The Patterns of Sense of Place: A Post-Structural Human Geography Case Study in HafenCity, Hamburg

Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the wider understanding and implementation potentials of Sense of Place (SOP) through a case study in Hamburg, Germany. This was done by examining how socioeconomic and geographical factors influence people in Hamburg’s perception of the newly developed neighborhood HafenCity. The analytical framework consists of humanistic geography theories, a section on distance decay theory alongside with a section on the quantification possibilities of SOP. A quantitative method was used through a survey-study. The results show that socioeconomic factors such as education, age, gender, and how long a person has been living in Hamburg did not seem to have any major impacts on the perception of HafenCity. Geographical factors did however impact the perception of the area with a reversed distance decay, where people living further away from HafenCity reported a higher degree of SOP. The group reporting the highest degree of SOP were however the people living in HafenCity. The thesis is concluded with a discussion, where other factors which might explain the geographical patterns of SOP are discussed.