Place attachment and migration intentions of the population: An example of eight cities in Serbia
Authors: Petrovic Mina , Backovic Vera , Petrovic Irena 
Published: January 2018

Following the need to combine macro structural and micro actors? perspective,
this paper conceptually starts from endogenous city development paradigm
within which place attachment and intentions to migrate are given specific
importance since human resources are perceived of pivotal significance. Such
paradigm is related to diversified factors that makes city more or less
attractive for local population, thus enhancing their place attachment and
involvement or migrational intentions. Focused connection between the place
attachment and migration intentions are discussed as neglected in studies of
migration, and conceptually supported by the notion of territorial identity
and specific reinterpretation of Bourdieu?s ideas of sense of comfort in
place, and by employing his concept of habitus to the city. Empirically, the
connection of people?s place attachment and intentions to migrate is analyzed
for eight cities in Serbia. The selected cities: Kragujevac, Sabac, Uzice,
Novi Pazar, Sombor, Zrenjanin, Leskovac, and Zajecar are chosen as middle
sized cities for which the issues to develop attractiveness and attach their
population becomes particularly complex in times of (post-socialist)
transformation and economic crisis. Empirical analysis is aimed to illustrate
the researched cities potential to keep their population by investigating
their place attachment (emotional and functional) and the way they perceive
their city, in relation to their intention to migrate. Data are collected
through questionnaire survey, in the 2013-2015 period. Such an explorative
aim intended to demonstrate the importance to research local population
perspective in order to understand the cities as lived spaces and their
acting potential, as such important information are left out of scope by
regular statistics. Research findings confirm the basic assumption that
cities with higher migration inclinations are also the cities with lower
place attachment. That supports the employed perspective which reveals that
place attachment and provincial habitus? characteristics emerge irrespective
to their development category. Thus, Zrenjanin and Zajecar appeared with
weaker while Novi Pazar with stronger capacities than expected. Besides that,
the correlation between migration inclinations and place attachment is more
consistent and stronger than between migration inclinations and any other
socio-demographic characteristic of respondents, in all cities. Such finding
confirms the need that place attachment should be given more attention in
researching city development potentials, for which migrations are sifnificant
indication. More work should be dedicated to further conceptualization of
connection between place attachment and migrational intentions both from
demographic and sociological perspective. Also, the fact that respondents?
education correlates more to place attachment than to migrational intentions,
while correlations among the last two variables are more consistent,
indicates to possible complex interferences and need to further explore the
observed connections.