Abstract:
This study examines the intricate connection between place attachment and privacy in the setting of residential complexes. Understanding what influences people's connection to their living locations becomes increasingly important as urbanization continues to change our living settings. Living in multifamily housing is perceived as fundamentally dependent on privacy, affecting people's feelings of safety, independence, personal identity, and attachment there. However, little research has been done on how issues with privacy impact someone's perception of a place throughout a residential complex.
Therefore, the current study has examined the relationship between place attachment and privacy. To achieve this aim, the residential complex of “Mangalem 21” in Tirana is selected as a case study. Place attachment, defined as the emotional connection or relationship between one person and a certain location is measured on three levels of attachment: apartment, residential complex, and city. To measure privacy in different spatial qualities, the study has selected three types of apartments positioned in: the outer perimeter, the semi-closed courtyard, and the closed courtyard, by interviewing 201 residents, 67 per each of the typologies. Privacy, as a feeling of isolation from excessive social interaction, is measured only for the level of apartment attachment.
The results overall, in the three examined courtyard typologies, residents feel attached mostly to their apartment and city, and feel less attached to the whole residential
complex. For the privacy aspect, resulted that a considerable number of respondents were affected by the issue of privacy when asked if their negative answer related to attachment to the apartment was influenced by the lack of privacy. Finally, the study found that interviewers living in the closed courtyards apartments reported lower attachment due to privacy issues. In addition, the results were higher in semi-closed apartments and highest in outer perimeter apartments.
