Can place attachment mediate perceptions of bushfire risk? A case study of the Blue Mountains, NSW

This research focused on verbal and visual experiences of residents' homes and surroundings to explore whether place attachment in a bushfire-prone community mediated perceptions of risk. Place attachment is conceptualised as the bonding of people to a place that influences their perceptions of those places. The analysis draws from qualitative data that used a visual and mobile method called 'Photovoice', coupled with in-depth interviews, to investigate the relationship between place attachment and perceptions of bushfire risk in hazard-prone settings. This research established that place attachment, as mediated by longevity in place and familiarity to place, provided the context for certain perceptions and experiences of bushfire risk. The information garnered from this research can be important for more effective bushfire risk communications that are targeted and tailored to account for residents' attachments to home.

Australian Journal of Emergency Management, Volume 31 Issue 4, August 2016, pp. 62-66. This document is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.