Urban green spaces are critical to urban sustainability yet receive little scientific or political attention. This study explored the effect of place attachment on environmental attitudes among urban green space users in India. Data were collected via an on-site survey administered in March 2006. Among the English-speaking subsample (n = 219; adjusted response rate 87.6%), respondents had moderate levels of place identity and place dependence and exhibited a tendency toward pro-environmental attitudes. Additionally, stronger place identity was significantly associated with greater agreement regarding the balance between humans and nature as well as with weaker support for the domination of humans over nature. No significant relationships between place identity and ecological limits or place dependence and environmental attitudes emerged. Results suggest emotional connections with places contribute toward pro-environmental attitudes. Enhancing such connections is therefore likely to lead to increased environmental care and concern.

Cross-language (or cross-cultural) comparisons of theoretical constructs are of growing interest in leisure studies. In order for such comparisons to be meaningful, constructs are required to exhibit adequate measurement equivalence across languages. This study utilizes multigroup confirmatory factor analysis to examine measurement equivalence of an English and non-English version of the place attachment scale. Findings reveal a lack of measurement equivalence between the two groups. Researchers involved in cross-language and/or cross-cultural construct comparisons are cautioned against such comparisons unless measurement invariance of the concept(s) under investigation has been established. Ignoring measurement invariance testing could potentially threaten the validity of a study, limit the comparability of multi-lingual versions of a measure and ultimately lead to biased results.

People–place studies suggest that groups have varied bonds to a resource and that these bonds likely vary by residential proximity; however, previous research that explored these differences by residence treated place attachment as unidimensional. Therefore, this study differentiates two place attachment dimensions (place identity and place dependence) among distant (nonresidents) and proximate (community residents) visitors to two water-based resources in Illinois. Findings reveal both similarities and differences among visitors. Although proximate and distant visitors exhibited overall similar patterns in the place attachment scales, results delineate place identity as the differentiating place attachment dimension for this resource. Specifically, place identity was stronger and significantly different for proximate versus distant visitors. Findings suggest that recreation settings offer proximate as well as distant visitors the opportunity to develop meanings with a place and highlight the importance of examining differences in place attachment dimensions among proximate and distant visitors.

Considerable research has explored homeowner wildfire-mitigation efforts identifying many salient factors that help predict acceptance and behaviors. A growing body of literature is unlocking the dynamics of formal associations’ roles in promoting fire adapted communities. This mixed-method study adds to the research by using a planned behavior theoretical lens, to explore homeowner associations’ (HOAs’) role in resident wildfire mitigation. Through HOA key informant interviews and a survey study of a Western midsized city, our results show that HOAs have a significant impact by providing important information linkages and reducing barriers to completing home mitigation. Most importantly, HOAs act as a neighborhood champion, taking on time-consuming tasks involved in becoming and maintaining a Firewise USA® community status. Many non-HOA neighborhoods lack the capacity to take on such tasks limiting their access to benefits provided by the designation. We take these results and propose avenues to engaging non-HOA neighborhoods.