IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v63y2026i2p279-296.html

Feeling metropolitan: A framework for place attachment in metropolitan regions

Author

Listed:
  • Mariona Tomà s

    (University of Barcelona, Spain)

Abstract

Place attachment involves cognitive and emotional elements that connect individuals and groups to specific places. While extensively studied, its expression at the metropolitan scale remains underexplored. This article addresses that gap by introducing the concept of spatial consciousness – comprising phenomenal, representational and intentional dimensions – as a key element of metropolitan attachment. Building on this concept, I propose an analytical framework with three core components of metropolitan place attachment: mental image, symbols and collective action. The framework is applied through a qualitative study of the Urban Master Plan for the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (2011–2023), the first metropolitan plan in the region to incorporate citizen participation. Urban plans organise space and establish centralities and connections, while participatory mechanisms in metropolitan planning offer inhabitants opportunities to reflect on their relationship with the territory and to consider the metropolitan region as a coherent whole. By studying the observations of citizens and representatives of civil society in the process of citizen participation, as well as the views of the team responsible for the urban plan, I identify the components of metropolitan attachment. My findings suggest that such attachment in Barcelona is relatively weak among citizens and primarily shaped by cognitive elements. This study contributes to the literature on place attachment by highlighting the role of spatial consciousness in shaping attachment at the metropolitan scale.

Suggested Citation

  • Mariona Tomà s, 2026. "Feeling metropolitan: A framework for place attachment in metropolitan regions," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 63(2), pages 279-296, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:63:y:2026:i:2:p:279-296
    DOI: 10.1177/00420980251355878
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00420980251355878
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00420980251355878?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anssi Paasi, 2013. "Regional Planning and the Mobilization of 'Regional Identity': From Bounded Spaces to Relational Complexity," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(8), pages 1206-1219, September.
    2. John Harrison & Michael Hoyler, 2014. "Governing the new metropolis," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(11), pages 2249-2266, August.
    3. Mark Purcell, 2003. "Citizenship and the right to the global city: reimagining the capitalist world order," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 564-590, September.
    4. Jake Nelson & Jeong Joo Ahn & Elizabeth A. Corley, 2020. "Sense of place: trends from the literature," Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 236-261, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kees Terlouw, 2020. "Towards a Neomedieval Urban Future: Neoliberal or Sustainable?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-15, September.
    2. Alex Afouxenidis, 2006. "Urban social movements in Southern European cities," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 287-293, December.
    3. Francis Leo Collins & Wardlow Friesen, 2011. "Making the Most of Diversity? The Intercultural City Project and a Rescaled Version of Diversity in Auckland, New Zealand," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(14), pages 3067-3085, November.
    4. Kafui Attoh, 2017. "Public transportation and the idiocy of urban life," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(1), pages 196-213, January.
    5. Alessandra Zamparini & Gastone Gualtieri & Francesco Lurati, 2023. "Iconic buildings in the making of city identity: The role of aspirational identity artefacts," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(12), pages 2474-2495, September.
    6. Ella Schmidt, 2006. "Sustainable Community for Sustainable Development," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 22(4), pages 379-400, December.
    7. Nikolai A Alvarado, 2025. "Urban infrastructure and migrant citizenships: Notes towards migrant-state relations in the urban peripheries," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 43(6), pages 1053-1069, September.
    8. Mark Purcell, 2006. "Urban Democracy and the Local Trap," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 43(11), pages 1921-1941, October.
    9. Sandra Breux & Jean‐Pierre Collin & Emmanuel Négrier, 2007. "Political Rescaling and Municipal Cultural Public Policies: A Comparison of France and Québec," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 128-145, March.
    10. Peng Gao & Dan He & Zhijing Sun & Yuemin Ning, 2020. "Characterizing functionally integrated regions in the Central Yangtze River Megaregion from a city‐network perspective," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 1357-1379, September.
    11. Charles T. Lee, 2019. "Improvising “Nonexistent Rights”: Immigrants, Ethnic Restaurants, and Corporeal Citizenship in Suburban California," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(4), pages 79-89.
    12. Fulong Wu, 2020. "Adding new narratives to the urban imagination: An introduction to ‘New directions of urban studies in China’," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(3), pages 459-472, February.
    13. Maedhbh Nic Lochlainn, 2024. "Book review: Neoliberal Urban Governance: Spaces, Culture and Discourses in Buenos Aires and Chicago," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(1), pages 188-191, January.
    14. Sergio Belda-Miquel & Jordi Peris Blanes & Alexandre Frediani, 2016. "Institutionalization and Depoliticization of the Right to the City: Changing Scenarios for Radical Social Movements," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 321-339, March.
    15. Marisol Garcia, 2006. "Citizenship Practices and Urban Governance in European Cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 43(4), pages 745-765, April.
    16. Massingue, Suzanna Allen & Oviedo, Daniel, 2021. "Walkability and the Right to the city: A snapshot critique of pedestrian space in Maputo, Mozambique," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    17. Rasa Pranskuniene & Dalia Perkumiene, 2021. "Public Perceptions on City Landscaping during the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease: The Case of Vilnius Pop-Up Beach, Lithuania," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, January.
    18. Justus Uitermark & Walter Nicholls & Maarten Loopmans, 2012. "Cities and Social Movements: Theorizing beyond the Right to the City," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(11), pages 2546-2554, November.
    19. Japhy Wilson, 2014. "The Violence of Abstract Space: Contested Regional Developments in Southern Mexico," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 516-538, March.
    20. Oren Yiftachel, 2015. "Epilogue—from ‘Gray Space' to Equal ‘Metrozenship'? Reflections On Urban Citizenship," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 726-737, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:63:y:2026:i:2:p:279-296. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.