Touched by Place: Identity construction, place attachment and place attractiveness from a life course perspective in the context of migration

Increased urban centralisation within public services, education and workplaces has altered the living conditions in areas outside the large cities, which has led to increased youth out-migration from these areas. From a life course perspective, this thesis investigates the subtleties of rural migration dynamics in late adolescence to early adulthood by paying attention to the processes through which youth and young adults shape and sustain relationships with places, and by scrutinising how evaluations of places vary across the life course. Through qualitative analysis and by applying literature on identity construction, place attachment and place attractiveness to the study of how individuals process and interpret rural-urban dynamics and construct and position themselves and others through place hierarchies, the thesis provides insights that can help us to understand the full range of feelings and experiences which factor into the relationship between people and places in the context of migration.


Helle Dalsgaard Pedersen is part of the Department of Culture and Global Studies at Aalborg University. ‘Touched by Place: Identity construction, place attachment and place attractiveness from a life course perspective in the context of migration’ is her PhD thesis.