Zahnow separates the physical category of a neighbourhood place from the function that users attribute to it, showing that place attachment is generated less by typology alone than by recurrent social experience. Using data from 892 respondents, the study compares public places, large consumption spaces, local consumption places and socialisation settings while testing how personalised functions modify attachment. The strongest conceptual finding is that places associated with socialising and shared purpose produce greater attachment, and that local cafés or stores become especially significant when experienced as social rather than merely consumptive environments. Methodologically, regression models distinguish direct, mediating and moderating relationships between place type, function and attachment. The theoretical contribution is to shift place attachment from a static property of location to a relational effect of use, meaning and frequency. The paper bridges community psychology, environmental psychology and social-infrastructure research by demonstrating that everyday neighbourhood settings become anchors of belonging through what people repeatedly do there together.
