Study On Recreationists’ Sense Of Place In Suburban Heritage Attractions

In recent years, the research on place theory is one of the hottest issues in the fieldof Recreation Geography and Leisure Studies. It is also the key point of the emotionalconnection between human being and place. In this recreational age, the need ofnational recreation has emerged. However, heritage attractions are facing the localcharacteristic shortage, especially which in the suburbs, with the trapping of theprotection. This research tries to take the study on the recreationists’ sense of place asthe cutting point and seek the solution to the problems that the heritage attractions inthe suburbs face, with the way about perception of local characteristic and emotion ofplace. The research is significant to enrich place theory and deal with the realisticproblems.First, this paper gives a clear explanation and definition about place, localcharacteristics, sense of place, place attachment, heritage, heritage site, heritageattraction, scenic area, recreation, recreationists as well.Second, on the basis of the relevant literature, the systematic summary of theresearch at home and abroad on sense of place and place attachment is list.Meanwhile, the conclusion about the analysis of visitors in heritage attraction isdisplayed in this paper.Next, through the reference to the relevant research and the combination betweenthe features of heritage attractions in the suburbs, the measure of the sense of place isdivided into two dimensions about perception of local characteristic and placeattachment. By the deep interview, the measure index and parameter are drawn up.After the professional scoring to measure indices and parameters applying to DelphiMethod, the nine indices of recreationists’ sense of place in heritage attractions in thesuburb is acquired: perception of natural ecology, perception of local culture,perception of scenic characteristics, perception of recreational function, placefamiliarity, place belongingness, place identity, place dependence and placerootedness. According to them,37parameters relevant are fixed.What’s more, the questionnaire to the recreationists in Qingyuan Mountain scenic area is carried out, with the help of the designing table in this research. Therecreationists’ sense of place is analyzed by the statistical methods such as frequencyanalysis, independent-sample T test, one-way anova and factor analysis. As the resultshows, the recreationists’ experience in the whole to the sense of place in QingyuanMountain scenic area is average. From the perspective of demographiccharacteristics，except the obscure sense of place in the angle of recreationists’ gender,the distinct differences are existed in the aspect of age, monthly income, educationdegree, residency group types and religious belief. In the aspect of recreationbehavior experience, the differences in the rest frequency and rest time period isobvious; consequently, emotional attachment factor, ecological and humanisticcharacteristics factor, recreational environment factor and heritage features factor arethe dominant influential factors on recreationists to sense of place in suburbanheritage attractions.Last but not least, consulting the former research, the new method of show localcharacteristics is put forward. In the end of this paper, the author states the creativepoints and the limitations of this research, with the expectation of the researchdirection in future.