Arnold, Sanne Nouira (2024) Place belonging in rural areas during different stages of life: young adults, family formation, retirement age. Bachelor thesis.
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Abstract
The personal feeling and meaning of place belonging is something that interests researchers for a long time. The connection to a place is something that is very personal and hard to grasp . In order to add to the framework of understanding what kind of influences place belonging could have in rural areas, this thesis is written. The aim is to explore the dynamics of place belonging in the living environment of rural areas of the East of Groningen in the Netherlands. Motivated by the changing population composition in rural areas, namely outmigration of young adults and ageing, the importance of looking at place belonging within three life stages arises: young adults, family formation and retirement age. In this research, the focus is put on the social aspect of place belonging. The role of social capital, roots and participation in shaping place belonging across life course stages is explored. The research is based on secondary data from the STAYin(g) Rural project. Analysed using a mixed methods approach, combining statistical analysis of a survey with qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews. The aim is to understand how individuals at different life stages experience and connect with their environment, contributing to a good understanding of place belonging to their living environment in rural areas in the East of Groningen. Findings highlight differences between life stage groups. There seems to be a difference between life stage groups in social networks, whereas young adults perceive it to be more important to have friends nearby, elderly rate it more important to have family closeby. Time spent engaging, memories and experiences increase the place belonging felt, and those at retirement age are most actively engaged. Understanding place belonging can help in creating more place belonging in the future through e.g. writing policies for rural communities that aim at developing more place belonging for the residents. Creating more place belonging is interesting for rural areas because it can cause more people to stay. In addition to staying or leaving, experiencing more place belonging contributes largely to keeping the quality of life and healthy ageing high in rural areas.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Degree programme: | Human Geography and Planning |
| Supervisor: | Haartsen, T. |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Jul 2024 07:21 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Jul 2024 07:21 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4625 |
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