Rural areas in Australia are experiencing a mass out-migration of young people. The causes and impact of this out-migration are well documented. However the role of place attachment, in particular attachment towards urban areas, in the decision of whether to move back to rural areas remains unexplored. This research adopted a social constructionist epistemology to examine the migration intentions of young people from rural backgrounds in Western Australia, who were currently living in urban areas. Specifically, we sought to explore the role that place attachment to rural or urban areas plays in young people's interests in returning to rural areas. Eleven young people (eight women and three men, aged 20–24) who had lived in rural Western Australia for at least ten years and were currently living in a city participated in semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Through inductive thematic analysis, the findings suggest that rather than place attachment young people's connections towards urban areas appear to come from relationships and employment opportunities. Whereas for rural areas the attachment is focused on the place, participant's positive memories and the desire for their children to have the same upbringing. Our findings indicate that young people in the 20–24 years age group were not yet considering moving back to rural areas, but maintained an interest in relocating in future. These findings highlight the importance of place attachment in return migration but also the critical role that relationships play in migration intentions. Rural communities that seek to retain and grow their young adult populations should work to foster connected communities and sustainable employment opportunities.

澳大利亚的农村地区正经历着大量的年轻人外流。充分记录了这种外迁的原因和影响。然而，在决定是否迁回农村地区方面，地方依恋，特别是对城市依恋的作用尚待探讨。这项研究采用了一种社会建构主义的认识论，以研究目前居住在城市地区的西澳大利亚农村背景的年轻人的迁移意愿。具体来说，我们试图探索依恋农村或城市地区对年轻人的利益在返回农村地区中的作用。11名年轻人（8名妇女和3名男子，年龄在20-24岁之间），他们在西澳大利亚州农村地区居住了至少十年，并且目前居住在一个城市中，参加了半结构化的面对面访谈。通过归纳式主题分析，研究结果表明，年轻人与城市地区的联系似乎不是建立依恋关系，而是来自关系和就业机会。而对于农村地区，依恋主要集中在该地点，参与者的积极记忆以及对孩子进行相同养育的渴望上。我们的研究结果表明，年龄在20-24岁之间的年轻人尚未考虑返回农村地区，但仍对将来的迁移兴趣浓厚。这些发现凸显了场所依恋在回迁移民中的重要性，同时也说明了关系在移民意图中的关键作用。寻求保留和发展年轻人口的农村社区应努力促进相互联系的社区和可持续的就业机会。