Sense of place and the city: the case of non-native residents in Lisbon

When immigrants move to a new city, they tend to develop distinct relationships with the urban landscape, which in turn becomes the new setting of their routine-based activities that evolve over time. Previous works in environmental psychology have quantitatively examined non-native residents' development of sense of place towards their new environment. In this paper, we introduce the spatial perspective into studying the sense of place experienced by non-natives in an urban context. We study the person-place bonds, relationships, and feelings cultivated by non-native residents living in the city of Lisbon (Portugal) through an online map-based survey. Then, we carried out spatial analysis aimed at distinguishing and visualizing the different facets of sense of place developed by two participant groups: short-term residents and long-term residents. Results showed that while short-term residents reported bonds with places, long-term residents' senses of place were more intense and broader throughout the city. The correlations, associations, and relationships between participant groups and the dimensions of sense of place allowed us to observe features and patterns that were previously described in the literature, although adding the spatial lenses can potentially provide better insights for urban planning, community development, and inclusive policies.

Psychology of Dwelling and Visual Appropriations—An Anthropological Application

We find ourselves situated within a world that can be experienced visually, for the first time, in its wholeness. Using conceptual analysis, we intend to show that notions born within the practice of habitation, such as the sense of place, place attachment, and hearth, can help us evaluate the psychological implications of the images of Earth taken from space. We chose a phenomenological approach to human habitation because it allows concepts pertaining to connected and inherently interdisciplinary fields, for instance environmental psychology or human geography, to be reunited under the umbrella of an anthropological interpretation. The sensory and imaginary connotations of the notion of place may be noticed starting from the distinction between space as mathematical abstraction and concrete places being experienced directly. An analysis of the nature of this connection leads to the finding that we actively imagine and reimagine the surrounding world as an unfolding space in which we are constantly attempting to dwell. What is of particular interest for us is the manner in which technologically-mediated visual experience may inspire cognitive representations or may generate profound emotions, such as the attachment to a particular place. Therefore, the value of imagination for the anthropology of habitation is not rendered by its compensatory role, but by its link to ontogenesis. Familiar places, which continue to attract us, are capable of triggering unique imaginary processes, reveries which refer us to the primordial steps of ontogenesis with outmost intensity. The process of subjective appropriation of the world begins with that privileged space of origin specific to each of us, the space which we identify with most intensely. Thus, the psychological impact of the image of Earth from space: we become intensely aware that this planet is our Place within a hostile universe.

The Neuroaesthetics of Architecture

Environmental psychology is concerned with understanding the impact of the environment—built and natural—on the mind. Neuroscience of architecture can contribute to this aim by elucidating the workings of the brain in relation to features of our physical environment. Toward that end, Vartanian et al. (2013) examined the impact of contour on aesthetic judgments and approach-avoidance decisions while viewing images of room interiors in the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. Participants found curvilinear rooms more beautiful than rectilinear rooms, and viewing curvilinear rooms in that context activated the anterior cingulate cortex—a region involved in processing emotion. That observation, coupled with the finding that pleasantness accounted for majority of variance in beauty judgments, supports the idea that our preference for curvilinear design is driven by affect. This study represents an example of how neural data can reveal mechanisms that underlie our aesthetic preferences in the domain of architecture.

Architectural Wayfinding Design as a Means of Communication in Environmental Perception

From prehistoric times, Signage was a means of visual communication helping people reaching out different environments (internal or external). Long before paper’s invention, humans made marks on objects, such as cave walls, in the surrounding environment, for their communication. As cities grew and mobility increased, making the built environment more complex, people requirements for better information concerning spatial perception and navigation, also grew. Thus, the necessity of proactive, systematically planned, visual unified signage and wayfinding programs have been emerged. Wayfinding is how people get from one location to another, including their information-gathering and decision-making processes for orientation and movement through space. Wayfinding design builds on research in cognition and environmental psychology to design built spaces and products that facilitate the movement of people through urban settings and individual buildings. Despite its demonstrated importance to building use, costs, and safety, wayfinding receives less than its due in planning, research and building evaluation. The aim of this study is to provide a “clear” reading of the environmental space and city’s routes to the users, through architectural wayfindig design. Also, architectural wayfinding design addresses built components, including spatial planning, articulation of form-giving features, circulation systems and environmental communication.

Composing the noise space: Musical architecture of urban culture

In the recent climate change era of several tropical urban living and cultures, many slums are built on the railroad tracks accompanying the overheating environment. The people in that area can receive the noise radiation that was made from the railroad and the train wheels friction. The design research aims to manage noise with high intensity into the white noise, which was fit and valuable to increasing human life performance in daily life. It enhances through designing the attractive area at Malang urban area as the site and analyzing the environmental psychology approach according to adaptable barriers. This study uses audio editing and music notation software, Adobe Audition and Cubase, to capture the sound to support the design. The results highlighted that musical architecture could bridge the needs of the various people’s living space and noise that cannot be moved and deleted. The play of materials, order, and composition of time that pay attention to the intensity and frequency of noise design project compose the rhythm of formal and spatial settlement design.

Essentialism in Environmental Psychology: Controversies and Evidence

This paper deals with the issue of psychological essentialism as present in environmental studies. The essentialist belief—that is, the assumption that things have a deep essence that defines their stable identity—has been a recurring theme in environmental psychology. In this paper, I show its relevance for such research areas as environmental perception and the concept of place as a meaningful location. I show that essentialism underlies early phenomenological theories of place and is present in contemporary biophilic theories of environmental perception. I discuss relevant theories and present research findings that justify the claim that people are psychological essentialists when dealing with the physical built environment.

Application of Environmental Psychology in the Design of Intelligent Agricultural Garden

In order to improve the design quality of intelligent agricultural park and meet the needs of tourists, the concept of environmental psychology is applied to the design of sightseeing park. Combined with the basic concept of environmental psychology, this paper analyzes the relationship between environmental psychology and the design of smart agricultural park, so as to determine the behavior needs of the audience. On this basis, the construction type of the garden sightseeing park is determined, and the appropriate construction site is selected according to its construction orientation. Combined with wireless sensor technology, multiple sensors are deployed to design the spatial layout of the smart agricultural park from two aspects of spatial zoning and sightseeing routes, and natural resources, human resources and park facilities are included in the design. Finally, the design results of the smart agricultural park are obtained. The concept of environmental psychology is applied to the practical design of intelligent agricultural park. Through the comparison, it is found that the application of environmental psychology can better meet the viewing needs of tourists, and the comprehensive score is also improved.

Make the apps stand out: discoverability and perceived value are vital for adoption

PurposeFrom an environmental psychology perspective, we aim to uncover the role that app discoverability facilitators play in enabling the various perceived values (e.g. social, information and hedonic) necessary for app adoption.Design/methodology/approachA survey study was conducted and data was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsResults show that certain consumer review elements (i.e. review quality, review quantity and app ranking), peer influence and app developers' reputation — to varying degrees — influence the three perceived values, which subsequently affect users' app adoption intention. The three perceived values mediate the relationship between app discoverability facilitators and users' app adoption intention.Practical implicationsApp store managers and developers should make a greater effort to effectively optimize discoverability and product differentiation.Originality/valueGuided by environmental psychology, we confirm the importance of app discoverability facilitators regarding their influence on users' general perceptions of an app (e.g. the three perceived values). We also uncover the differentiated effect of the three perceived values on app adoption intention.