The relationship between risk perception and place attachment in Düzce city

Due to their commitment to the place they live in relation to their social-physical environment people living in disaster areas often do not accept to move away from their living spaces despite their loss of life and property. This attitude shapes risk perception and pre-disaster preparation. Place attachment refers to the emotional bond that individuals establish with their environment, and risk perception refers to the evaluation of the likelihood and of the consequences of any risk by individuals. In this context, it was aimed to determine the effect of place attachment on risk perception and the to identify relationship of these variables with the socio-demographic structure in Duzce city center in which disasters such as where earthquake, flood and landslide occurred. In addition, the relationship between the socio-demographic structure and their confidence in the actors in disaster management as well as the concern that natural risks affect the city of Duzce was investigated. Secondary data analysis among content review techniques and structured interviews with 290 people living in the central district of Duzce with closed and open ended questions were employed as the method of the study. SPSS 25.0 and LISREL 8.80 programs were used to evaluate the data obtained from the structured interviews. Independent t-test, one-way variance and simple correlation tests were applied for socio-demographic analysis. The impact of place attachment on risk perception and the hypothesis created in accordance with this purpose were tested with structural equation model (SEM). According to the results, it was revealed that the risk perception increased as place attachment increased. Recommendations have been developed to increase the risk perception that plays an important role in disaster preparedness and risk management.