Individual level studies of sense of place have lacked

Individual-level studies of sense of place have lacked conceptual cohesion, coming under various guises including ‘place attachment’ (Hidalgo & Hernandez, 2001; Scannell & Gifford, 2010), ‘sense of community’ (Gattino et al., 2013), and ‘sense of place’ (Pretty, Chipuer, & Bramston, 2003; Williams & Kitchen, 2012). Perceptions of place provide an indicator of our cognitive and emotional responses to the local environment and, in turn, may shape our physiological and behavioural response to that place (Ellaway & Macintyre, 2009; Hystad & Carpiano, 2012; Lengen & Kistermann, 2012; Muhajarine et al., 2008; Scannell & Gifford, 2010). Unresolved in this literature are the specific perceptions of place that elicit responses that impact our health. Work to-date has found positive associations between various dimensions of mental and physical health and sense of attachment to one\'s neighbourhood (Muhajarine et al., 2008; Williams & Kitchen, 2012), Oxamflatin Supplier participation (Muhajarine et al., 2008; Pollack & von dem Knesebeck, 2004), perceptions of neighbourhood problems (Ellaway, Macintyre, & Kearns, 2001), and satisfaction with the physical features of one\'s neighbourhood (Muhajarine et al., 2008; Wilsonet al., 2004). Collectively, this research indicates that residents holding positive perceptions of the place they live are more likely to rate their own health highly. Turning to the psychological literature, connections to place that evoke personal meaning often arise from our experiences in those places (Scannell & Gifford, 2010). Importantly, perceptions of one\'s neighbourhood appear more closely linked to health outcomes than objective measures of neighbourhood quality (Wen, Hawkley, & Cacioppo, 2006). This leads us to question whether the physical features of a landscape can elicit a cognitive response that is distinct from the social connections to place identified in the previous paragraph. That is, when I visit a familiar beach does hearing the waves crashing and feeling the warm sand between my toes evoke the same sense of place as when I visit the beach of my childhood and recall memories of running across the hot sand to score a run during a family cricket match? Hidalgo and Hernandez (2001) found social connections to place elicited greater place attachment than the physical dimensions at the home, neighbourhood and city scales. Gattino et al. (2013) similarly found sense of community was a predictor of higher quality of life whereas attachment to place was not; conflicting results from Wen et al. (2006) suggest this debate is a long way from being resolved. Nonetheless, neurological evidence that heightened emotions play a positive role in memory retention would suggest that a sense of place is greatest where both physical and social stimuli have been elicited (see Lengen and Kistermann (2012) for discussion). When we consider the sociological literature, ‘community’ is now more frequently defined by the common qualities or interests we share with others rather than geographic co-location. Advances in technology and our lived environment have led us to become more mobile and connected with those beyond our neighbourhood (Day & Murdoch, 1993). Measures of sense of community are multidimensional capturing the meanings, attachments and satisfaction that are elicited from individual and collective experiences of a place (Stedman, 2002). As a community-level construct, place may be co-constituted, its meaning embedded in a group\'s social and cultural practices (Scannell & Gifford, 2010). Perhaps even more importantly, a community may be a site of belonging. Research illustrates that a positive sense of identity can emerge from strong social connections (Glendinning, Nuttall, Hendry, Kloep, & Wood, 2003; Stedman, 2002), and confidence in the collective efficacy of a community (Jung & Viswanath, 2013). Interestingly, perceived problems within one\'s neighbourhood have been identified as a stronger predictor of poor health than a sense of neighbourhood cohesion (Ellaway et al., 2001). We argue that significant health promotion efforts remain focussed on the community and the changing nature of ‘community’ warrants further investigation.