Collaborative Research: Place Attachment in Mitigation and Recovery: A Mixed Methods Study of Residential Adjustment Following Wildfires

在一场重大灾害（如野火）发生后，受影响的房主必须做出艰难的决定：他们是像灾前一样重建家园，还是以更好地保护他们免受未来灾害的方式重建家园，还是搬迁到其他地方的新家？这些都是复杂的决定，影响房主和社区多年。这些决定受到许多因素的影响，包括家庭收入、获得保险的机会、就业地点、对医疗或学校等当地服务的需求以及与家人和朋友的联系。影响所有这些因素的一个潜在因素是地方依恋，或者说人们对他们居住的地方的情感和功能联系。这项研究的重点是了解地方依恋如何影响人们在灾难后做出的决定，特别是关于他们住在哪里以及他们是否投资于降低未来灾难风险的措施的决定。关注三个加州县已受到最近，主要的野火，从这项研究的结果将有助于地方政府和从业人员制定计划，更好地支持家庭受灾害影响，并告知社区规划与气候变化相关的危害。受野火影响的家庭面临着一个关键的决策点：他们是以同样的方式重建，还是通过新的减灾措施重建，还是搬迁？相对而言，很少有研究探讨影响这些居住决策过程的因素，特别是无形因素如地方依恋的作用。本研究解决了这些关键的差距，我们的理解，目标是：（1）调查最近受加州野火影响的房主的住宅调整，（2）检查在灾后住宅调整的地方附件的作用，（3）评估在何种程度上，目前的地方附件措施捕捉到的动态的地方附件在灾害背景下。以三个加州县为研究地点，并在这些相同的，受火灾影响的社区的试点研究的基础上，研究小组将使用photovoice方法和现象学分析，以发展一个深刻的，有背景的理解的地方依恋在居住决策中的作用。此外，该小组将使用定性比较分析来研究灾后家庭调整途径的共性。研究结果将促进对缓解和恢复中的位置依恋的理论和实践理解。鉴于地方依恋是与恢复决策的许多其他方面联系在一起的基础结构，鉴于野火和其他气候引起的灾害造成的损失越来越大，这将是美国社区的关键贡献。此外，研究结果将有助于有意义的住房恢复政策，适应政策，恢复和搬迁的做法。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

After a major disaster, such as a wildfire, affected homeowners must make a difficult decision: do they rebuild their home as it was before the disaster, rebuild but in a way that better protects them from future disasters, or relocate to a new home elsewhere? These are complicated decisions that impact homeowners and communities for many years. Such decisions are influenced by many factors, including household income, access to insurance, location of employment, the need for local services such as medical care or schools, and connections to family and friends. One underlying factor that affects all these others is place attachment, or the emotional and functional ties that people have to the place where they live. This study focuses on understanding how place attachment influences the decisions people make after disasters, specifically decisions about where they live and whether they invest in measures that reduce their risk to future disasters. Focused on three California counties that have been affected by recent, major wildfires, findings from this study will help local governments and practitioners develop programs that better support households that are affected by disasters and inform community planning for hazards associated with climate change.This study investigates the role of place attachment in residential adjustment after wildfires. Households affected by wildfires face a critical decision point: do they rebuild in the same way, rebuild with new mitigation efforts, or relocate? Relatively few studies have examined the factors that influence these residential decision-making processes, particularly the role of intangible factors like place attachment. This study addresses these critical gaps in our understanding, with the goals of: (1) investigating residential adjustment among homeowners affected by recent California wildfires, (2) examining the role of place attachment in post-disaster residential adjustment, and (3) assessing the extent to which current place attachment measures capture the observed dynamics of place attachment in disaster contexts. Using three California counties as study sites, and building on a pilot study in these same, fire-affected communities, the research team will use photovoice method and phenomenological analyses to develop a deep, contextually grounded understanding of the role of place attachment in residential decisions. Additionally, the team will use qualitative comparative analysis to examine commonalities in household adjustment pathways after disaster. Study findings will advance both the theoretical and practical understanding of place attachment in mitigation and recovery. Given that place attachment is a foundational construct tied to many other aspects of recovery decision-making, this will be a critical contribution for US communities given the increasing losses to wildfire and other climate-induced disasters. Furthermore, study findings will contribute meaningfully to housing recovery policy, adaptation policy, and recovery and relocation practice.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.