Relationship between place attachment and user satisfaction at some national parks in Turkey

Abstract

Environmental and natural preservation has become a common problem for all societies of this century. Much scientific research is being done and many meth­ods are being devised to analyze the balance between the recreational use and preservation of natural spaces. It appears that the basic purpose of these methods is to achieve recreational satisfaction. User satisfaction is a concept that lies at the core of many sectors and work areas. Place attachment is another concept that has been covered in many research studies conducted until today. Place attachment is a concept that is closely related with satisfaction and includes symbolic and emo­tional expressions. To see which factors effect visitor satisfaction and attachment will benefit future studies in national parks. In this scope, 5 national parks in Marmara region with different characteristics and highest user density rates have been chosen. The questionnaire forms have been accordingly designed to identify tendencies and evaluate attachment and satisfaction degrees with suitable analysis techniques. The first objective was to identify overall satisfaction and attachment levels and ratings. It was found that the visitors were satisfied with their overall visiting experience and also found that the attachment of the visitors to national parks was high. We observed that as the overall satisfaction increases, the overall attachment increases, as well. Second objective was to determine place attach­ment and its sub-categories. As a result of the analyses, 4 sub-factors with high reliability values obtained. © 2016, Istanbul Teknik Universitesi, Faculty of Architecture. All rights reserved.