Effects of Instagram on visitors' attachment to revitalised historic city centres in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia and Chinatown, Singapore
Modern cities are experiencing the challenging consequences of rapid urbanization, such as decay, problems concerning safety, aesthetics, loss of urban identity, social life, and physical deterioration in the built environment. Historic city centres, which are the core elements of cities’ identit...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/113564/1/113564.pdf |
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| Summary: | Modern cities are experiencing the challenging consequences of rapid
urbanization, such as decay, problems concerning safety, aesthetics, loss of
urban identity, social life, and physical deterioration in the built environment.
Historic city centres, which are the core elements of cities’ identities, are
particularly faced with abandonment and decline, resulting in the danger of
cultural heritage and identity loss. Therefore, revitalising historic city centres and
converting them to healthy living environments has become an urgent issue.
Despite the fact that most regeneration and renovation practices concentrate on
creating more human-friendly environments, they mostly focus on physical
enhancements and less on the psychological element of attachment formed
between people and places. Another modern world fact is the undeniable role of
social media in our daily lives. This also affects how users experience places
and form attachments to place, since it has become integrated as a digital layer
to how people experience the world today. Even though place attachment
provides continuity over time and a sense of belonging in historically significant
places, social media usage is ever-increasing and there is not much research on
the use and effect of popular social media tools on rehabilitated urban spaces
and how they may work as a place-attachment tool for such rehabilitation
projects. The objective of this thesis is to explore the effects of Instagram on
visitors’ place attachment to revitalized historic city centres. For this purpose, a
case study approach was chosen employing a mixed methodology. The
quantitative method sampled 421 respondents from two cases, Georgetown
historic city centre in Penang, Malaysia, and Chinatown historic city centre in
Singapore. Data were collected through questionnaire surveys as the main
method and supported by a netnography method, which was conducted online.
The questionnaires measured how Instagram played a role on place attachment
formation through destination image, place involvement, and collective memory,
and the results were analysed by conducting a mediator analysis. The
netnography method collected the Instagram posts of visitors and then analysed
the data by content analysis within a hermeneutic approach. Using a mixed
methodology from multiple case studies allowed the researcher to gain rich data
and make comparisons. After the individual analysis of the cases, a cross-case
analysis was done to see if the initial hypotheses were supported. The last step
was to discuss the findings and respond to the research questions. The findings
revealed that Instagram usage has a significant positive effect on destination
image, place involvement, collective memory, and place attachment.
Furthermore, it was seen that destination image and collective memory played a
mediating role between Instagram usage and place attachment. Although place
involvement was not found to be a predictor for place attachment or a mediator
between Instagram usage and place attachment quantitatively, the netnographic
study interpreted this from the Instagram posts. The study suggests that
destination image and collective memory plays the most vital role in the effect of
Instagram usage on place attachment to historic city centres. Furthermore,
enhancing visitors’ place attachment to historic city centres will support stronger
place identity that could turn decayed historic city centres into frequently used
and embraced responsive environments. The findings provide a wholesome
view of how Instagram usage shapes the place attachment process before,
during and after visiting a place. The central message of this study is that
integrating Instagram usage into historic city centre revitalisation will generate
and enhance place attachment and will help strengthen the place identity of
cities. |
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