Why do places mean so much?

What did the original 2017 research uncover?

Do you have a childhood memory of a holiday that seems especially vivid? Perhaps just seeing a photograph of a place that you love is enough to make you smile. It turns out that many of us feel this way too.

Although we know which parts of the brain we use when we think about places, nobody has tried to measure the emotional impact of these places before.

We wanted to understand the depth of people’s connection with place so we undertook a research experiment to find out. The detailed results can be found in our Places That Make Us report, which you’ll find a link to at the end of this article.

In the first part of the research 20 people took part in an experiment, at the University of Surrey.

Researchers at the university measured volunteers’ brain activity while the volunteers were shown pictures of landscapes, houses, other locations and personally meaningful objects. Places with strong personal ties caused their brains to get excited, more excited than looking at any of the other photographs.

Specifically, the scanning showed that an area of the brain associated with emotional responses, called the amygdala, was fired up.

This tells us that we have special relationships with places. Meaningful places have a significance that personal possessions, or more general locations, don’t share.

In a second part of the research we surveyed more than 2,000 people, asking about their connections to meaningful places.

For many, childhood memories are important. 

For others, a link to loved ones forges a special attachment to a particular place.

More surprising was that for over 40 per cent of those we surveyed, their meaningful places were recent discoveries. Whether it’s with family, alone or just out walking the dog, it seems we visit these places to relax, enjoy nature or simply get away from our everyday cares.

Whatever they might be, our participants agreed strongly on three feelings about favourite places:
1.    A feeling of belonging
2.    Feeling physically and emotionally safe
3.    Being driven there by a strong internal pull
 

What else do places give us?

The participants in our survey also told us about the calm and joy they experience. Many people said that a visit to their meaningful place grounds them, helps them ease stress and gives them much needed ‘me-time’.

These feelings can be hard to put into words, but all point to a sense of positive wellbeing.

Visiting special places moves people in many ways. Ann-Marie’s mother enjoyed the gardens at Claydon, in Buckinghamshire, while her father enjoyed the buildings and history. For Ann-Marie it was the lives of the people who had lived there; the social history.

‘I like the voices and the stories you hear,’ she says, and this keeps her going back for more.

For many, the strongest feelings they could describe were of calm, joy and contentment, energy and a sense of belonging.

Margaret visits Sutton House in London regularly to spend time with retired friends. She says: ‘You have to go there to know, and then you think – oh yes.'
 

Trevor's story

Meet Trevor, avid bird-watcher and grandad to seven.

For 50 years Trevor has pursued a passion that first captured his imagination as a six-year-old boy. Now his two youngest grandkids, Patrick and Noah, are starting to follow in his footsteps.

School holidays are a time for exploring: crumpets are eaten, wellies are pulled on and binoculars are handed out. Trevor leads the way to Felbrigg Estate, his local birding patch in Norfolk, with Patrick and Noah in pursuit.  

For Trevor, getting children engaged with the natural world is about stepping away from the screens: ‘You’ve actually got to get out there and feel it and smell it and touch it,’ he says.

Even though they live miles apart, this shared enjoyment of wildlife is bringing the family closer. As Trevor says: ‘What’s the point in seeing a really nice, rare bird if you can’t share it with somebody else?’