This study intents to examine the relationship between place
change and identity process, using Breakwell’s model (1986,
1992) as framework. In the context of a process of imposed
relocation in an old neighbourhood in Lisbon, two groups of
residents were studied in two different moments along the
relocation process. These two groups differ in terms of their choice
of relocation. The generic hypothesis of the study is that relocation,
and the residents’ choice changes the relation of the people with
the space, the social relationships, and it has also an impact in the
resident’s identity. The results show that the relocation process
threats the identity principles in the two groups, but in different
ways, depending of the residential choice, and also had impact in
the social relationships and in the relation of the people with the
space. As other studies (e.g.: Twigger-Ross and Uzzell, 1996;
Speller, Lyons, and Twigger-Ross, 2002) this research underlines
the relationship between changes in physical environment and
identity, in the context of residential environment
