Authenticity and place attachment as dual pathways for sustainable tourism in the historic Quanzhou West Street, China

Abstract

Authenticity is a core attribute of historic streets, shaping both visitor experience and long-term destination sustainability. However, few studies have examined how multiple dimensions of authenticity influence place attachment in Chinese heritage contexts. This study investigates the relationships between object-related authenticity (tangible heritage features), existential authenticity (experiential engagement), and two components of place attachment—place identity and place dependence—using Quanzhou West Street, a UNESCO-listed heritage corridor, as a case study. A structured on-site survey of 309 domestic tourists was analyzed with structural equation modeling, supported by exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to ensure measurement validity. Results demonstrate that both authenticity dimensions significantly and positively affect place identity and place dependence. Moreover, place identity mediates the link between authenticity and place dependence, suggesting that symbolic–emotional connections strengthen functional reliance on the site. These findings highlight that sustainable heritage tourism depends on protecting physical fabric while fostering authentic cultural experiences. Practical implications include integrating architectural conservation with participatory cultural programming, implementing visitor management to prevent over-commercialization, and involving local communities in governance. This study advances understanding of the dual pathways through which authenticity fosters attachment, offering guidance for sustainable management of historic urban landscapes.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-28662-7.

Introduction

Authenticity is widely recognized as one of the most valuable and appealing attributes of tourism destinations, particularly heritage sites. As Cohen¹ observed, authenticity serves as a primary motivation for travel, and its pursuit has become a defining trend in contemporary tourism². In the context of historic heritage streets, authenticity not only enhances visitor experience but also plays a critical role in sustainable tourism development³. Preserving genuine architectural, cultural, and social characteristics enables destinations to deliver meaningful experiences, strengthen tourist loyalty, and maintain long-term competitiveness^4–6.

Extensive research has examined authenticity from theoretical, managerial, and marketing perspectives, demonstrating that authentic heritage experiences can evoke strong emotional responses, deepen cultural understanding, and promote destination attachment^7,8. However, authenticity may also have negative manifestations. Staged or inappropriate elements can reduce visitor satisfaction and undermine local cultural integrity, as seen in Zhouzhuang and Tongli ancient towns⁹. These contrasting effects highlight the need for nuanced management that balances tourist expectations with heritage preservation.

Heritage tourism plays a vital role in preserving cultural memory while generating economic benefits^10–12. Through the presentation of historic architecture and intangible cultural heritage, destinations can foster a sense of identification with place and enhance perceived value^13–15. Yet, commercialization and globalization increasingly threaten authenticity¹⁶. Historic districts such as Quanzhou West Street face challenges including physical deterioration, insufficient conservation funding, and pressures from mass tourism. Over-commercialization risks eroding local culture, altering spatial patterns, and causing environmental degradation^17,18. Sustainable heritage management therefore requires coordinated action among government, businesses, residents, and tourists to protect authenticity while accommodating visitor demand.

The concept of authenticity in heritage contexts was formally recognized in the 1964 International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites. Since then, it has evolved into a cornerstone of heritage tourism theory and practice¹⁹. Ning²⁰ identified three forms: objective authenticity, referring to the inherent genuineness of tangible heritage objects; constructive authenticity, shaped by cultural and social interpretation; and existential authenticity, reflecting personal feelings of self-discovery, relaxation, and meaningful connection during travel. Object-related authenticity combines the objective and constructive forms, while existential authenticity focuses on the tourist’s psychological state rather than the site’s physical attributes^4,21. Both dimensions play distinct roles in shaping visitor satisfaction, engagement, and loyalty.

Place attachment, a construct rooted in environmental psychology, describes the emotional and cognitive bonds individuals form with specific locations²². It is commonly conceptualized through two dimensions: place identity, the emotional and symbolic connection linking a location to one’s self-concept^23,24, and place dependence, the functional reliance on a location to meet specific needs or activities^25,26. Distinctive site characteristics such as architectural heritage, cultural landscapes, and unique activities can strengthen both dimensions^27,28.

Empirical studies suggest that authenticity can influence both place identity and place dependence. High-authenticity destinations often elicit stronger emotional bonds and greater functional commitment^29,30. However, research linking multiple authenticity dimensions to both components of place attachment in historic street settings remains limited.

In exploring the relationship between place identity and place dependence, a crucial mechanism emerges: emotional attachment to a place (place identity) can evolve into functional reliance on it (place dependence). This progression is grounded in environmental psychology, where place identity represents the emotional bond individuals form with a location, integrating it deeply into their self-concept. As emotional attachment to a place strengthens, these bonds often translate into an increased need for the place to serve specific functional purposes, such as leisure, social interaction, or cultural engagement. This psychological mechanism suggests that, as emotional ties deepen, the site becomes progressively more essential for meeting these needs. Thus, the connection between place identity and place dependence underscores the reciprocal nature of attachment, in which emotional connections reinforce functional dependence, fostering ongoing engagement with the location.

Addressing this gap, the present study examines the effects of object-related authenticity and existential authenticity on place identity and place dependence in Quanzhou West Street, a nationally recognized historic heritage street in China. The proposed conceptual model tests five hypotheses: H1: Object-related authenticity positively influences place identity; H2: Existential authenticity positively influences place identity; H3: Place identity positively influences place dependence; H4: Object-related authenticity directly and positively influences place dependence; and H5: Existential authenticity directly and positively influences place dependence.

By integrating authenticity typologies with place attachment theory, this research provides empirical evidence on how tangible heritage attributes and intangible experiential factors jointly shape visitor–place bonds. The findings offer theoretical contributions to authenticity and place attachment research, and practical guidance for enhancing the sustainability of historic street tourism.

Materials and methods

Study area

The research was conducted in Quanzhou West Street, located in the historic core of Quanzhou Ancient City, Fujian Province, China. Quanzhou is a UNESCO World Heritage city with a history of more than 1,300 years, recognized as the first East Asian Cultural Capital and historically renowned as “Carp City” due to its distinctive city shape. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, Quanzhou was one of China’s most important maritime trade ports, fostering extensive cultural exchange. Over centuries, the city’s heritage has evolved through the integration of Minyue traditions with diverse religious and foreign influences, including Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and Taoism.

West Street, the earliest developed and best-preserved thoroughfare in Quanzhou, dates back to the Five Dynasties period. The street retains numerous historic buildings, including the nationally protected Kaiyuan Temple, traditional courtyard residences, and arcade-style architecture from the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China era. These features collectively embody the city’s tangible and intangible heritage values. The surrounding urban fabric, narrow alleyways, and architectural styles offer visitors a unique cultural landscape shaped by centuries of socio-economic change.

Today, West Street serves as both a cultural landmark and a tourism hub. However, it faces sustainability challenges related to heritage conservation, urban development pressures, and the risk of over-commercialization. In this study, the research scope focused on the external built environment and streetscape along both sides of West Street, excluding building interiors, to capture visitors’ perceptions of authenticity within the public realm.

Measurement framework

The conceptual model (Fig. 1) includes four latent constructs: Object-related authenticity (OA)—perceived genuineness of tangible heritage elements, adapted from Bryce, et al. ²¹ and Kolar and Zabkar⁴ (4 items); Existential authenticity (EA)—subjective experiences of self-discovery, relaxation, and personal connection, also adapted from Bryce, et al.²¹ and Kolar and Zabkar⁴ (5 items); Place identity (PI)—emotional-symbolic attachment to West Street, adapted from Bricker and Kerstetter³¹ and Williams and Vaske³² (6 items); and Place dependence (PD)—functional reliance on West Street for valued activities, adapted from Bricker and Kerstetter³¹ and Williams and Vaske³² (5 items). All items used a 7-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). As the target respondents were domestic tourists, all scale items were translated into Chinese and back-translated into English to ensure semantic equivalence. A panel of three academic experts reviewed the questionnaire to confirm clarity, cultural relevance, and alignment with the study objectives.

Fig. 1.

Conceptual model.

Data collection

Fieldwork was conducted from 21 to 25 March 2024. A systematic sampling approach was used, with trained enumerators distributing questionnaires on-site to visitors who had completed their tour. Questionnaires were distributed at designated points along the heritage site to ensure a representative sample of visitors. The survey targeted individuals aged 18 and above to ensure informed responses regarding authenticity perceptions and place attachment. In total, 330 questionnaires were distributed, and 309 valid responses were obtained (effective response rate: 93.63%). To ensure data validity, invalid responses were identified and excluded based on specific criteria, such as extreme responses (e.g., selecting the same answer for all items) and uniform responses (e.g., answers indicating little variation in response patterns). All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant ethical guidelines and regulations. The experimental protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Guangzhou University, and informed consent was obtained from all participants and their legal guardians prior to participation in the study. Demographic variables collected included gender, age, education level, monthly household income, occupation, annual visit frequency, travel time to the site, and primary reason for visiting (Table 1).

Table 1.

Demographic characteristics of respondents.

Variable	Category	Frequency	Percent (%)	Cumulative Percent (%)
The number of times tourists have visited West Street within the past year.	Once	171	55.3	55.3
	Twice	106	34.3	89.6
	Three times or more	32	10.4	100.0
Gender	Male	138	44.7	44.7
	Female	171	55.3	100.0
Age	19 years old and below	9	2.9	2.9
	21–29 years old	99	32.0	35.0
	30–39 years old	73	23.6	58.6
	40–49 years old	64	20.7	79.3
	50–59 years old	52	16.8	96.1
	60years old and above	12	3.9	100.0
Educational Level	Primary school and below	25	8.1	8.1
	Middle school	55	17.8	25.9
	High school	66	21.4	47.3
	Associate degree	153	49.5	96.8
	Graduate degree and above	10	3.2	100.0
Time Needed to Visit Quanzhou West Street	Within 30 min	64	20.7	20.7
	30 min to 1 h	173	56.0	76.7
	1 to 2 h	55	17.8	94.5
	2 to 4 h	8	2.6	97.1
	More than 4 h	9	2.9	100.0
Main Reasons for Visiting Quanzhou West Street	Leisure (shopping, tasting food, strolling)	51	16.5	16.5
	Appreciating traditional architecture and streetscape Experiencing local culture (history, culture)	140	45.3	61.8
	Appreciating traditional architecture and streetscape Experiencing local culture (history, culture)	118	38.2	100
Occupation	Student	85	27.5	27.5
	Government official	2	0.6	28.2
	Education/Training professional	24	7.8	35.9
	Businessperson	44	14.2	50.2
	Freelancer	28	9.1	59.2
	Retired person	25	8.1	67.3
	Employee	69	22.3	89.6
	Other	32	10.4	100.0
Income Range	Below 2000 yuan	101	32.7	32.7
	2000–4000 yuan	58	18.8	51.5
	4000–6000 yuan	89	28.8	80.3
	6000–8000 yuan	42	13.6	93.9
	8000–10,000 yuan	12	3.9	97.7
	Above 10,000 yuan	7	2.3	100.0
Total		309	100.0	100.0

Data analysis

The analysis followed a three-step procedure: (1) Preliminary Analysis: SPSS 26.0 was used for descriptive statistics, reliability testing (Cronbach’s α), and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to assess scale dimensionality. This step helps us understand the basic characteristics of the data and check if the measurement items are consistent and grouped together in a meaningful way. Sampling adequacy was evaluated using the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) measure and Bartlett’s test of sphericity. (2) Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA): Conducted in AMOS 26.0 to assess measurement model validity, using standardized factor loadings, average variance extracted (AVE), composite reliability (CR), and discriminant validity criteria. This step tests whether the measurement model accurately reflects the relationships between the data and the underlying concepts we are studying. (3) Structural Equation Modeling (SEM): Used to test the hypothesized relationships among OA, EA, PI, and PD, estimating both direct and mediated effects. In this step, we examine the cause-and-effect relationships between the key variables, and assess how one variable may influence another. Model fit was evaluated using goodness-of-fit indices (GFI, AGFI, RMSEA, CFI), following established thresholds in tourism and sustainability research. This ensures that the overall model is a good representation of the data and the relationships we’re testing.

Results

Reliability analysis

Internal consistency reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Values above 0.60 indicate acceptable reliability, and those above 0.70 indicate high reliability. All four constructs exceeded 0.80 (Table 2), demonstrating strong internal consistency.

Table 2.

Reliability statistics.

Dimension	Items	N	Cronbach’s Alpha
OA	4	309	0.801
EA	5	309	0.833
PI	6	309	0.862
PD	5	309	0.846

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA)

Sampling adequacy was confirmed by a KMO value of 0.892 (> 0.60) and a significant Bartlett’s test of sphericity (χ² = 2709.54, df = 190, p < 0.001).These results indicate that the sample is suitable for factor analysis, ensuring that the data are appropriate for the subsequent analyses. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation extracted four factors with eigenvalues > 1, explaining 61.59% of the total variance (Table S1).This suggests that the data can be effectively represented by four distinct factors, which account for a substantial portion of the variance. Each item loaded strongly on its intended factor (Table S2), aligning with the hypothesized construct structure and supporting satisfactory construct validity.

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)

CFA indicated a good model fit (GFI = 0.928, AGFI = 0.908, RMSEA = 0.036, CFI = 0.975). This indicates that the proposed model fits the data well, confirming that the relationships between variables are represented appropriately. Convergent validity was confirmed with AVE values above 0.50 and CR above 0.70 for all constructs (Table S3). All standardized factor loadings exceeded 0.60. Discriminant validity was supported as the square root of AVE for each construct exceeded inter-construct correlations (Table S4).

Descriptive and correlation analysis

Descriptive statistics (Table 3) indicate generally favorable perceptions across all dimensions. Mean scores ranged from 4.72 to 4.89 on a seven-point scale, with OA highest (M = 4.89, SD = 1.06), followed by PI (M = 4.80, SD = 1.05), EA (M = 4.78, SD = 1.08), and PD (M = 4.72, SD = 1.06).

Table 3.

Descriptive statistics.

Dimension	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Std. Deviation
OA	1.50	7.00	4.89	1.06
EA	1.60	7.00	4.78	1.08
PI	1.33	6.67	4.80	1.05
PD	1.60	6.60	4.72	1.06

Pearson correlation analysis (Table 4) revealed significant positive relationships among all constructs (p < 0.01). OA correlated moderately with PI (r = 0.405) and PD (r = 0.407), while EA showed similar associations with PI (r = 0.431) and PD (r = 0.356). PI and PD were also positively related (r = 0.388). These findings suggest that higher perceived authenticity—both object-related and existential—is associated with stronger place attachment, encompassing both emotional identification and functional dependence on West Street. These results suggest that higher levels of perceived authenticity—both object-related and existential—are linked to stronger place attachment, indicating that both emotional and functional connections with West Street are enhanced by authenticity.

Table 4.

Pearson correlations.

	OA	EA	PI	PD
OA	1
EA	0.386**	1
PI	0.405**	0.431**	1
PD	0.407**	0.356**	0.388**	1

* p < 0.05 ** p < 0.01.

Structural equation modeling (SEM)

SEM was conducted using AMOS 26.0 to examine the hypothesized relationships among latent variables. SEM was selected because it enables the simultaneous estimation of multiple causal relationships, including those involving unobservable constructs, which cannot be adequately addressed using traditional regression or correlation analyses.

The proposed model (Fig. 2) demonstrated a satisfactory fit to the data, with all major fit indices meeting recommended thresholds. Path analysis results (Table 5) show that both OA and EA significantly and positively influenced PI (β = 0.330, p < 0.001; β = 0.347, p < 0.001, respectively). PI, in turn, had a significant positive effect on place dependence (PD) (β = 0.218, p = 0.002). Direct effects of OA (β = 0.303, p < 0.001) and EA (β = 0.189, p = 0.004) on PD were also significant.

Fig. 2.

Structural equation modeling (SEM).

Table 5.

SEM analysis results.

Path	STD Coeff.	Coeffi	S.E.	Z(C.R.)	P
OA→PI	0.330	0.345	0.071	4.893	***
EA→PI	0.347	0.383	0.074	5.153	***
PI→PD	0.218	0.337	0.109	3.084	0.002
OA→PD	0.303	0.489	0.112	4.359	***
EA→PD	0.189	0.322	0.112	2.865	0.004

These results suggest that both tangible attributes (OA) and experiential dimensions (EA) of authenticity contribute to visitors’emotional identification with West Street (PI), which subsequently reinforces their functional dependence on the site (PD). Additionally, OA and EA exert independent direct effects on PD, highlighting that authenticity perceptions can strengthen place dependence through both mediated and direct pathways.

Discussion

Authenticity as a driver of place attachment

This study examined the influence of perceived authenticity on tourists’ place attachments in Quanzhou West Street, focusing on both object-related and existential authenticity. Structural equation modeling confirmed that both dimensions significantly and positively affect place identity and place dependence, with place identity also exerting a positive influence on place dependence. These findings align with prior research identifying authenticity as a central factor in strengthening place attachment in heritage tourism^29,33. The direct relationship between place identity and place dependence in this study contrasts with Williams and Vaske’s (2003) view of these as parallel dimensions, aligning more closely with Bricker and Kerstetter’s (2000) idea that emotional identification can lead to greater functional reliance.

The results show that visitors’ emotional identification with West Street is both symbolic and practical. When a place reflects one’s identity, people are more likely to rely on it for leisure, cultural learning, and social interaction. This link between identity and dependence means that authenticity plays a dual role: it sustains cultural pride and meaning while also reinforcing the site’s capacity to serve as a reliable setting for tourism and daily activities. In sustainable tourism, these bonds are valuable as they encourage return visits, emotional investment in preservation, and support for responsible tourism. Stronger attachment reduces the tendency to treat heritage streets as disposable attractions, thus supporting long-term conservation goals.

Intertwined material and experiential pathways

The direct effects from both authenticity dimensions to place dependence suggest two complementary pathways³⁴. Material authenticity provides tangible affordances: historic layouts that choreograph pedestrian flow, architectural ensembles that frame photo-worthy vistas, and proximate clusters of heritage functions that simplify wayfinding and activity chaining³⁵. Visitors read these affordances as unique—hard to substitute elsewhere—thus elevating functional attachment. In parallel, existential authenticity supports a phenomenological pathway: feelings of calm, resonance, and “being true to oneself” in heritage space make time spent on the street feel qualitatively different. When those feelings are reliably evoked, the place becomes the preferred setting for future cultural exploration and social interaction.

That object-related authenticity and existential authenticity are both significant—yet not redundant—also speaks to discriminant validity at a conceptual level³⁶. Tangible heritage alone may attract initial attention, but it does not guarantee lasting attachment if visitors sense over-commercialization or theatrical staging. Similarly, experiential programming disconnected from the historical setting may entertain but will lack cultural weight, reducing its ability to foster long-term loyalty. The findings emphasize that sustainable heritage management should not isolate conservation and cultural experience but integrate them. This means conserving building structures and street networks while simultaneously enabling authentic social and cultural expressions to continue naturally. This intertwined relationship contributes to resilience in tourism development. When material and experiential authenticity reinforce each other, heritage streets become more adaptable to changing visitor expectations while maintaining cultural integrity. This helps prevent the “museumification” of streets, where heritage is preserved physically but stripped of life, as well as the “festivalization” of culture, where experience is abundant but disconnected from place. West Street demonstrates that both pathways can be synchronized: intact architectural signatures encourage meaning-making, while daily religious practices, small-scale commerce, and oral narratives prevent the space from becoming a mere spectacle. Protecting this delicate balance ensures that tourism growth does not undermine authenticity but instead strengthens cultural sustainability and community identity over time.

Historic streets as Socio-Spatial settings for sustainable tourism

Historic streets concentrate heritage value in linear corridors where daily life, commerce, and conservation intersect³⁷. This morphology amplifies both opportunity and risk. The same spatial continuity that enables serial heritage experiences can accelerate commodification and crowding, potentially eroding authenticity through homogenized retail, intrusive signage, and façade-only renovations³⁸. The findings indicate that sustaining attachment requires actions at both material and experiential levels. Preserving lot-depth integrity, alley permeability, and traditional frontage rhythms maintains features visitors use to assess functional fit. At the same time, narrative interpretation, resident voices, and intangible cultural practices must be made legible without theatricalization, so that existential responses emerge from situated encounters rather than scripted consumption.

The socio-spatial character of streets such as West Street means they are not only sites of cultural consumption but also living urban environments where communities reside, work, and worship. This dual role creates tensions between conservation and development, but it also offers opportunities for sustainable tourism models that reinforce community well-being. For instance, maintaining traditional plot depths and courtyard houses does more than preserve historic scenery; it sustains the small-scale economic activities and social interactions that give the street its vitality. Similarly, keeping alleyways open and walkable supports both heritage interpretation and daily mobility, ensuring that the space remains useful for residents as well as visitors. When conservation strategies address both community needs and visitor expectations, they create a stronger basis for sustainable urban heritage management.

Quanzhou’s plural religious landscape offers a distinctive comparative angle. The co-location of temples, mosques, and churches produces dense symbolic fields where authenticity is not singular but polyphonic. Such plurality can deepen identity work by offering multiple entry points for recognition and empathy, which in turn strengthens place identity and, downstream, place dependence. The result is compatible with observations that destinations with layered cultural signifiers tend to produce stronger attachment when visitors are given cues to make sense of those layers³⁹.

Implications for heritage management and policy

Management strategies that prioritize material conservation without addressing the experiential aspects of heritage can undermine the existential authenticity pathway identified in this study³⁵. Conversely, programs that intensify visitor experiences while neglecting the preservation of urban morphology may jeopardize the very elements that foster functional attachment. Therefore, heritage managers should prioritize the conservation of key physical elements, such as facades, architectural continuity, and spatial integrity. These tangible attributes not only contribute to the uniqueness of the site but also provide functional affordances—such as well-defined pathways and accessible spaces—that enhance visitors’ functional attachment to the site. To ensure these attributes are maintained, management should incorporate measurable indicators, such as facade restoration quality, street permeability, and the preservation of traditional spatial layouts. Actively monitoring and maintaining these elements will help strengthen visitors’ attachment, encouraging repeat visits and increasing functional reliance on the heritage site⁴⁰.

At the same time, experiential programming must complement these material conservation efforts to foster existential authenticity. Small-scale, participatory formats—such as guided heritage walks led by trained local stewards, craft demonstrations in existing workshop spaces, and micro-exhibits that highlight construction techniques or religious syncretism—can enhance visitors’ emotional connections to the site without diluting its physical integrity. Where appropriate, digital augmentation should be used sparingly, ensuring that it enhances rather than replaces embodied encounters, thereby revealing otherwise invisible layers of the site’s history. Such a balanced approach will ensure that both material and experiential elements contribute to a sustainable, authentic heritage tourism experience.

Visitor management is integral to sustaining both pathways⁴¹. Time-phased itineraries, dispersed anchor points beyond the primary corridor, and tenancy policies that maintain a diverse ground-floor mix can modulate flows and resist monoculture retail⁴². Governance arrangements that include residents and small business owners help align conservation incentives with everyday livelihoods and reduce the drift toward staging that audiences quickly perceive as inauthentic. Because the analysis indicates that strengthened place identity can translate into greater functional reliance, initiatives that deepen identity—community-coauthored narratives, living heritage festivals that emerge from local calendars rather than tourist seasons—are likely to have durable effects on repeat visitation and word-of-mouth loyalty, reinforcing sustainability goals articulated in cultural heritage discourse⁴³.

Limitations and future directions

While this study provides valuable insights into the relationship between authenticity and place attachment in heritage tourism, there are several limitations. First, the reliance on self-reported measures constrains the ability to make definitive behavioral inferences, and the cross-sectional nature of the data limits causal claims. Future research could employ longitudinal or panel designs to track the evolution of place attachment over time, examining whether initial emotional connections to heritage sites predict long-term engagement or support for conservation efforts. Additionally, expanding the scope to include cross-cultural or multi-district comparative studies would provide a broader understanding of how different cultural contexts influence the perception of authenticity and place attachment. Incorporating the perspectives of multiple stakeholders, such as residents and business owners, would enhance the depth of the analysis, offering a more comprehensive view of how heritage tourism affects local communities. Finally, multi-stakeholder analyses that consider the dynamic interactions between tourists, local populations, and policymakers could offer valuable insights into sustainable management practices for heritage sites, promoting a more holistic approach to preserving both cultural authenticity and community well-being.

Conclusions

This study investigated how perceived authenticity influences tourists’ place attachments in the context of Quanzhou West Street, a nationally recognized historic heritage street and part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. By operationalizing authenticity in two dimensions—object-related and existential—and linking them to place identity and place dependence through structural equation modeling, the analysis offers empirical evidence that both material and experiential attributes play complementary roles in shaping visitor–place relationships.

The results show that object-related authenticity and existential authenticity each have significant positive effects on place identity and place dependence, and that place identity also positively influences place dependence. This mediating role suggests that the symbolic–emotional connection forged through authentic encounters can enhance visitors’ functional reliance on a destination. The findings thus integrate environmental psychology’s attachment constructs with heritage tourism’s authenticity typologies, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of how tangible and intangible heritage values jointly underpin sustainable tourism engagement.

From a management perspective, safeguarding the architectural integrity, urban morphology, and spatial rhythms of West Street is as important as curating immersive cultural experiences that foster existential authenticity. Strategies that align conservation, interpretation, and visitor management can reinforce both emotional and functional bonds, encouraging repeat visitation, positive word-of-mouth, and stakeholder support for preservation. Such approaches resonate with the sustainability imperative to balance tourism development with the protection of cultural heritage and community identity.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Author contributions

Conceptualization, G. H. and Y. Z.; methodology, G. H.; software, G. H. and Y. Z.; validation, Y. Z. and J. Z.; formal analysis, G. H. and Y. Z.; investigation, Y. Z. and J. Z.; resources, G. H. and Y. Z.; data curation, G. H. and Y. Z.; writing—original draft preparation, G. H.; writing—review and editing, M. W.; visualization, G. H. and Y. Z.; supervision, M. W.; project administration, G. H.; funding acquisition, M. W. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was supported by Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation, China [grant number 2023A1515030158, 2025A1515012916], Guangzhou City School (Institute) Enterprise Joint Funding Project, China [grant number 2024A03J0317], Social Science Planning Project of Fujian Province, China [grant number FJ2023C060], and Social Science Planning Project in Sanming City, China [grant number 24025].

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

Declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.