Creating sense of community: The role of public space Jacinta Francis * , Billie Giles-Corti 1 , Lisa Wood, Matthew Knuiman Centre for the Built Environment and Health, School of Population Health, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley 6009, Australia article info Article history: Available online 24 July 2012 Keywords: Sense of community Built environment Public space Public open space Health Retail abstract A strong sense of community has been associated with improved wellbeing, increased feelings of safety and security, participation in community affairs and civic responsibility. Although interest in how the broader built environment influences sense of community is gaining momentum, there is a dearth of empirical research examining the association between sense of community and the quality of public space. This study investigates the relationship between four public spaces e Public Open Space (POS), community centres, schools and shops e and sense of community in residents of new housing devel- opments in the Perth metropolitan area, Western Australia. Data was obtained from a cross-sectional survey (n ¼ 911), a POS audit, and Geographical Information Systems, and analysed using linear regression. The perceived quality of neighbourhood POS and shops was significantly and positively associated with sense of community. This relationship appears to be unaffected by how frequently people use these spaces. High quality public spaces may be important settings for enhancing sense of community within residents of new housing developments. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Feelings of safety and security, civic participation, voting, recy- cling and volunteering (Sense of Community Partners, 2004), and improved wellbeing (Davidson & Cotter, 1991), have all been associated with a strong sense of community. Sense of community is often defined as “a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together” (McMillan & Chavis, 1986, p. 9). This emphasis on affiliation and belonging has been used to distinguish sense of community from other place constructs. For example, place attachment has been identified with emotional bonding and behavioural commitment, while place dependence has been tied to available activities and quality comparisons with other communi- ties (Pretty, Chipuer, & Bramston, 2003). Sense of place has been described as an umbrella term encompassing place attachment, place identity and place dependence (Jorgensen & Stedman, 2001). Although there is undoubtedly theoretical and phenomenological overlap between the different place constructs, there are varied, and sometimes contradictory, definitions within the published literature. Recent years have seen a number of attempts to better define and interpret these constructs (Bow & Buys, 2003; Lewicka, 2011; Mannarini, Tartaglia, Fedi, & Greganti, 2006; Pretty et al., 2003). Sense of community was chosen for this study as a particu- larly exhaustive measure of the peopleeplace relationship (Mannarini et al., 2006). This reflects a focus on the social bonds within and between people and place, as well as the physical, symbolic, political and cultural implications of ‘community’ (Mannarini et al., 2006). In this age of advanced technology and mobility, sense of community is not limited to a geographical region. However, the close proximity of neighbours provides unique opportunities for social interaction and support, such as collecting mail, watching children in emergencies, or surveillance of people’s homes (Ife, 1995). Furthermore, resources found within the neighbourhood, including neighbours, will always serve a function for less mobile residents such as people working from home, the elderly, parents of young children, single car households and the socio-economically disadvantaged (Kweon, Sullivan, & Wiley, 1998; Maas, van Dillen, Verheij, & Groenewegen, 2009). Ironically, as our awareness of the benefits of a strong sense of community grows, there are concerns that sense of community is declining throughout the Western world (Bonaiuto, Fornara, & Bonnes, 2003; Scopelliti & Giuliani, 2004). This decline is attributed to a variety of reasons, including smaller family networks, suburbanisation, longer commutes, the prolonged inde- pendence of an ageing population, and the proliferation of leisure- time television and social media use (Freeman, 2001; House, Landis, & Umberson, 1988; Oldenburg, 1989). * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ618 6488 7809; fax: þ618 6488 1188. E-mail addresses: jfrancis@meddent.uwa.edu.au (J. Francis), b.giles-corti@ unimelb.edu.au (B. Giles-Corti), Lisa.Wood@uwa.edu.au (L. Wood), Matthew.Knuiman@uwa.edu.au (M. Knuiman). 1 Present address: McCaughy Centre, School of Population Health, Level 5, 207 Bouverie Street, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia. Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Journal of Environmental Psychology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jep 0272-4944/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2012.07.002 Journal of Environmental Psychology 32 (2012) 401e409