Restoring residents' place attachment in long term post-disaster recovery: The role of residential environment, tourism, and social and cultural capital

Disaster caused place destruction and reconstruction affects residents' place attachment. How place attachment is restored over the long term during post-disaster recovery remains a critical but understudied topic within disaster literature. This study examined a town severely affected by the Wenchuan earthquake in China, evaluating the changes in physical and social conditions and their influence on residents' place attachment during long-term recovery. Using structural equation modeling, this research identified that the residential environment and social capital significantly affect both place dependence and place identity. Post-disaster tourism significantly impacts place dependence, and the cultural capital of disaster resilience significantly influences place identity. Furthermore, place dependence mediates the relationships between the residential environment and place identity, as well as between post-disaster tourism and place identity. The findings offer both theoretical and practical insights into restoring residents' place attachment during long-term post-disaster recovery.