TRANSNATIONALISM PLACE ATTACHMENTS TOWARDS THE ESTABLISHMENT SUSTAINABLE CAMPUS PLANNING

Malaysia inspires to become a premier international education hub with expected intake of more international students’ enrollment into the country. In line with this, the infrastructural development of universities must also be of international standard and environmentally safe and comfortable to attract international students. Malaysia essentially needs to understand the adjustment problems faced by international students and provide the right kind of support by enhancing sense of place attachment amongst international students. The physical planning of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) main campus is outspread due to its large area and seems to contribute to the lack of social interactions and attachment to the university that can assist in improving their campus lifestyles. The aim of this study is, investigate the international students’ perception of current place attachment in UPM. A 5-points Likert-Scaled questionnaire survey on 146 UPM international students and data analysis using SPSS were conducted. Results demonstrate that the tangible physical planning of UPM campus influenced international students’ level of attachment towards the campus surroundings and their positive lifestyles. However, more improvements to the current planning to enhance social interactions, safety and human comfort are needed to enhance the place attachments in the planning process.

Keywords:

Place Attachment , Campus Planning , Universiti Putra Malaysia , International Students