Paper short abstract:

The study explores the effect that drastic changes in urban landscape have on place attachment of locals with strong personal connection to the place. The focus is on people’s emotions and attitudes towards the changes in places connected to their personal history.

Paper long abstract:

Reykjavik city center has undergone rapid change in the last decade. The tourist boom of the mid-2010s led to a proliferation of shops and restaurants specializing first and foremost on the tourist experience, and economic development led to gentrification of certain parts of downtown. During the pandemic the streets changed yet again as the tourist flow dwindled and restrictions caused many establishments to go out of business. The drastic transformation of the area in a short period has forced the local population to find ways to deal with the changes by altering their everyday practices, negotiating, contesting, and adapting to the transformation of the neighborhood.

These processes elicit different feelings associated with the changing features of the urban landscape, including the emergence of new and disappearance of old places and objects. This study explores the effect that these changes in the urban landscape have on the place attachment of locals who have a strong connection to the place, a connection that is rooted in personal memory and community heritage. Methods of sensory ethnography, such as walk-along interviews with a flexible route chosen by the participants, allow to capture the embodied experience of the study participants and their connection to space and place. In addition, walking through the space allows us to move through time as it invokes memories attached to the surrounding landscape. The focus here is on the emotions and attitudes of the participants towards the changes happening in places connected to their personal history.