The Sense of Social Attachment in Changing Urban Communities: Evidence from Chengdu City in China

Exploring the influence mechanism of the sense of social attachment (SSA) is a key element for community development and residents’ well-being. Existing studies have not accurately distinguished and measured the internal structural factors, including neighborhood relations, community participation, and satisfaction, that affect the SSA. Data collected from 2654 respondents in three dwelling types of communities in Chengdu, China, was analyzed by constructing a structural equation model. We explored the influence paths of the above factors on the SSA to the community. Accordingly, this research shows that the linear model of the SSA has no significant effect in three types of communities, the systematic model was only fully established in work unit housing communities. The living model of “community satisfaction― neighborhood relations―community participation―the sense of social attachment” we constructed is more universal in explaining the influence of the sense of social attachment, which supplements the internal connection of intermediary variables and provides a new judgment for the SSA.