A recent study in Nature Human Behaviour concluded that the number of familiar locations that an individual visits at any point is typically ~25. I was a little surprised by this number, expecting it to be higher, but the researchers employed a robust methodology. Previous studies found that individual generally visit a small set of locations, but also that the number of places that a person visits grows steadily over time. The authors initiated this study in order to investigate this seeming contradiction. This study analyzed data collected from ~40,000 individual Smartphone users, which it reports as being “high-resolution multi-year traces,” and which originated from 4 different databases.
Imagine if every place your regularly visited were as vibrant as this example of placemaking on Collinson St., Victoria?
The data revealed that a person’s ‘location capacity,’ that is the number of places which a person visits regularly, remains constant over long periods of time (months and years). In other words, at any given time, the number of familiar places that a person visits is around 25. While the individual places will change over time, but the total number regularly visited places at a given time remains consistent.
This study is significant for placemakers and communities in general, as it underscores the importance of placemaking. If we only regularly visit a small number of places, we should strive to make these places as engaging as possible. Well-being would certainly be negatively impacted if all of the places that we visit are lackluster and bleak.
How many places do you regularly visit?
Author:
Teale Phelps Bondaroff
Board Member and Pocket Places Project Lead
Greater Victoria Placemaking Network
