Topic five

• Urban environments

  • urban landscapes can determine our moods, our behaviour and our actions. it is important to be able to design urban architecture in a way that best suits human well being
• architectural

  • architectural determinism- the built environment is the main and only cause of behaviour
  • architectural possibility- the built environment may place limits on our movements but does not have a huge impact on our behaviour
  • architectural probabilism- the middle ground. the built environment may affect some behaviours but it is not the main cause
• Cohen et al

  • aimed to investigate the effect of noise on reading ability
  • the sample was 54 children in New York City, they all lived in 32 storey building and went to the same school
  • apartments in higher floors experienced less traffic noise
  • Cohen looked at the children's auditory discrimination (recognising similar sounding words)
  • there was a significant correlation between floor level and auditory discrimination
  • there was also a correlation between word knowledge, reading comprehension and reading total
• Newman

  • defensible space is the idea that residents will maintain and look after areas that belong to them
  • you can create this kind of space by using fences to show boundaries between residents and create semi private courtyards
  • if public spaces are subdivided and assigned to individuals or small groups, they are much more likely to look after those areas than massive groups of people
  • if public spaces are cared for, it makes them feel as if they are owned and then will be 'defended' from criminals
• Armitage

  • the way that roads are designed can also have an impact on crime and anti-social behaviour
  • she analysed roads in the UK and compared them to crime statistics
  • she found that sinous cul-de-sacs (curvy, without leaky footpaths) had the lowest level of crime
  • suggested footpaths can be included when they are well used, short, direct, wide, overlooked, well-lit and not running along the side or the rear of properties
• Bickman

  • investigated whether the density of the population affects how helpful people are
  • they studies undergraduate students living in 10 female dormitories in the university of Massachusetts and 37 houses at Smith College
  • helping behaviour was measured by the percentage of letters (which were sent to those in high, medium and low level density dormitories) that were posted on to the addressee
  • results showed that the highest proportion of letters were posted on in the low-density condition, suggesting that overcrowding can influence helping behaviour
• Ulrich - sample

  • 46 patients aged 20-69 from a Pennsylvania hospital
  • all had undergone bladder surgery
  • split into 23 pairs, each person in the pair was matched so that the only thing that differs is the view they see from their window
• ulrich - method

  a nurse who was blind to the experiment gathered 5 types of information:

  1. length of hospitalisation
  2. number and strength of analgesics each day
  3. number and strength of doses for anxiety each day
  4. minor complication requiring medication
  5. nurses notes
• Ulrich - results

  • participants with a view of trees spent significantly less time in hospital than the brick view patients
  • patients with a tree view took fewer moderate to strong analgesics than the brick view patients
  • significantly more negative notes in the brick view group compared to the tree view group
• Ulrich - conclusion

  • views of trees/nature have a therapeutic effect on patients
  • this could be used to inform hospitals of what view to have out of their windows
• Application 1 - Ensure there are semi-private areas that residents are given ownership of so they can maintain it

  How - reduce the number of people on each floor (flat) so communal areas are only used by a small number of people making it feel more like their home and reducing the fear of crime

  Why - Newman developed the idea of defensible space based on his observation of Pruitt-Igoe housing development and the fact it quickly became run-down as a result of a lack of ownership of communal spaces
• Application 2 - Build housing development near green spaces

  How - ensure there are parks or forest areas nearby, which residents can go an experience or see through their window (or create a green space in the centre of housing)

  Why - Ulrich both showed the benefits of green spaces to people's health and well-being
• Application 3 - use double glazing in windows and other sound insulation to reduce noise from nearby traffic

  How - Build the estate away from large, busy roads if possible to avoid this problem. These strategies should allow the residents to avoid stress caused by excessive noise from nearby and help improve their mood

  Why - Cohen showed that noise can impact on children's reading ability and therefore potentially have long term effects on their career prospects and well-being