Abstract
The relationship between environmental factors and human mobility is neither simple nor linear, rather it is often indirect and mediated by social, cultural, and economic drivers. We present a case that one important and, until recently, neglected factor in the nexus between environmental change and decisions to migrate is attachment to place. We consider how environmental change might enhance or diminish the perceived or experienced benefits or ‘liveability’ of a place and propose that under certain conditions, a disruption in benefits will be felt as irreversible, will be accompanied by feelings of loss and grief, and will prompt a decision to leave. We identify this as one of four ways in which place attachment is likely to be related to migration in response to environmental change: (1) in constraining the decision to leave, (2) in prompting a decision to leave when the loss becomes intolerable, (3) as a factor in destination choice, and (4) as part of the post-migration experience.
References
Adams H (2016) Why populations persist: mobility, place attachment and climate change. Popul Environ 37(4):429–448. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-015-0246-3
Adams H, Adger WN (2013) The contribution of ecosystem services to place utility as a determinant of migration decision-making. Environ Res Lett 8(1):15006. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015006
Adger WN, Barnett J (2009) Four reasons for concern about adaptation to climate change. Environ Plan A 41(12):2800–2805. https://doi.org/10.1068/a42244
Adger WN, Barnett J, Brown K, Marshall N, O’Brien K (2013) Cultural dimensions of climate change impacts and adaptation. Nat Clim Chang 3(2):112–117. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1666
Albrecht G, Sartore GM, Connor L, Higginbotham N, Freeman S, Kelly B, Stain H, Tonna A, Pollard G (2007) Solastalgia: the distress caused by environmental change. Australas Psychiatry 15(sup1):S95–S98. https://doi.org/10.1080/10398560701701288
Anton CE, Lawrence C (2014) Home is where the heart is: the effect of place of residence on place attachment and community participation. J Environ Psychol 40:451–461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2014.10.007
Barcus HR, Brunn SD (2009) Towards a typology of mobility and place attachment in rural America. J Appal Stud 15(1/2):26–48
Barcus HR, Brunn SD (2010) Place elasticity: exploring a new conceptualization of mobility and place attachment in rural America. Geogr Ann Ser B Hum Geogr 92B(4):281–295. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0467.2010.00353.x
Bardsley DK, Hugo GJ (2010) Migration and climate change: examining the thresholds of change to guide effective adaptation decision-making. Popul Environ 32(2–3):238–262
Black R, Adger WN, Arnell NW, Dercon S, Geddes A, Thomas DSG (2011) The effect of environmental change on human migration. Glob Env Change Hum Pol Dimen 21:S3–S11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.10.001
Bonaiuto M, Breakwell GM, Cano I (1996) Identity processes and environmental threat: the effects of nationalism and local identity upon perception of beach pollution. J Community Appl Soc Psychol 6:157–175. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1298(199608)6:3<157::AID-CASP367>3.0.CO;2-W
Bonaiuto M, Alves S, De Dominicis S, Petruccelli I (2016) Place attachment and natural hazard risk: research review and agenda. J Environ Psychol 48:33–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.07.007
Boon HJ (2014) Disaster resilience in a flood-impacted rural Australian town. Nat Hazards 71(1):683–701. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-0935-0
Bronen R, Chandrasekhar D, Conde DA, Kavanova K, Morniniere LC, Schmidt-Verkek K, Witter R (2009) Stay in place or migrate: a research perspective on understanding adaptation to a changing environment. In Linking environmental change, migration & social vulnerability, Oliver-Smith A, Shen X (eds.) Source Publication Series of UNU-EHS, Bonn
Carter J (2010) Protocols, particularities, and problematising Indigenous ‘engagement’ in community-based environmental management in settled Australia. Geogr J 176(3):199–213. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.i475-4959.2010.00355.x
Castles S, De Haas H, Miller MJ (2013) The age of migration: international population movements in the modern world. Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire
Clarke D, Murphy C, Lorenzoni I (2018) Place attachment, disruption and transformative adaptation. J Environ Psychol 55:81–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.12.006
Cunsolo A, Ellis NR (2018) Ecological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss. Nat Clim Chang 8(4):275–281
Devine-Wright P (2009) Rethinking NIMBYism: the role of place attachment and place identity in explaining place-protective action. J Community Appl Soc Psychol 19(6):426–441. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.1004
Devine-Wright P (2013) Think global, act local? The relevance of place attachments and place identities in a climate changed world. Glob Environ Chang Hum Pol Dimen 23(1):61–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2012.08.003
Droseltis O, Vignoles VL (2010) Towards an integrative model of place identification: dimensionality and predictors of intrapersonal-level place preferences. J Environ Psychol 30(1):23–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2009.05.006
Feitelson E (1991) Sharing the globe: the role of attachment to place. Glob Environ Chang 1:396–406. https://doi.org/10.1016/0959-3780(91)90005-E
Gifford R, Scannell L, Kormos C, Smolova L, Biel A, Boncu S et al (2009) Temporal pessimism and spatial optimism in environmental assessments: an 18-nation study. J Environ Psychol 29:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2008.06.001
Glorioso RS, Moss AG (2007) Amenity migration to mountain regions: current knowledge and strategic construct for sustainable management. Soc Change 37(1):137–161. https://doi.org/10.1177/004908570703700108
Gray C (2013) Human migration in a changing climate. Glob Environ Polit 13(1):128–132
Gustafson P (2001) Roots and routes: exploring the relationship between place attachment and mobility. Environ Behav 33(5):667–686. https://doi.org/10.1177/00139160121973188
Hay R (1998) Sense of place in developmental context. J Environ Psychol 18(1):5–29. https://doi.org/10.1006/jevp.1997.0060
Hernández B, Martín AM, Ruiz C, Hidalgo MC (2010) The role of place identity and place attachment in breaking environmental protection laws. J Environ Psychol 30:281–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.01.009
Hugo G (2011) Future demographic change and its interactions with migration and climate change. Glob Env Change Hum Pol Dimen 21:S21–S33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.09.008
Hunter LM, Luna JK, Norton RM (2015) Environmental dimensions of migration. Annu Rev Sociol 41:377–397
Jansen SJT, Hoekstra JSCM, Boumeester HJFM (2017) The impact of earthquakes on the intention to move: fight or flight? J Environ Psychol 54:38–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.09.006
Kelley CP, Mohtadi S, Cane MA, Seager R, Kushnir Y (2015) Climate change in the Fertile Crescent and implications of the recent Syrian drought. Proc Natl Acad Sci 112:3241–3246. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1421533112
Kelman K, Upadhyay H, Simonelli AC, Arnall A, Mohan D, Lingaraj GJ, Nair S, Webersik C (2017) Here and now: perceptions of Indian Ocean islanders on the climate change and migration nexus. Geogr Ann Ser B Hum Geogr 99(3):284–303. https://doi.org/10.1080/04353684.2017.1353888
Lewicka M (2011) Place attachment: how far have we come in the last 40 years? J Environ Psychol 31:207–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.10.001
Marshall NA, Park SE, Adger WN, Brown K, Howden SM (2012) Transformational capacity and the influence of place and identity. Environ Res Lett 7(3):034022. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/7/3/034022
Martin M, Billah M, Siddiqui T, Abrar C, Black R, Kniveton D (2014) Climate-related migration in rural Bangladesh: a behavioural model. Popul Environ 36(1):85–110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-014-0207-2
Massey DS, Arango J, Hugo G, Kouaouci A, Pellegrino A, Taylor JE (1998) Worlds in motion. Understanding international migration at the end of the millennium. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Massey DS, Axinn WG, Ghimire DJ (2010) Environmental change and out-migration: evidence from Nepal. Popul Environ 32(2–3):109–136. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-010-0119-8
Masterson V, Stedman R, Enqvist J, Tengö M, Giusti M, Wahl D, Svedin U (2017) The contribution of sense of place to social-ecological systems research: a review and research agenda. Ecol Soc 22(1). https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-08872-220149
McLeman R (2013) Developments in modelling of climate change-related migration. Clim Chang 117(3):599–611. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-012-0578-2
Milan A, Ruano S (2014) Rainfall variability, food insecurity and migration in Cabrican, Guatemala. Clim Dev 6(1):61–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2013.857589
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) Millennium ecosystem assessment synthesis report. Island Press, Washington
Missirian A, Schlenker W (2017) Asylum applications respond to temperature fluctuations. Science 358:1610–1614. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao0432
Mortreux C, Barnett J (2009) Climate change, migration and adaptation in Funafuti, Tuvalu. Glob Environ Chang Hum Pol Dimen 19(1):105–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2008.09.006
Moskwa E, Bardsley DK, Weber D, Robinson GM (2018) Living with bushfire: recognising ecological sophistication to manage risk while retaining biodiversity values. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct 27:459–469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2017.11.010
Niven RJ, Bardsley DK (2013) Planned retreat as a management response to coastal risk: a case study from the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia. Reg Environ Chang 13(1):193–209. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-012-0315-4
Obokata R, Veronis L, McLeman R (2014) Empirical research on international environmental migration: a systematic review. Popul Environ 36(1):111–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-014-0210-7
Perch-Nielsen S, Battig M, Imboden D (2008) Exploring the link between climate change and migration. Clim Chang 91(3–4):375–393. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-008-9416-y
Piguet E, Pecoud A, de Guchteneire P (2011) Migration and climate change: an overview. Refug Surv Q 30(3):1–23. https://doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdr006
Rigby CW, Rosen A, Berry HL, Hart CR (2011) If the land’s sick, we’re sick: the impact of prolonged drought on the social and emotional well-being of Aboriginal communities in rural New South Wales. Aust J Rural Health 19(5):249–254. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1584.2011.01223.x
Rockström J, Steffen W, Noone K, Persson A, Chapin FS 3rd, Lambin EF, Lenton TM, Scheffer M, Folke C, Schellnhuber HJ, Nykvist B, de Wit CA, Hughes T, van der Leeuw S, Rodhe H, Sörlin S, Snyder PK, Costanza R, Svedin U, Falkenmark M, Karlberg L, Corell RW, Fabry VJ, Hansen J, Walker B, Liverman D, Richardson K, Crutzen P, Foley JA (2009) A safe operating space for humanity. Nature 461(7263):472–475. https://doi.org/10.1038/461472a
Scannell L, Gifford R (2010) Defining place attachment: a tripartite organizing framework. J Environ Psychol 30(1):1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2009.09.006
Scannell L, Gifford R (2013) Personally relevant climate change: the role of place attachment and local versus global message framing in engagement. Environ Behav 45(1):60–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916511421196
Schröter M, van der Zanden EH, van Oudenhoven AP, Remme RP, Serna-Chavez HM, De Groot RS, Opdam P (2014) Ecosystem services as a contested concept: a synthesis of critique and counter-arguments. Conserv Lett 7(6):514–523. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12091
Simms JRZ (2017) “Why would I live anyplace else?”: resilience, sense of place, and possibilities of migration in coastal Louisiana. J Coast Res 33:408–420. https://doi.org/10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-15-00193.1
Stedman RC, Ingalls M (2014) Topophilia, biophilia and greening in the red zone. In: Tidball K, Krasny M (eds) Greening in the red zone. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 129–144. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9947-1_10
Tschakert P, Barnett J, Ellis N, Lawrence C, Tuana N, New M, Elrick-Barr C, Pandit R, Pannell D (2017) Climate change and loss, as if people mattered: values, places, and experiences. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Clim Chang:8e476. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.476
Vorkinn M, Riese H (2001) Environmental concern in a local context: the significance of place attachment. Environ Behav 33(2):249–263. https://doi.org/10.1177/00139160121972972
Willox AC, Harper SL, Ford JD, Landman K, Houle K, Edge VL (2012) “From this place and of this place”: climate change, sense of place, and health in Nunatsiavut, Canada. Soc Sci Med 75(3):538–547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.03.043
Wooltorton S, Collard L, Horwitz P (2017) The Land Still Speaks: Ni, Katitj!. PAN: Phil Activ Nat 13:57–67. https://doi.org/10.4225/03/5ab86d416356c
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Editor: Chinwe Ifejika Speranza
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dandy, J., Horwitz, P., Campbell, R. et al. Leaving home: place attachment and decisions to move in the face of environmental change. Reg Environ Change 19, 615–620 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-019-01463-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-019-01463-1