Where You Live Does Matter: Impact of Residents’ Place Image on Their Subjective Well-Being

Residents’ subjective well-being is closely related to their perception of specific attributes of the city they live in, such as physical appearance, entertainment facilities, and job opportunities. This study aims to examine the effect of place image on residents’ subjective well-being as well as the mediation effect of place attachment on this relationship. Residents living in Guangzhou for more than a year were targeted to collect data, and 420 valid samples were gathered. Structure equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships. The results show that place image has a significant positive impact on life satisfaction and positive affect, while it has a significant negative impact on negative affect. Place identity and place dependence mediate the positive impacts of place image on life satisfaction and positive affect. Finally, management implications and limitations were discussed.