Place attachment and attitudes toward rural development: The concept of FANP model

Though previous research has developed an evaluation measurement for place attachment, it has ignored the interdependence of the criteria and sub-criteria associated with that evaluation tool. Because it is challenging for researchers to digest the multi-criteria messages presented in place attachment and to understand the multiple place attachment terms, this study adopts the fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) model to identify the characteristics of place attachment and categorizes these characteristics into three dimensions, namely, personal context, community context, and environment context. Using the FANP model, an empirical survey was conducted that included the collected survey data of 187 respondents from the Meinong region of Taiwan to determine the typical features of place attachment. Research results demonstrate that, with respect to successful community involvement, familiarity is essential for place attachment.