U
a0005
Urban Environments and Human
Behavior
Gabriel Moser
Université René Descartes, Paris, France
1. Introduction
2. The Urban Environment as a Stressful Milieu
3. The Urban Environment as a Place of Living
4. The Rationale of Intervention in Urban Environments
5. Public/Private Urban Environments: The Neighborhood
6. Urban Public Environments: The City
7. Toward Sustainability of Urban Environments
Further Reading
GLOSSARY
appropriation A particular affective relationship to an object,
which then becomes part of oneself.
attachment An emotional bond, which people often develop
to their life space.
people–environment congruity The relation to a living place that
corresponds to the aspirations of the individual and allows
him or her to satisfy his or her material and social needs.
place identity Either a person’s expressed identification to
place or an aspect of his or her identity comparable to
social identity.
socioenvironmental engineering Intervening on the physical
as well as the social aspects of an environment involving
all the concerned actors.
sustainability A development capable of satisfying the needs
of the current generation without compromising the abil-
ity of future generations to satisfy their own needs.
urban behavior Any specific protective behavior adopted by
city dwellers to cope with exposure to urban stressors.
Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology,
VOLUME 3
urban stressors The physical (noise and pollution) or social
(density) environmental conditions that require various
forms of coping.
It is estimated that by the year 2015 approximately
half of the world’s population will be living in large
cities. Cities are characterized by their cultural, religious,
ethnic, economic, and social diversity and their stressful
living conditions. Citizens are exposed daily to a variety
of environmental stressors, such as noise, pollution,
or density, which make them adopt specific adjustment
behaviors characterized by unfriendliness and egoism.
Environmental psychology is playing an increasing
role in helping shape the urban environment in order
to conserve or create well-being for citizens.
Socioenvironmental engineering acts on both the
physical and the social aspects of the environment. It is
mainly focused on the neighborhood but often extends
to the relationship between the individual and the urban
structure as a whole. Socioenvironmental engineering is
a way to meet people’s requirements for well-being and
satisfaction and to achieve urban sustainability.
1. INTRODUCTION s0005
Since they concentrate employment opportunities,
culture, entertainment, and recreation, cities have
621 #2004 Elsevier Inc.
All rights reserved.
 622 Urban Environments and Human Behavior
traditionally been a pole of attraction. It is estimated
that approximately half of the world’s population lives
in large cities. Cities have progressively become the
‘‘natural’’ habitat of most individuals.
Although for some inhabitants the urban environ-
ment provides an ideal level of stimulation, an optimal
context for their activities, and numerous opportu-
nities for interpersonal contacts, urban daily life con-
ditions have become increasingly difficult. How do
these reputedly bad environmental conditions affect
urbanites’ behavior? When examining human behavior
in urban environments, the following aspects have to
be taken into account:
1. The urban environment as a stressful milieu (i.e.,
a place of daily exposure to a variety of specific stress-
ful environmental conditions)
2. The city as place of living (i.e., appropriated by
the individual and to which he or she identifies)
Before analyzing how environmental psychology
addresses life in cities, an overview of the previously
mentioned aspects is provided with regard to urban
behavior. How can environmental psychology help
identify the processes that regulate and mediate the
individual’s relationship to his or her environment?
The requirements of sustainability give a new impe-
tus to environmental psychology by emphasizing in-
dividual needs and well-being. By dealing with the
individual–environment relationship at different spa-
tial levels (i.e., from dwelling to the neighborhood
and the city), environmental psychology provides
analyses and interventions aimed at improving urba-
nites’ daily life at these different levels. The point of
departure of this analysis is often the set of physical
specifications of the environment (e.g., noise, pollu-
tion, and planning and layout of physical space) that
act directly on the individual or are mediated by the
social variables of the environment (e.g., crowding
and population heterogeneity). However, the physical
and social factors are inextricably linked with regard
to their effects on individuals’ perceptions and
behavior.
s0010
2. THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT
AS A STRESSFUL MILIEU
Exposure to the various stressors and particular life
conditions of urban environments results in specific
urban behaviors.
2.1. Urban Stressors s0015
Urban environments display three specific aspects:
ambient physical conditions (essentially noise and air
pollution), social conditions (density), and overstimu-
lation (exposure to a high number and variety of visual
and other stimulations). Cities are more noisy, more
dense, and more polluted.
Noise is the most common stress to which city
dwellers are exposed on a daily basis. The levels of
noise are associated with the size of the population.
Noise is the most frequently mentioned form of stress
and the one that leads to the most frequent complaints.
One-fourth of urbanites are exposed to at least one
loud noise at work, home, or during commuting on a
daily basis.
Because of traffic, exposure to pollution is more
frequent in large cities. Although the effects of air
pollution on health (e.g., respiratory problems for
children and elderly) are well documented, pollution
has little direct effect on the behavior of urban
residents.
Generally, people are more likely to perceive envir-
onmental problems when they can hear (noise), see
(smoke), smell, or feel them. The relationship between
exposure to air pollution and health is mediated by the
perception of exposure. An important source of infor-
mation is the media’s interpretation of noise or pollu-
tion levels, which may influence public perceptions
and attitudes.
Cities often have different forms of density due to
large population concentrations. City dwellers may be
exposed to social density outdoors (high number of
individuals in one area) and to spatial density in their
habitat (small amount of space per person) and, there-
fore, struggle for resources due to a low ratio of pop-
ulation to the amount of available resources (i.e., too
many people and insufficient transport facilities, shops,
and services). Furthermore, the large amount of visual
and auditory stimuli to which city dwellers are exposed
is a constant informational overload that increases
fatigue.
2.2. Urban Living Conditions s0020
Citizens not only are exposed to environmental stres-
sors but also deal with poor living conditions. Mobility
in cities is more constrained than that in small towns:
Commuting daily from residence to workplace and
dealing with frequent gridlock or crowded mass transit
increases urbanites’ stress. They have less spare time
 Urban Environments and Human Behavior
because of longer commuting times, and there is less
time available for social interactions.
Bureaucratic formalism is also more frequent in
large cities than in small towns. Compared to inhabi-
tants of small towns, urbanites experience more fre-
quent difficulties accessing various services due to
increased competition (subway, taxis, etc.).
The level of crime is higher in large cities.
Therefore, urbanites are more likely to be exposed to
violence and crime. The delinquency rate is higher in
city centers than in suburbs, which is commonly
explained by the numerous opportunities to commit
crime in the city along with a lower probability of
being caught. Fear of crime (which is not necessarily
correlated with objective crime rates) restricts urba-
nites’ behavior by making them feel vulnerable.
However, despite being generally more exposed to
environmental stressors, the inhabitants of large cities,
with the exception of newcomers, do not cite these
factors as annoying them more frequently than do the
inhabitants of small towns or even people living in
rural habitats.
Overall, city life seems to be constraining and
demanding. All analyses of environmental overload,
environmental stress, and behavioral constraints note
the potentially negative effects of life in large cities
compared to life in small towns. When exposed to
such stressful situations, city dwellers engage in coping
processes. Coping is an attempt to reestablish or gain
control over a situation regarded as stressful.
Therefore, in order to achieve congruity between
themselves and the environment, urbanites adopt pro-
tective adaptation processes and perform behavioral
and/or cognitive changes, which engender specific
urban behavioral norms.
s0025
2.3. Specific Urban Behavior
At the beginning of the 20th century, Simmel noted the
social withdrawal and egoistic behavior of urbanites, as
well as their detachment and disinterest toward others.
In 1970, Milgram outlined three urban adaptation
behaviors: coping by choosing priorities, self-protec-
tion by erecting psychological barriers around oneself,
and creating rules and institutions.
Urban behavioral particularities comprise the fol-
lowing: segmented and functional ways of interacting
with one another, anonymity and lack of involvement,
indifference toward deviant and bizarre behaviors, and
restriction and selectivity of responses to other peoples’
demands. Environmental constraints such as gridlock,
623
overcrowding, and fear of crime enhance behaviors
aimed at gaining control and freedom of action. The
pace of life is more hectic. Certain activities are per-
formed more quickly in large cities than elsewhere.
People walk faster in large cities than in small towns.
The fear of crime provokes behavioral restrictions,
especially among elderly people. Withdrawal and
decreasing responsiveness to the diverse demands of
other people are typical reactions to stress. People filter
inputs, focus attention on the most important
demands, and neglect the peripheral stimuli, thus
avoiding unwanted interactions. By concentrating on
their own needs, urbanites not only deliberately avoid
contact with others but also pay less attention to what
is going on around them. The constant expression of
such adjustment behavior in urban setting indicates
that this is a normative behavior.
In terms of interpersonal relationships, individuals
establish interaction priorities, excluding a certain
number of contacts. In urban settings, interpersonal
relationships are governed by rigorous rules, which
enable individuals to preserve the minimum privacy
needed in order to protect themselves from intrusion
by others despite high-density situations. Gatherings
with friends are more often planned in advance, and
informal encounters are rare and limited to the home
or workplace.
The characteristics of interpersonal exchanges in
the urban environment not only tend to make social
contacts more superficial and eliminate interactions
that have no personal benefit to the individual but
also lead to neglect expressions of politeness. Civility
is a disinterested act. It involves a common code
of conduct, which is indispensable for maintaining
the social fabric, based on respect for the other.
The individual holds the door open for others or
says ‘‘hello’’ when entering a shop less often in large
than in small cities.
In short, public spaces are locations for expressing
community values, rules, and codes that are indis-
pensable for individuals to maintain social distance
and to protect their personal space. Social densities
of large cities create both physical proximity and
social distance. Thus, the regulation of social life in
a densely populated society is based on adhering to
routines that can be anticipated and predicted. Civil
behaviors are indispensable for social interaction in
the urban setting. On the other hand, incivilities may
be regarded as the negation of the processes of the
civilization of morals or as standards of behavior—
that is, as breaches of social mores.
 624 Urban Environments and Human Behavior
s0030
3. THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT
AS A PLACE OF LIVING
People identify with the place where they live: ‘‘My
home is my castle.’’ Feeling at home is an important
aspect of one’s well-being and this is a universal human
experience. Individuals create privileged relations to
their habitats, which become their ‘‘homes,’’ and their
homes provide identity. This involves a way of building
one’s life within a geographically limited space. Several
characteristics transform a habitat into one’s ‘‘home’’:
centrality, continuity, privacy, expression of self and
identity, social relationships, atmosphere (warmth and
pleasantness), and characteristics of the physical
environment.
s0035
3.1. Place Identity and Attachment
There are two ways of relating one’s place and one’s
identity. The first is place identification. This concept
refers to a person’s expressed identification with a
place, which becomes part of his or her social identity.
The second way of relating one’s place and one’s iden-
tity is through place identity, a specific aspect of the
individual’s identity.
An important mechanism that supports place iden-
tity is the attachment to a specific place. Individuals
often develop an emotional bond to their life space,
essentially their home and the neighborhood, but often
also urban places and spaces on a larger scale. Such
anchoring is an ongoing process, dependent on indi-
vidual time perspectives: The duration of residence is
essential for the individual’s appropriation of his or her
life space, which in turn is indispensable for well-
being. Anchoring reflects the individual’s motivations,
social status, family situation, and projects for the fu-
ture. Urban environmental appropriation revolves
around forming social and interpersonal relationships.
Individuals who make emotional investments in their
neighborhood are more satisfied with their interperso-
nal relations in that neighborhood and develop a sense
of well-being.
Appropriation may be regarded as a particular affec-
tive relation to an object that may then become part of
the identity of the individual. Appropriation means
having control over one’s living space, and it is a pre-
requisite of feeling ‘‘safe’’ and ‘‘at home’’: It is essential
to the construction of spatial identity. Appropriation is
important for the individual to be able to organize and
personalize his or her life space. This may be crucial
not only in one’s home but also in any other urban
place in which one makes a temporal investment.
Steady or transitionally occupied places produce
place attachment and are often accompanied by ties
to personal objects such as furniture, pictures and
souvenirs, which indicate the appropriation of places.
Residential history determines how one appropriates
home environments. The temporal horizon and needs
that reflect one’s position in one’s life cycle affect one’s
ability to generate or failure to develop positive invest-
ments in the neighborhood. Finally, one can assume
that individuals who appropriate their environment
and feel at home where they live may also care more
about the environment in general (i.e., more frequently
exhibit ecologically beneficial behavior).
3.2. From Appropriation to Urban s0040
Identity
Appropriation operates not only at the level of one’s
place of dwelling but also extends to urban places,
such as the street, the district, the town, or even the
country, and it is accompanied by social networking
(family, friends, neighbors, and communities). The
urban identity is essentially acquired through various
territorially bonded social networks. The feeling of
being at home in one’s neighborhood is linked to the
frequency of encounters, the nature of local relation-
ships, and the satisfaction that they provide. It involves
social integration extended to local service providers
such as physicians, shopkeepers, and others, and
it constitutes the framework for the different indi-
vidual networks (workplace, leisure, school, etc.).
Furthermore, with regard to feelings of attachment,
the social relations provided by a place may be more
relevant than the place itself. Taking root corresponds
to a desire for stability and permanency in one’s way of
relating to a certain place and one’s involvement with
the place in the long term. The sociospatial aspects of
traditional urban structures include the residential
environment—the district delimited by architectural,
social, and administrative boundaries. The monofunc-
tionalism of city structures has extended the way of
relating to the city as a place of daily life beyond the
traditional local district.
Increased residential mobility has resulted in a shift
in place investment from one’s housing to one’s furni-
ture and other ‘‘belongings’’ that contribute to the
individual’s identity. Moreover, settlement identity,
which refers to individual preferences for certain
 Urban Environments and Human Behavior 625

types of habitat, allows mobile individuals to conserve
coherence and identity across various residences.
s0045
4. THE RATIONALE
OF INTERVENTION IN URBAN
ENVIRONMENTS
Environmental psychology analyzes individuals’ and
communities’ perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors
with regard to their explicit relationships with the
physical and social contexts in which these individuals
and communities live. Depending on the level of ana-
lyses, different aspects and problems are addressed.
s0050
4.1. Levels of Analyses from
the Dwelling to the City
potential control allows the individuals’ aspirations to
more or less master different aspects of their environ-
ment. These are important, individual, and direct with
respect to the microenvironment. In one’s habitat,
appropriation is not shared with strangers, and the
individual has full control of this place. In proximate
and semipublic environments, the possibility of control
and mastery is no longer individual but shared with a
community. Participation at the local level is possible,
and a sense of belonging may be created in certain
circumstances, but control is necessarily mediated by
other individuals. At the city level, control is beyond
the range of the individual, and it may only be collec-
tive or societal. The possibility to control or master
one’s environment is an important requisite in anchor-
ing and identity processes. How people relate to their
place of living affects their well-being.
4.2. Socioenvironmental s0055

In dealing with the relationship between an individual

and his or her life space, environmental psychology
aims to understand and act in order to fulfill people’s
needs and aspirations. The notions of space and place
are central. For each level of spatial reference, the
discipline enables the investigation of people–environ-
ment interactions, whether involving an individual,
group, or society (Table I).
The interactions and/or transactions between people
and their urban environment at the different environ-
mental levels may be understood by considering the
individuals’ perceptions, needs, opportunities, and
means of control. In addition to appropriation and
anchoring, control over one’s environment plays a cru-
cial role. Here, the scale of analysis allows one to ac-
count for a significant dimension in the individual–
environment relation in terms of possibilities of control
and mastery over the environment in question. Such
Engineering in Urban Environments
Environmental psychologists intervene at the interface
of the physical and social aspects of the urban environ-
ment and engage in interdisciplinary problem solving
in collaboration with architects and planners.
s0060
4.2.1. The Sociophysical Interface
Environmental psychologists intervene as socioenvir-
onmental engineers, which means that they intervene
as much on the social as on the physical aspect of the
urban environment, examining the interrelation of
these two aspects. They constantly bear in mind that
an intervention on one of the aspects of the urban
environment always has an impact on all the other
aspects of the environment (i.e., changes in the phys-
ical aspect affect the social aspect and vice versa).

t0005
TABLE I
Social and Physical Aspects of Urban Environmental Extensions and Type of Control
Physical aspects Social aspects Type of control

Level 1: Private/semiprivate spaces: Individuals/family Extended control (unshared)

Micro environments Habitat, housing, building
Level 2: Proximate public spaces: Neighborhood Shared control built on consensus
Proximate Blocks of apartments, community
environments neighborhood, district
Level 3: Public spaces: Aggregates of Mediated control (participation possible at
Public urban Town, city individuals local level)
environments
 626 Urban Environments and Human Behavior
Environmental Definition of
psychology the problem
Architecture Definition of
the problem
& urbanism
f0005 FIGURE 1 Rationale of interdisciplinary intervention.
Thus, environmental psychologists focus on the user of
the environment as much as on the environment.
Furthermore, each level of spatial reference has differ-
ent implications that must be taken into account for
any intervention.
Interventions in terms of socioenvironmental man-
agement concern public urban spaces and/or neighbor-
hoods, and they consist of the diagnostic, audit, and
intervention followed by a control after implementa-
tion of the intervention. By definition, they are imple-
mented on existing structures. Socioenvironmental
engineering also contributes to the understanding of
the discrepancies between public environmental poli-
cies and individual aspirations, expectations, and
beliefs. This may be important, for instance, with re-
gard to noise or air pollution, but it also applies to the
layout of the built urban environment. By identifying
individuals’ perceptions and needs, people–environ-
ment congruity can be enhanced.
s0065
4.2.2. Cooperation with Other Disciplines
The study of the urban environment requires multi-
disciplinarity, which is indispensable for environmen-
tal intervention. Responding to social demands often
involves multiple approaches from different disci-
plines, each having its own characteristics and follow-
ing its own disciplinary logic.
In urban matters, environmental psychologists
often work in cooperation with members of other dis-
ciplines and professions, such as architects, engineers,
landscape architects, and planners. Their respective
analyses and interventions often have a different point
of departure, focusing either on the built environment
or on the people who live in it. Sometimes, a sequential
gap may also appear: The architects, designers, and
planners intervene at the conception and building
process of the contexts in which people live, whereas
social sciences typically focus on the existing
structures.
Only knowledge integrated from the different
disciplinary approaches may provide an adequate
Audit and
diagnostic Proposition
Solutions and
implementation
Audit and
diagnostic Proposition
response to the challenges of living in cities. This
integration has to follow a specific rationale in order
to be efficient (Fig. 1).
The interdisciplinary approach is a multiple and
parallel approach to the same problem, where each
discipline provides a solution according to its own
scientific logic that is then integrated in the global
response. The cooperation between social sciences
and design disciplines usually results in successful
problem solving of urban issues because it allows all
the different aspects of people’s relations to the built
environment to be addressed.
5. PUBLIC/PRIVATE URBAN s0070
ENVIRONMENTS: THE
NEIGHBORHOOD
Interventions at the proximate level deal with the imme-
diate environment of the individual’s living space. This
may be a row of houses or apartment building, the im-
mediate neighborhood, or the leisure areas in the imme-
diate surroundings of homes, such as parks and green
areas. These areas are referred to as semipublic spaces,
which means that control over them is shared within a
community (inhabitants of a neighborhood, users, etc.).
5.1. People–Environment Congruity: s0075
Feeling at Home
Concepts such as ‘‘attachment to a specific place’’ and
‘‘sense of community’’ help our understanding of how
individuals and groups create bonds to a specific place.
Although the ‘‘size’’ and the comfort of the habitable
space are essential for residential satisfaction, other
aspects of the living conditions also modulate its
importance. Social integration in the neighborhood,
the availability of satisfactory services, the existence
of green space, the aesthetics of the built environment,
and easy access to the public transportation network
encourage the affective investment of the neighbor-
hood and enhance people–environment congruity.
 Urban Environments and Human Behavior
The more this congruity is important, the more the
neighborhood matches one’s aspirations and allows
one to satisfy his or her material and social needs,
and the more one develops attachment toward one’s
neighborhood. In certain cases, the interpersonal rela-
tionships that the individual develops within his or her
place of living are more important for the feeling of
belonging and attachment than the physical specifica-
tions of the urban environment. This is for instance
the case in shantytowns, in which forced dislocations
and allocations of far more comfortable new dwellings
are regarded as traumatic by the inhabitants.
The feeling of being ‘‘at home’’ is closely connected to
satisfaction with one’s neighborhood. The degree of sat-
isfaction with the environmental attributes of one’s
neighborhood (i.e., the green spaces, the aesthetics of
the built framework and the degree of noise) determines
both the intensity of the affectivity that one develops
toward the neighborhood and one’s feeling of well-being.
For individuals who have already acquired ‘‘basic’’
living conditions and who have an income that allows
them to achieve a good quality of life, the agreeable
character of the neighborhood has a modulating effect
on satisfaction concerning available space in the dwell-
ing. The feeling of being at home in one’s neighbor-
hood is linked to the frequency of encounters with
others in the neighborhood, the number of close rela-
tions, the nature of local relationships, and the satis-
faction with them. This explains why social relations
related to a determined place may be more important
to feelings of attachment than the place itself.
Besides the home and neighborhood environments,
other urban environments involve congruity between
people and their environment, including workplaces
and institutional environments such as hospitals, pris-
ons, and homes for children or the elderly. How can
these environments be designed to meet the needs of
their occupants?
s0080
5.2. Control of Density
in a Collective Habitat
High density is an environmental characteristic often
regarded as responsible for the individual’s withdrawal,
inattention to others, and aggressive behaviors. The
most specific interventions concern the control of
density and the regulation of behavior in spaces open
to the public.
Certain interventions involving the design of space
are effective in diminishing the feeling of being
627
constrained, notably in collective buildings, prisons,
public libraries, and cafeterias. Some interventions
may explicitly refer to the principles elaborated by
Barker in his ecological theory when organizing public
spaces or spaces open to the public.
The larger the collective buildings, the less social
activity the residents tend to have (neighborhood rela-
tions, mutual help, and associative involvement). This
is usually attributed to the management of intimacy in
public spaces. For instance, inhabitants of buildings
with long corridors feel threatened with regard to
intimacy. An architectural intervention consisting of
fractioning long corridors by introducing doors
diminishes the feeling of crowding, enhances the feel-
ing of control, and favors interactions in the spaces so
delimited.
5.3. Management of Neighborhood s0085
Spaces
Contributions to the management of neighborhood
spaces involve the ‘‘habitability’’ of neighborhood (dis-
tricts) and the treatment of environmental problems
and insecurity. Such interventions mainly focus on
neighborhood revitalization and interventions designed
to improve residents’ satisfaction and reduce crime
and feelings of insecurity.
s0090
5.3.1. Neighborhood Revitalization
Neighborhood revitalization has to follow two appar-
ently contradictory principles: (i) to foster attachment
and a feeling of belonging to a well-delimited and
clearly identifiable area and (ii) to open the area in
order to connect people to the city.
The key to successfully revitalizing certain districts
is in the way in which these two contradictory exigen-
cies are handled. Such interventions have to be con-
ducted jointly with regard to both the social and the
physical aspects of the environment and engage all
the relevant actors (i.e., allow cooperation between
the inhabitants, the sponsors of the project, and the
municipality).
Interventions concerned with the development of
urban residential environments consist of improving
sidewalks or pathways for inhabitants. Their aims are
(i) to encourage pedestrians to use proximate pathways
in order to promote social interaction among inhabi-
tants and foster control of different outdoor activities,
(ii) to diversify the outdoor environment in order to
 628 Urban Environments and Human Behavior
increase walking in the whole proximate environment,
(iii) to give residents the opportunity to engage in
different activities (shopping, recreational opportu-
nities, walking, etc.), and (iv) to reduce the number
of cars passing through the area and limit their speed
(‘‘quiet zones’’). Such interventions often require rede-
signing the district as well as the built environment so
that dwellings face toward roads and the installation of
green spaces with multiple recreation opportunities for
all residents.
Similarly, the concept of defensible space, intro-
duced in 1972 by Newman, has often been used as a
guideline for the design of proximate environments.
Development designed to give maximum control over
public space to inhabitants, by erecting symbolic or
real barriers, restricting access to the district, designing
well-illuminated pathways, and encouraging the
individual appropriation of dwellings by differentiating
them from each other, has given positive results.
Postrenovation evaluations have found less mainte-
nance costs and less reprehensible behaviors.
Such interventions correspond to a territorial logic.
Encouraging outdoor activities and restricting vehi-
cles allow a neighborhood to define its identity and
to appropriate and therefore better control its imme-
diate environment and the street, which enhance the
feeling of belonging and increase the feeling of being
safe.
s0095
5.3.2. Environmental Annoyances
Dealing with environmental annoyances, such as
excessive noise or undesired odors, often requires an
intervention at the source and socioenvironmental
management based on an intervention to improve all
aspects of the neighborhood so that residents’ well-
being is improved and crystallization on the incrimi-
nated annoyance is avoided.
The same type of intervention is necessary when a
new industry is planned, especially if it is reputed to
create new and specific annoyances. In this case, par-
ticular attention must be paid to the possible NIMBY
(not in my back yard) phenomenon (i.e., preliminary
rejection by inhabitants).
s0100
5.3.3. Insecurity and the Feeling of Insecurity
The feeling of insecurity and subsequent fear are sel-
dom correlated with objective dangers and are essen-
tially based on visual cues. Fear of crime is exacerbated
by an urban environment that appears to be poorly
maintained, characterized by littering, vandalism and
graffiti, uncleanness, lack of illumination, and deviant
behavior. Cleaning up vandalized buildings and urban
furniture reduces littering, and other interventions
focused on the signs of disorder and lack of control
in the neighborhood provide an increased feeling of
security.
A pleasant environment may also contribute to the
feeling of security of inhabitants. Nasar repeatedly
showed that coherence, compatibility, congruity, leg-
ibility, and clarity of the urban environment enhance
the evaluative quality of cities, downtown street scenes,
and residential scenes. On the other hand, a design that
obviously impedes a certain behavior in the sense of
defensible space may be interpreted as a sign of danger
and produce a feeling of insecurity.
6. URBAN PUBLIC s0105
ENVIRONMENTS: THE CITY
Regarding public urban space, environmental psychol-
ogy may intervene in two ways: (i) management of the
urban structure by improving the legibility of the
urban environment and revitalizing the urban public
space and (ii) management of the urban social diver-
sity. The main aim of both types of intervention is to
favor appropriation.
6.1. Management of Public Urban s0110
Spaces
The management of urban environments mainly
consists of encouraging connections between urban
districts and giving urbanites the opportunity to appro-
priate the various public spaces for a large diversity of
activities, including recreation and contact with
nature.
s0115
6.1.1. Homogeneity and Legibility of the Urban
Space
The urban structure is not homogeneous. Beyond the
classical distinction between the center and the sub-
urbs, several zones may be identified. One can distin-
guish fluid zones, to which individuals do not anchor
because such zones are only designed for mobility;
anchorable zones (i.e., living places) with which peo-
ple can identify; and functional zones, which are sim-
ilar to fluid zones (people simply ‘‘go through’’ them).
 Urban Environments and Human Behavior
Furthermore, the natural fractures (e.g., hills and riv-
ers) or artificial ones (e.g., highways and rail tracks)
may shape the urban landscape and isolate districts
from one another both physically and psychologically.
According to Lynch’s principles of urban structure,
the mental map methodology allows the problems of
isolation to be diagnosed and the means of redesigning
urban layouts of districts or zones to be proposed in
order to improve their interconnectedness.
Legibility refers to another, mostly neglected aspect of
the environment—that is, the way collective memory and
cultural references shape the perception of the urban
environment and, consequently, enhance people’s appro-
priation. In identifying ‘‘landmarks’’ such as monuments
or geographical particularities, mental maps contribute
to the understanding of the legibility of the city.
s0120
6.1.2. Parks, Squares, and Nature in Urban
Environments
The gentrification of public spaces concerns not only
the design of sidewalks and streets in order to encour-
age their use by pedestrians but also the interventions
on parks and squares. Urban squares often suffer either
monospecific or a deficit of frequentation due to the
limited activities that they offer. Providing an increased
number of activities and introducing water (fountains),
trees for shade, and benches for resting and interaction
make them attractive for passer-byes and opens them
to a variety of different occasional and regular users.
Urban residents often seek nature and want to visit
urban parks, gardens, and recreational areas for lei-
sure. Green spaces and the natural environment can
provide not only an aesthetically pleasing setting but
also restorative experiences, including a positive effect
on health. Gifford identified the following main bene-
fits of nature: cognitive freedom, escape, the experi-
ence of nature, ecosystem connectedness, growth,
challenge, guidance, sociability, health, and self-con-
trol. The most important seem to be the sense of free-
dom and control felt in nature, in contrast to an urban
environment, which is often perceived as constraining.
Behavioral zoning, which consists of allocating spe-
cific spaces to specific activities, allows access to be
controlled and canalizes the flux of visitors, thus avoid-
ing conflicts resulting from different aspirations and
contradictory needs (rest/exercise) and reducing the
feeling of crowding. Determining the mean distances
from habitat to where people perform different leisure
activities is important in the planning of neighborhood
leisure places.
629
Concerning children, research has consistently
found a lack or absence of places for them to frequent.
Gaster proposes guidelines for the planning of prox-
imal spaces for children.
6.2. Management of Urban Diversity s0125
Individuals often group spontaneously or are grouped
within the urban territory according to social, cultural,
ethnic, and economic affinities and form more or less
homogeneous districts that tend to singularize within the
urban community in its totality. They often express a
feeling of belonging and existing as a specific group
through urban territorial identification.
Socioenvironmental management of urban diversity
means not only encouraging the coexistence of differ-
ent cultures and fostering harmonious development of
all minorities but also ensuring an equitable and just
repartition of services in order to provide the different
communities with the infrastructures they need. Only
cooperation between inhabitants and authorities as
well as participation in decision-making encourage
the feeling of belonging to a distinct urban community.
This is achieved if two aspects are promoted: the public
expression of difference and its acceptance and the
construction of a common destiny through the feeling
of belonging to the urban community. These objectives
require intervention with regard to four aspects. First,
efficient infrastructure and equitable access to different
urban services (health, transport, energy, water, gar-
bage collection, and so on) must be provided, and
these services must be recognized as being a common
good contributing to the well-being of everyone.
Second, the needs, expectations, and aspirations of
the different components of the urban population
must be identified, regular contact with the different
communities (and/or their representatives) of the
metropolitan population must be maintained, and the
different communities must be informed of any new
development and/or improvement of services and
infrastructures. Third, a regular and easily accessible
system of communication between the town adminis-
tration and the population must be developed. Finally,
the expression of cultural particularities through the
educational system, the media, public and cultural
activities must be taken into account and encouraged,
and mutual recognition among the different commu-
nities must be encouraged by promoting intercultural
sports or artistic encounters.
Such principles gain significance only if they are
articulated together in order to allow the simultaneous
 630 Urban Environments and Human Behavior

expression of differences and a feeling of belonging to
an unique urban community that has cultural identity,
on the one hand, and is transversal and metropolitan,
on the other hand. Such interventions encourage not
only local appropriation and identification but also the
sense of belonging to an identified urban community.
Regarding the city as a place of living, creating the
conditions of its appropriation leads to identity build-
ing in the sense of urban citizenship, which meets the
requirements of sustainability insofar as this is, accord-
solidarity. At both the interindividual and the societal
level, gender, religious, and cultural identities generate
new forms of solidarity, often on a transnational or
transcultural level. Identities are also frequently related
to the environment. They shape relationships between
people and environment at different spatial levels,
depending on appropriation and spatial anchoring.
7.2. Sustainable Cities s0140

ing to the Cities, Identity, and Sustainability model

The requirement for cities to be sustainable raises
proposed by Pol, a condition of people’s engaging
further challenges. Cities host increasingly culturally
more readily in pro-environmental behavior.
heterogeneous populations. The implementation of
sustainable development through Local Agenda
21 initiatives will only be possible if the local commu-
s0130
7. TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY nities reach a consensus. The current trend aims for
OF URBAN ENVIRONMENTS proactive consensus-building approaches that attempt
to involve people in the decision-making process.
Sustainable development and globalization are likely to Meanwhile, many Third World communities are in-
have a major effect on the development of urban volved in self-help initiatives, but they are rarely able
settlements. Both are key concepts in the economics to participate in wider urban planning or politics. Does
of the 21st century, inevitably having an impact on our the concept of citizenship explicitly impose a single,
ways of living in general. egalitarian political identity on the disparate and sepa-
rate identities likely to exist within a population of any
significant size? How may the intracommunity differ-
s0135
7.1. Globalization ences be recognized and how may they converge in a
and Sustainability common urban citizenship (Fig. 2)?
By defining sustainable development as development
capable of satisfying the needs of the present genera-
tion without compromising the ability of future gen-
erations to satisfy their own needs, the Bruntland
Report, published in 1987, opened the way to ques-
tions related to quality of life. The reference to needs
allows not only the requirement for development to be
harmonious and respectful to the environment but also
Neighborhood
that the individual’s well-being be recognized. People-
centered analyses focusing on well-being raise the cru-
cial questions of attachment, control, and identity or House
identities. Dwelling
Building
Globalization and its corollaries, global trade and
communication, create pressure toward cultural uni-
formity in lifestyles. Globalization and the anxieties District
that it engenders also require the local or regional
priorities and particularities, cultural differences, and
therefore also specific needs to be recognized. Cultural
differences and identity are essential issues with regard City
to the relationship between people and their environ-
ment. Identities give structure and meaning to life.
They are at the origin of both conflict and cohesion, FIGURE 2 From dwelling to citizenship: extensions of f0010

and they strongly affect patterns of both exclusion and appropriation.

 Urban Environments and Human Behavior
In other words, the challenge for environmental
psychology is to provide tools not only able to foster
the appropriation at the dwelling or the neighborhood
level but also to encourage the appropriation of the city
and help the individual to identify with the urban
community as a whole. Placing the citizen at the center
of public life is an important challenge. Achieving
sustainable cities requires strong civic cultures and a
new politics of cohesion and cooperation.
See Also the Following Articles
Environmental Design and Planning, Public Participation
in n Environmental Stress n Person–Environment Fit
n Privacy n Residential Satisfaction and Perceived Urban
Quality n Territoriality
Further Reading
Altman, I. (1975). The environment and social behavior.
Monterey, CA: Brooks /Cole.
Altman, I., & Low, S. M. (1992). Place attachment. Human
behavior and environment: Advances in theory and research
(Vol. 12). New York: Plenum.
Barker, R. G. (1968). Ecological psychology: Concepts and
methods for studying the environment of human behavior.
Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Canter, D. (1977). The psychology of place. London:
Architectural Press.
Gifford, R. (1997). Environmental psychology: Principles and
practice (2nd ed.). London: Allyn and Bacon.
631
Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature—Toward
an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental
Psychology, 15(3), 169–182.
Krupat, E. (1985). People in cities: The urban environment and
its effects. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Low, S. M., & Altman, I. (1992). Place attachment. New York:
Plenum.
Milgram, S. (1970). The experience of living in cities: A
psychological analysis. In F. F. Korten, S. W. Cook, &
J. I. Lacey (Eds.), Psychology and the problems of society.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Moser, G. (1992). Les stress urbains. Paris: Colin.
Moser, G., Pol, E., Bernard, Y., Bonnes, M., Corraliza, J., &
Giuliani, V. (2002). People, places & sustainability.
Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe & Huber.
Moser, G., & Uzzell, D. (2003). Environmental psychology.
In T. Millon, & M. J. Lerner (Eds.), Comprehensive hand-
book of psychology. Vol. 5: Personality and social psychology
(pp. 419–445). New York: Wiley.
Moser, G., & Weiss, K. (2003). Espaces de vie: Aspects de la
relation homme–environnement. Paris: Colin.
Preiser, W., & Ostroff, E. (2001). Universal design handbook.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
Proshansky, H. M., Ittelson, W. H., & Rivlin, L. G. (1970).
Environmental psychology: Man and his physical setting.
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Simmel, G. (1957). The metropolis and mental life. In K. H.
Wolff (Ed. and Trans.), The sociology of Georges Simmel.
Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
Stokols, D., & Altman, I. (1987). Handbook of environmental
psychology. New York: Wiley.
Wicker, A. W. (1979). An introduction to ecological psychology.
Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.