology, which allows
for a wider understanding of place attachment (Valentine, 2005).
3.3 Methods
This section will briefly outline each method of data collection used in this study. The
investigation follows a two-stage methodology, following a similar design used by
Devine-Wright (2011). The first stage was an inductive investigation using focus groups
and semi-structured interviews to elicit data regarding how residents felt about
Croydon, how they and others perceived its image, the regeneration taking place and
what key factors influenced these perceptions. The results from this stage informed both
the research outcomes and the design of the second stage of the methodology; namely a
questionnaire.
The questionnaire measures two things: firstly, place attachment and secondly
how residents feel regeneration will impact how they perceive the image of Croydon.
The questions used to elicit data for the second part of the questionnaire were created
Figure 3.3: Flow diagram visualising the research
design.

29. 22
from data collected in the first stage the data collection. Figure 3.3 shows a flow
diagram for the data collection process.
3.3.1 Focus Groups
Vaughn et al (1996) describes focus groups as particularly useful at an early stage of
research as a means for eliciting issues that participants think are relevant. These issues
can then inform design of a larger study. Two focus groups were undertaken as an
inductive, exploratory method of eliciting data with regards to how residents felt
towards Croydon and what issues they felt impacted its image both for them and for
others. Activities within the focus groups included a word association, which required
participants to write words on cards that they thought of when thinking about Croydon,
and a discussion around the various projects taking place. Appendix 1 shows the mind
maps constructed during one of the focus groups.
Focus groups allow conversation to flow and a variety of view points around
one issue to be explored (Morgan, 1996). Although the discussion was guided by topics
throughout the session, it was important for me to let participants speak for themselves
(Longhurst, 2010). On top of this, because I am familiar with the context of this study, I
had to ensure that I did not overlook particular points by referring straight to my own
heuristic understanding of Croydon (Laurier, 2010).
3.3.2 Semi-structured Interviews
Semi-structured interviews provided a richer insight into the issues raised in focus
groups. Indeed, Dunn (2010) states that interviews fill gaps in knowledge. Although
interviews and focus groups were undertaken alongside each other, the data gathered
from focus groups allowed me to better construct topics of discussion, which in turn
allowed me to elicit a more insightful response.

30. 23
Two semi-structured interviews were undertaken with members of community
organisations in Croydon. These participants were chosen because their long term
standing in the community in Croydon, which made their insights very valuable to the
investigation. They are particularly positioned to say more about the wider issues facing
residents in Croydon. Interviews were recorded through note taking; the aim was to get
an overview of participants’ views and perceptions. Thus it was preferred to keep
interviews informal. Audio recording can sometimes heighten the formality of a
situation (Dunn, 2010), note taking allowed interviewees to be comfortable and fluid in
talking about their associations and perceptions with Croydon (see appendix 3 for notes
on interviews).
3.3.3 Questionnaire
The second stage of data collection involved the use of a questionnaire. Questionnaires
allow researchers to gather large amount of quantitative data (Parfitt, 2005). The design
was influenced by the outcomes of focus group and interview data. Appendix 4 details
the design of the questionnaire.
Place attachment measures were adapted from previous studies that had used
questionnaires as a means of measuring place attachment. Table 3.1 details each
question used and the sources of each. Two questions were asked for each of the 7
measures of the PPP-model, this was to combat sampling error, should any questions be
less valid in determining place attachment. 10 questions were chosen in order to assess
how residents’ perceptions of place image would be impacted by regeneration. These
questions were constructed from interview and focus group data that elicited insights
into key issues that residents felt impacted Croydon the most (see appendices 1, 2, 3).
Significant pre-testing and pilot testing took place in order to limit any validity
errors or general errors (McLafferty, 2010). This stage took a particularly long time.

31. 24
Measure Questions Author
Person: Group - I am part of a strong community in
Croydon
- People like me live in Croydon
- Scannell and Gifford
(2010)
- Hidalgo (2013)
Person:
Individual
- Experiences in Croydon have made
me who I am today
- Parts of Croydon remind me of past
memories
- Author
- Author
Process: Affect - I am proud to say that I am from
Croydon
- I miss Croydon when I am away
- Scannell and Gifford
(2010)
- Jorgensen and
Stedman (2006)
Process:
Cognition
- I do not identify very strongly with
Croydon
- Croydon means a lot to me
- Kyle et al (2005)
- Williams and Vaske
(2003)
Process:
Behaviour
- If I could, I would prefer to spend
more time in Croydon
- I would like to move out of Croydon
- Williams (2000)
- Lewicka (2008)
Place: Social - The people I am attached to are
mostly from outside Croydon
- I do not feel integrated in my
neighbourhood
- Scopelliti and Tiberio
(2010)
- Bonaiuto et al (2003)
Place: Physical - I am attached to the cityscape of
Croydon
- I would be sorry if I and the people
who I appreciate in Croydon moved
out
- Hammitt et al (2006)
- Hidalgo and
Hernandez (2001)
Table 3.1: Questions used to measure place attachment and their sources.

32. 25
The pre-testing showed that much of the wordings used did not address the correct
aspect of the measures used in the PPP-model. The pilot test made clear that too many
questions had been used in the first instance, resulting in few people actually
completing the questionnaire (McGuirk and O’Neill, 2010). Subsequently, the total
number of questions used was lowered to 24, excluding demographic data.
Demographic data was collected on age, gender, postcode and length of
residence in Croydon. These measures were to examine whether there was any
significant skew in the sample. The outcomes of this are discussed in section 4.
3.4 Data Sampling
Participants were found to take part in the focus groups via door-to-door recruitment.
This was a long and arduous process but allowed me to generate a balanced
Figure 3.4: Sites selected for door-to-door sampling. The red markers
indicate sites whilst the star marks the town centre.

33. 26
demographic for the focus groups. Interview participants were made aware to me
through door-to-door recruiting for focus groups.
As a former resident of Croydon I have a wide network of participants through
which I could disseminate the questionnaire. This network allowed me to increase the
number of participants, thus increasing the reliability of results (McGuirk and O’Neill,
2010). Participants were encouraged to pass on the questionnaire (via email) in order to
increase the sample through snowball sampling. Further sampling was stratified
geographically according to proximity to the Town Centre (see figure 3.4). Three
locations were selected, each no more than 1.5 miles from the town centre. 15 samples
were taken from each location. More respondents were anticipated from each location
but little cooperation was found through door-to-door sampling. Given greater time and
money resources, drop-and-collect methods may have elicited greater response rates.
3.5 Ethical Considerations
Throughout taking part in research respondents were made aware that they have the
right to withhold any information they deem too personal to disclose. Participants have
been given the ability to get in contact via email and telephone should they wish to ask
further questions, voice concern or withdraw from the study, rights that have been made
fully known (Hay, 2010).
Data has been kept under password protection; participants have remained
anonymous throughout the study and have been given pseudonyms to protect their
identity (Longhurst, 2010).
Participants have also been offered the opportunity to receive a copy of the
finished dissertation.

34. 27
4. Results
This section presents the results of statistical tests undertaken on quantitative data
collected from questionnaire sampling. Statistical data is analysed with qualitative data
from interviews and focus groups in order to address the aims set out in section 1.1.
4.1 Descriptive Statistics
4.1.1 Sample Statistics
Table 4.1: Descriptive statistics for the sample population.

35. 28
Table 4.1 summarises the demographic profile of the sample population, allowing me to
speculate whether the data is representative of the population. The sample is evenly
distributed among gender. There is significant skew with regard to the age range of the
sample; this is likely a result of sampling method. Whilst little can be said for the
population over 65, the sample can say more with regard to the working age population
which is 65.1% in the borough (Greater London Authority (GLA), 2015).
The Geographical distribution of the sample across postcode indicates that there
is spread across all postcodes of the Borough, with the majority of data coming from
CR0 and CR2 which was specified as part of the sampling strategy (see section 3.4).
There is a good distribution of data for length of residence, this is particularly
important in place attachment studies as length of residence has been shown to be
positively correlated; the longer a resident has lived in a place the more likely it is that
they are attached to it. The even spread will therefore limit any sampling bias, which
may cause there to be higher or lower place attachment scores relative to the true
population.
4.1.2 Place Attachment: Descriptive Statistics
Figure 4.1 shows the distribution of respondent place attachment scores alongside the
mean and standard deviation. The distribution is slightly positively skewed and
leptokurtic, indicating that the majority of place attachment scores and thus the mean
and median of the sample fell just below the midpoint (Place Attachment=3). Table 4.2
shows descriptive statistics for place attachment scores. The standard deviation
indicates that 68.2% of the sample population fall within ±0.598 of the mean place
attachment score. Table 4.3 shows that the sample population for place attachment is
normally distributed as the Shapiro-Wilk Test statistic is greater than the confidence

36. 29
interval, thus failing to reject the null hypothesis H0= The sample population has a
normal distribution (α=0.05).
Figure 4.1: Distribution graph for place attachment scores.
Table 4.2: Descriptive data for place attachment scores.

37. 30
4.1.3 Perceptions of Regeneration: Descriptive Statistics
Table 4.4 displays the frequencies for 10 questions targeting resident perceptions of
how urban regeneration will impact Croydon. The questions were compiled from focus
group and interview data that inductively sought to establish which issues were most
important to residents when considering their perceptions of Croydon. The frequencies
and sample distributions of these questions are not independently important when
considering the aims of this study; how these measures correlate to other responses is of
more importance, as is discussed in the following sections.
4.2 Testing the Usability of the PPP-Model
One aim of this study is to investigate the internal validity of the PPP-model. Scannell
and Gifford (2010) alongside others (see for example Hildalgo, 2013) call for the use of
the PPP-model in practice in order to advance the application of place attachment
theory. The results section necessarily begins by addressing this aim as further sections
build on the findings made here. The study will correlate place attachment with the
proxy measure length of residence. It will also carry out a factor analysis to assess how
well the measures used in the PPP-model can be explained by one component.
Table 4.3: Tests for the normality of the place attachment sample

38. 31
Question Responses Count Percentage
I would be more proud to say I
am from Croydon because of
the regeneration taking place
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
21
34
28
11
1
22.1%
35.8%
29.5%
11.6%
1.1%
The regeneration will improve
the reputation of Croydon
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
16
60
10
8
1
16.8%
63.2%
10.5%
8.4%
1.1%
I would spend more time in
Croydon because of the
regeneration taking place
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
9
47
22
17
0
9.5%
49.5%
23.2%
17.9%
0%
The regeneration in Croydon
will reduce crime and anti-
social behaviour in the borough
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
2
14
25
37
17
2.1%
14.7%
26.3%
38.9%
17.9%
The regeneration would make
the town centre look more
attractive
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
21
68
4
2
0
22.1%
71.6%
4.2%
2.1%
0%
Regeneration would make
Croydon a much more
expensive place in which to live
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
29
40
23
3
0
30.5%
42.1%
24.2%
3.2%
0%
The benefits of regeneration
will be short-lived
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
2
31
32
28
2
2.1%
32.6%
33.7%
29.5%
2.1%
Regeneration will be beneficial
to local businesses
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
4
43
17
24
7
4.2%
45.3%
17.9%
25.3%
7.4%
The regeneration will bring
communities closer together
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
0
15
25
38
17
0%
15.8%
26.3%
40%
17.9%
This regeneration fits in with
Croydon's heritage and the
Borough's identity
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
1
32
25
33
4
1.1%
33.7%
26.3%
34.7%
4.2%
Table 4.4: Frequency table for responses about issues concerning residents.

39. 32
4.2.1 Length of Residence
In order to examine whether the sample measures for place attachment are valid, it can
be correlated to length of residence as a proxy measure; academics have shown that
place attachment is positively correlated to length of residence (see section 2.4). Table
4.5 shows the correlation between place attachment and length of residence. The
correlation is moderately positive; indicating that as length of residence increases, so
too does place attachment to a moderate extent. This statistic is significant beyond the
95% confidence interval. Thus the PPP-model can be shown to be valid to moderate
extent. Whilst the correlation is not strong, it is high enough to show that there is some
validity in the use of the PPP-model.
4.2.2 Factor Analysis
A factor analysis is used to assess whether the measures for place attachment used in
the PPP-model can have a significant proportion of their variability explained by one
component. This study utilises a factor analysis in two regards, firstly to examine the
validity of the PPP-model in measuring place attachment and secondly to examine the
most important factors in place attachment in the context of urban regeneration (see
section 4.3.2). If all the measures load highly and positively onto one component then
Table 4.5: Correlation matrix: Place attachment and length of residence.

40. 33
this component will likely be
indicative of place
attachment. Table 4.6 shows
the relative loadings of each
measure for place attachment
onto two extracted
components. Component 1
accounts for 45% of the
variance and has an
eigenvalue of 3.15. The
eigenvalue for component 2 is
below a score of 1 and thus
can be excluded from this analysis, figure 4.2 shows a scree plot indicating this result.
An orthogonal Varimax rotation is used, placing each variable at 90o
in factorial space
during rotation in order to reduce variable correlation.
6 of the 7 measures used in the PPP-model load highly onto component 1,
indicating that an underlying factor is causing these variables to be strongly positively
correlated. Process: affect, place: physical and process: cognition all have very strong
positive loadings. Process: behaviour, person: group and person: individual have
strong positive loadings. One factor (place: social) shows almost no correlation to
component 1. This may be a result of questionnaire design error, as will be discussed in
section 4.3.2. The factor analysis indicates that the majority of measures correlate
strongly with component 1, which it can be said, is therefore indicative of place
attachment.
Table 4.6: A rotated component matrix for a factor
analysis comprising of the measure of the PPP-model.

41. 34
4.2.3 Summary
This study has sought to examine the validity of the PPP-model in the context of urban
regeneration. The study correlates place attachment scores with length of residence and
examines through an exploratory factor analysis how each measure of the PPP-model
loads onto one rotated component. The findings indicate that there is moderate strength
in the validity of the PPP-model; which correlates positively with one proxy measure
and shows that 6 of the 7 measures used load highly onto one underlying component
(which can be said to represent place attachment itself).
4.3 Exploring the Relationship between Place Attachment and How Residents
Perceive the Impacts of Urban Regeneration
The second aim of this study is to explore how place attachment correlates with how
residents perceive urban regeneration. The investigation uses bivariate correlation to
assess how well the two variables correlate. The study then uses a factor analysis to
explore the relative importance of each measure of the PPP-model.
4.3.1 Correlation Matrix
Table 4.7 shows the correlation matrix for place attachment and Response Score. The
correlation coefficient shows that place attachment has a moderate positive correlation
Table 4.7: Correlation matrix: Place attachment and response scores.

42. 35
to response score. The significance statistic is 0.01, which exceeds the 95% confidence
interval, suggesting that the result is statistically significant. The correlation statistic is
0.343, a moderate positive correlation. There is some confidence in stating that as
resident place attachment rises, so too do positive perceptions of the impacts of urban
regeneration in Croydon. In the context of urban regeneration then, a way of addressing
and measuring the impacts of regeneration on the internal image of the city may be to
focus on place attachment.
4.3.2 Factor Analysis: Exploring the Measures of the PPP-Model
An exploratory factor analysis incorporating the 7 measures used in the PPP-model is
used in order to examine whether there is an underlying factor that influences the
variance of each measure. This section explores the relative importance of each measure
in the context of urban regeneration.
Table 4.6 shows how each measure of the PPP-model is explained by two
extracted components. As explained above, component 2 has been excluded, as it does
Figure 4.2: Model visualising the relative loadings of each measure of the
PPP-model onto component 1 (place attachment).

43. 36
not meet the requirement for an eigenvalue greater than 1. Component 1 details the
varying strength of association with each measure for the PPP-model. Figure 4.2 details
a model showing how each measure loads on to component 1. The subsequent sections
assess how each sub-section loads onto the PPP-model and in addition explores the
relative importance of each measure in determining place attachment. In order to better
correlate place attachment and how residents perceive the image of Croydon, an
analysis of how each measure of the model is influenced by regeneration is undertaken.
Process: Affect
This measure in the factor analysis loads highly onto component 1 (or place attachment,
see section 4.2.2) with a score of 0.836. This indicates that in the context of urban
regeneration, affect plays a significant role in influencing place attachment. Affect
relates to expressing emotion with regard to place, the questions used were as follows:
- I am proud to say that I am from Croydon,
- I miss Croydon when I am away.
Affect was a key theme in the focus groups. Indeed, pride was discussed on
several occasions and thus it is used as a measure in the response section (see table 3.2).
One participant explains:
“I always go into the ‘where are you from’ conversation with a defence”
(Group 2, participant 7)
This quote explains that the participant is hesitant to state to others that they are
from Croydon, or put another way; they are not proud to say they are from Croydon.

44. 37
Further discussion reveals that Croydon suffers from a bad reputation. Whilst this is the
premise that calls for Croydon to be used as a location in this study, it also factors in
highly when considering pride and affect in relation to place attachment. Much of the
discussion centred on Croydon’s reputation as linked to so-called ‘stabbing jokes’,
‘anti-social behaviour’ and to the ‘2011 riots’. It seems that participants are hesitant to
link themselves to Croydon because of its bad reputation. This link is also prevalent in
considering the correlations between response items. Table 4.8 details the correlations
between response questions relating to increasing pride, improving the reputation and
reducing crime and anti-social behaviour. It is clear that they all have moderate to
strong positive correlations. This indicates that as crime and anti-social behaviour is
seen to decline, the reputation of Croydon will be seen to increase. Consequently, as
indicated from the focus groups, as the reputation of Croydon increases so too does
being proud to come from Croydon. Affect therefore is seen as a significantly
influential factor in place attachment in this context.
Place: Physical
The second measure that loads highly to place attachment is the place: physical
dimension, which had a component loading of 0.791. This measure relates to being
Table 4.8: Correlation matrix: Increasing pride, improving reputation, and
reducing crime and anti-social behaviour.

45. 38
attached to physical aspects of a place. This could relate to a particular street, park, area
or an architectural design for example. Hidalgo and Hernandez (2001) explain that the
physical attachment to place is important in place attachment studies, and further state
that this is most prominent at the city level. The prominence of this measure in
determining place attachment appears in focus group data, in which discussions
concerning the cityscape of Croydon considered a legacy of Brutalism in the Borough:
“…as I got older I realised how awful it looked, architecturally”
“There’s a baggage… which is the dreadful city planning that went ahead in the 60s
you know?”
(Group 1, participant 1)
Brutalism was a widespread
architectural style in the 1950s
and 1960s. Croydon saw much
growth in this time period;
much of its architecture was
built as part of the Brutalism
movement, and much of the
built environment today
remains as such (see figure
4.3). It is evident from the
quotes that the physical
landscape of the Borough has
a negative connotation. This
Figure 4.3: No.1 Tower, Croydon, an example of
Brutalism architecture in Croydon. Source: Flickr, 2010.

46. 39
negative connotation may have significantly reduced place attachment scores. For
Croydon then, a means of increasing place attachment and thus improving the internal
image of Croydon may be to improve the built environment. Examining table 4.4 it is
clear that 93.7% of respondents agree that regeneration will make the town centre more
attractive. Thus the aesthetics of a place are a significant influencer of place attachment.
Process: Cognition
This measure seeks to tackle the aspect of place attachment that links to memories,
beliefs and meanings associated with place. In this sense one becomes attached to place
as you have a personal connection with it. Indeed Scannell and Gifford (2010) draw on
Proshanky (1983) who identifies a real world personification of the self: or place
identity. This aspect had a loading of 0.713 onto place attachment, indicating a strong
positive loading. Thus respondents are more likely to be attached to Croydon if they
identify with Croydon. This entails that residents identify themselves as so-called
‘Croydonians’.
This theme was prevalent in focus group discussions, in which one participant
explains:
“I rarely say I’m from Croydon… either Surrey or London.”
(Focus Group 2, participant 1)
It is evident that this participant does not identify strongly with Croydon, choosing
rather to ‘be from’ Surrey or London. This participant, based on the factor analysis is
likely to have a lower place attachment. This dynamic links to pride and place
reputation, a similar dynamic to the process: affect measure. Table 4.8 shows the
significantly positive correlation between the reputation of Croydon and being proud to

47. 40
be from Croydon. Anderson (2008) has discussed this dynamic. Residents may be less
willing to identify with Croydon because of its reputation, which residents may feel
influences their status. This directly links to the urban regeneration that is taking place
in Croydon, which seeks to improve the image of the Borough. Therefore this measure
is particularly important in determining place attachment in the context of urban
regeneration.
Process: Behaviour
Behaviour is a way for people to actively maintain a close relationship with a place to
which they are attached. For example, proximity maintenance is the process by which
people behave in ways that mean they are more often located in a place (Scannell and
Gifford, 2010). This aspect of place attachment has a loading of 0.657. This is a strong
positive loading, however this loading is fourth highest in terms of the other measures
used in the PPP-model. This result suggests that the more behaviour a person
undertakes that keeps them in a certain place, the more attached to that place they are.
Further qualitative analysis suggests that there is little to do in the Town Centre,
participants point to a lack of food outlets and unique shopping options:
“You’ve got all you chain stores but you’ve not got anything slightly different”
(Focus group 2, participant 1)
“They’ve got 3 Subways, but that’s about it. Plenty of fast food but no like restaurants”
(Focus group 2, participant 6)
Simply put, if residents felt there was more to do in Croydon, they may increase the
amount of time they spend in the Town Centre. Indeed this points to a long running
characterisation of Croydon as being a commuter town, a place to live, but not to visit.

48. 41
Residents do however already spend a significant amount of time in Croydon simply by
living there. This perhaps goes deeper as despite living there, residents may not spend
more time than they need to in Croydon:
“For shopping I’d much rather go to Bromley or Bluewater [nearby shopping
centres]”
(Focus group 2, participant 3)
Urban regeneration is specifically attempting to address this, BoxPark Croydon aims to
increase food options in the Town Centre and the Hammerson/Westfield Partnership
seeks to renew Croydon’s legacy for retail and leisure. Thus creating options for people
to spend more time in Croydon itself can increase place attachment.
Person: Group
This measure has significant similarity to the place: social measure. The two are
distinguished from one another by Hidalgo (2013) who refers to person: group as
distinctly about a group of similar people identifying with a place whilst place: social
refers more to an individual’s feelings towards the social contexts of a place. The
person: group measure loads onto place attachment positively with a score of 0.609.
This indicates that as respondents have higher group attachment to place, their overall
place attachment rises. Scannell and Gifford (2010) consider this aspect of place
attachment as a form of cultural identification with place.
In place branding, practitioners seek to give distinctiveness to place. Relph
(2014: quoted in UNSW, 2014) explains that ‘place’ is somewhere that is distinctive
from other places, whereas a ‘placeless’ place is so if it is indistinguishable from others.
Being placeless is not always negative, as Relph continues; sameness implies

49. 42
cosmopolitanism, whereas distinctive places can exhibit exclusion, consider for
example creative city branding and gentrification (see section 2.2) (Vivant, 2013;
Foord, 2013). Croydon is perceived as a diverse area:
“It’s exceptionally diverse can I put it that way and I think if you were to do the
rankings it would be up there as probably number 1”
(Focus group 1, participant 1)
Whilst Croydon is no more diverse than any other borough in London (ONS, 2014), it is
perceived as being so. Urban regeneration has the potential to give places a brand or
identity, making them distinct, thus creating exclusion. For Croydon, its identity comes
from diversity, branding the Borough as a Tech City for example may lead to the
exclusion of some groups. Thus urban regeneration has a significant impact on this
measure of place attachment.
Person: Individual
This measure seeks to examine how place plays an important part in personal
milestones, memories and realisations, it has a positive loading onto place attachment,
scoring 0.585. This is a strong positive loading, however is not a strong as other
measures. It is difficult for urban regeneration to have a significant influence on this
measure because it is to a large extent retrospective; respondents will score more highly
if they have had more significant past experiences in Croydon. Therefore research that
investigates place attachment in the context of urban regeneration may wish to exclude
this measure. However as the factor analysis shows it is still a significant determinant of
general place attachment.

50. 43
Place: Social
Somewhat surprisingly, the place: social measure had virtually no loading on
component 1, scoring 0.079 in the factor analysis. This comes as a surprise primarily
because much of the discourse focuses on the importance of social rootedness in place,
but also because it features so prominently in interviews. This measure seeks to explore
social ties in place. The low scoring may be a result of questionnaire design error. The
questions used in the questionnaire to address this measure are:
- The people I am attached to are mostly from outside Croydon,
- I do not feel integrated in my neighbourhood.
The questions used may have limited the validity of this measure. Note that both
questions are phrased negatively. This was done to ensure that participants did not
simply respond uniformly throughout the questionnaire, however by human error both
questions used to address this measure were selected to be negatively worded. Doing so
in this context may have resulted in respondents giving two neutral scores for the
measure, as fewer residents may be able to agree with certainty that most people they
are attached to are from outside Croydon, than those who are more certain that the
people whom they are attached to definitely are from Croydon. Thus a questionnaire
design error may have resulted in more respondents giving neutral responses.
Interview participant 1 notes a gradual ‘decline in community over time’.
Furthermore, focus group data reveals that:
“It’s a commuter town, I don’t go into Croydon unless I need to get something or go
somewhere”
(Focus group 2, participant 2)

51. 44
It is perhaps evident that opportunities for social bonding are few. Scannell and Gifford
(2010) make the distinction between communities of interest and communities of place,
communities of interest tend to form around sharing a pastime whereas communities of
place are founded in co-location. A gradual decline in communities of place in Croydon
seems to be prevalent, rather than communities forming around co-location, residents
tend to commute to other places. The result indicating a neutral loading for this measure
on place attachment may be a result of two options: firstly, of design error, and
secondly, it may be apparent that ‘community’ means less to residents of Croydon. This
is a sweeping conclusion; the reason for this outcome is likely the former rather than the
later. This study therefore can not conclude with any certainty on the significance of
this measure in determining place attachment. However the importance of community
of place is noted in place attachment discourse (Scannell and Gifford, 2010).
Furthermore, all interviewees, as part of community groups themselves, stress the
importance of taking part in the social sphere of Croydon. There is perhaps more to be
said for the importance of the place: social measure of the PPP-model.
4.3.3 Summary
This section has sought to evaluate the role for place attachment as a concept in
exploring the impacts urban regeneration has on the internal image of the city. Through
a bivariate correlation of place attachment output and the proxy measure of length of
residence, this study finds that place attachment can be used because the two are
moderately positively correlated. A further examination reveals that the measures used
in the PPP-model can be ranked on their relative influence on place attachment. Each
component can be influenced by urban regeneration and thus place attachment can be
seen as a potential metric for exploring the impact of urban regeneration on the internal
image of Croydon.

52. 45
5. Discussion
This section will consolidate the findings of this study with reference to the aims set out
in section 1.1, considering their implications. The limitations are also discussed in the
context of these findings.
5.1 Assessing the Usability of the PPP-model
• To assess the usability of the Person-Place-Process Model,
• How well does the PPP-model output correlate to proxy measures for
place attachment?
• Is each measure within the PPP-model significantly explained by one
component in a factor analysis?
The PPP-model was developed in order to advance the application of place attachment
theory. It consolidates the work of academics that have sought to create a model for
measuring the social phenomena (Scannell and Gifford, 2010). This study has sought to
apply the PPP-model to the context of urban regeneration in order to examine its
usability in a new context.
The validity of the PPP-Model is discussed in section 4.2. The model is found to
be a good measure of place attachment, as the output correlates positively with the
proxy measure of length of residence, which is seen to increase with higher place
attachment. Furthermore, a factor analysis of the measures of the PPP-Model reveals
that each measure loads highly onto one component (excluding 1 measure). As most
measures have strong positive influence on this component, it is possible to conclude
that this component refers to place attachment, meaning that the measures of the PPP-
model are valid. There is some consideration in this findings however, as the correlation

53. 46
to length of residence is only moderate. Whilst this is promising it is not high enough to
confirm beyond doubt that the PPP-model is valid, further testing is needed.
In terms of the overall usability, assessing 7 measures proves difficult because in
order to maintain a high level of validity, it is appropriate to ask more than one
question. Two questions were used for each measure in determining place attachment;
this gave some confidence in the outcomes (with the exception of one measure, see
section 4.3.2), however asking more questions for each measure would have ensured
higher validity. There are limits to the amount of questions that can be used without
incentivising participants (see section 3.3.3). Therefore further research may choose to
focus solely on determining place attachment using the PPP-model in order to allow for
more questions to be used. Urban regeneration has a less significant influence on the
person: individual component because this measure is largely retrospective and based
on past experiences. Excluding this measure from the model in researching place
attachment in the context of urban regeneration will reduce the total number of
questions needed, meaning more could be used per measure.
Whilst there is some degree of validity in using the PPP-model, the findings in
this study are not based solely on the model alone. Qualitative methods provide a
valuable richness to place attachment studies. Lewicka (2011) calls for the continued
importance of qualitative methods in place attachment research and even the
advancement of these methods. Whilst pursuing the application of quantitative place
attachment models is worthwhile, especially in the context of urban regeneration,
greater insight is only available through its development alongside the use of qualitative
methods. Focus group and interview data provide valuable insights into the mechanics
of each measure of the model in considering Croydon as a case study. This study would
have benefitted from further in depth qualitative analysis.

54. 47
5.2 Place Attachment and Urban regeneration
• To examine the role place attachment can play in examining how the internal
image of the city is impacted by urban regeneration.
• Does place attachment correlate positively with resident perceptions of
the impacts of urban regeneration?
• Which measures of the PPP-model are most significant in the context of
urban regeneration?
5.2.1 Place Attachment as a Metric for the Internal Image of the City
The main aim of this study was to assess the role place attachment could play in
examining how the internal image of the city is impacted by urban regeneration. As
discussed in section 2, urban regeneration often seeks to appeal to an external audience
in order to attract investment, building an external image. However the internal image
is increasingly neglected, many academics point to the importance of appealing to an
internal audience (i.e. residents) in improving the overall image of place (Colomb and
Kalandides, 2010). Place attachment could thus be seen as a way of measuring how
internal audiences (particularly residents) perceive the image of the city.
Correlating place attachment and how residents perceive regeneration will
impact Croydon tests this hypothesis. The bivariate correlation reveals that there is
moderate positive correlation between the two measures, indicating that as place
attachment increases so too do positive outlooks on the impacts of regeneration (see
figure 5.1). That is not to say that this is a one-way correlation. In order to validate the
hypothesis stated above, it must be noted that response optimism also predicts place
attachment. The distinction is that instead of one predicting the other, they are mutually
correlated. Therefore a way for academics to investigate how urban regeneration
impacts the internal image of the city is to use place attachment as a metric.

55. 48
Whilst this is a meaningful finding, the investigation takes caution, as the
correlation is only moderately strong. There is some evidence to believe that place
attachment could be a suitable measure in this context, further research can support or
contest this finding. As shown in section 4.1 there is some sampling error in this study;
the distribution among age is skewed. Moreover, although the sample size is large
enough to warrant confidence in parametric testing, a larger sample could further
increase the reliability, especially considering the size of the population.
5.2.2 Some Measures are More Significant Than Others
Through a factor analysis, the relative importance of each measure of the PPP-model is
found. The relative importance of each measure of place attachment means that some
Figure 5.1: Graph indicating the positive correlation between place attachment and
perceptions of the impacts of urban regeneration.

56. 49
have a more significant impact than others. These findings indicate that in the context of
urban regeneration place attachment studies may seek to focus on measures with a
greater significance. Furthermore, urban regeneration strategies can target certain facets
of place attachment in order to improve the internal image of Croydon.
The study finds that process: affect, place: physical and process: cognition
measures load the most strongly onto place attachment. This finding indicates that place
attachment, in the context of urban regeneration, is particularly influenced by how
residents feel emotionally towards a place, how they perceive it aesthetically and how
highly they identify with Croydon. These three may be more interlinked than they seem.
The analysis discusses the role of pride as an affective link to Croydon. Pride appears to
be linked to the reputation of Croydon. More specifically, pride is linked to how
residents feel others perceive the reputation of Croydon: the self-reflecting image
(Anderson, 2008). Residents may feel more proud to say they are from Croydon if they
feel it is more widely respected. Not only this but residents may be more willing to
identify with Croydon if it was held in higher esteem. Croydon, as identified in section
3.1 has a reputation for unattractive architecture. Indeed the architecture is iconic
(Watts, 2015; Warnaby and Medway, 2013). Thus the built environment is bound up
with the image of Croydon and therefore how proud residents are to say they are from
Croydon or to what extent they identify with the Borough.
Process: behaviour, person: group and person: individual have significant
loadings onto place attachment. Although they are not as significant as those mentioned
above, they still have a strong influence on place attachment. This result indicates that if
a respondent spends more time in Croydon, if they have more personal experiences in
Croydon or if their cultural group identifies particularly strongly with the Borough, then
they will be more place attached. The process: behaviour and person: groups measures
are seen to be influenced by urban regeneration, they are thus significant in exploring

57. 50
place attachment in this context. However the person: individual component is largely
retrospective, formed and influenced by personal milestones and memories linked to
place. Thus urban regeneration can not have a significant influence on it. As explained
above, further studies of place attachment in the context of urban regeneration may wish
to omit this measure from the investigation. It is nonetheless still shown to be a
significant factor in determining place attachment.
A curious finding of this study is the weakness of the place: social measure on
place attachment. This is surprising because the role of social attachment is emphasised
in place attachment discourse. Although statistically speaking, this measure is shown to
be of little to no importance (a result may or may not have been influenced by
questionnaire design error), qualitative data reveals the importance of the social sphere
in place attachment studies. The continued work of community actors in Croydon is
exemplary of their personal attachment to the Borough and statistical evidence does not
do justice in demonstrating this. Further research is thus needed to evaluate the role of
social components of place attachment in the context of urban regeneration.
These measures can be targeted to greater or lesser extents in urban regeneration
projects. In improving the internal image of the city, strategies may wish to focus on
increasing civic pride or cooperating with residents to improve the appearance of the
city.

58. 51
6. Conclusion
The literature on urban regeneration and place branding highlights the commonplace
oversight of internal voices of the city and the contestation by local residents of place
brands (Hall and Barrett, 2012; Colomb and Kalandides, 2010). Through place
attachment, scholars may be able to examine in-depth the impact of urban regeneration
and place branding schemes on the internal image of the city. This finding is in need of
further investigation; nonetheless there is some significance in this conclusion.
Through the use of the PPP-model, the most significant measures of place
attachment are revealed. The relative importance of each measure within the model is
examined. Further research into place attachment in the context of urban regeneration
may seek to specifically examine the measures that this study finds as the most
significant, including affective bonds with place (e.g. pride), perceptions of the physical
aesthetics of place or how well residents identify with place. Urban regeneration
schemes may also seek to target specific aspects of place attachment so that they may
better address issues relating to the internal image of the city. In this context, one key
shortcoming of this study is the potential misrepresentation of the social dynamics of
place attachment. Whilst statistical evidence shows that these dynamics have little
impact on place attachment, qualitative data contests this notion. Academic discourse
finds that social spheres of place are a key factor in place attachment; more research
needs to be done in determining the role of the social context of place in urban
regeneration and place attachment. Given this shortcoming, greater stringency on
questionnaire design would have enhanced the reliability of findings.
The PPP-model has validity in measuring place attachment; this also needs
further examination, as there is also only moderate correlation between model output
and proxy measures. It is hoped that this study contributes to advancing place
attachment research. Further research to test the validity of the PPP-model may seek to

59. 52
do this in isolation of other research objectives. The model employs 7 different
measures for place attachment, making it difficult to ask enough questions to validate
the investigation without incentivising respondents. Testing the validity of the model in
isolation would have allowed more questions to be used, thus increasing the
significance of findings.
This study seeks to continue a tradition in urban geography for the rigorous use
of empirical methods. It has also seeks to employ qualitative methods in order to
facilitate a richer understanding of place attachment as a wholly subjective people-place
relationship. The rich data that can be elicited through qualitative methods in place
attachment research provide deeper insight into the concept. Whilst contributing to the
progress of models that seek to quantitatively measure place attachment is worthwhile,
the importance of these qualitative methods is highlighted.
Given the limitations of the investigation, there is still much that can be said for
place attachment in the context of urban regeneration. The results are promising,
indicating that place attachment may go a long way in revealing how urban regeneration
interacts with the internal image of the city and how residents perceive their hometown.

60. 53
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