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Environmental Effects on Outdoor Social Behavior in a Low‐Income Urban Neighborhood: A Naturalistic Investigation 1
Author(s) -
Holman Charles J.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1976.tb01311.x
Subject(s) - recreation , low income , psychology , naturalistic observation , task (project management) , leisure activity , social psychology , socioeconomics , sociology , economics , ecology , management , biology
Outdoor behavior was measured and compared using a behavioral mapping procedure across three contrasting environments in a low‐income urban neighborhood. The environments were an old ghetto neighborhood of low‐rise tenement houses, a traditional high‐rise housing project, and an innovative high‐rise housing project, where a creative outdoor design had been added to encourage outdoor use. As predicted, the old neighborhood and the innovative project showed higher levels of outdoor socializing than did the traditional project. Unexpectedly, the old neighborhood showed the highest level of task‐oriented activity relative to recreation and leisure. Several propositions concerning the relationship between behavior and urban environment are considered, and a number of implications for urban design are advanced.