Social and Psychological Considerations

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SITE PLANNING SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS

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Research no. 2

Social and
Psychological
Consideration
s
Margallo, Abigael L.
201111712
TTH/ 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm

Archt. Romeo Camacho

Social and Psychological Considerations
Good planning and design will be the product of a process which
respects both nature of man and the nature of nature --Elizabeth Kassler.
Thus far we have emphasized the natural constraints in regional landscape
planning and site planning. The criteria for housing, recreation facilities, and
use areas have assumed a great deal about the nature of man. In this
research we consider how social and psychological theory may present
constraints or positive direction in decision making and the development of
form at all scales of landscape architecture.
Only recently has there been a concerted effort to relate an
understanding of human needs, environmental perception and attitudes to
design and planning in the hope of providing more satisfactory, conflict-free,
and socially appropriate environments. Environmental psychology has
become almost as popular a subject as ecology.
1. Site Values/ Social Impact
It seems likely that an understanding of behavior and perception will be
helpful in the development of answers to the following similar questions.
What kind of setting is considered suitable for various forms of recreation
and leisure time behavior? Which aspects of recreation are derived from a
desire to get away from pressure of the city and which are derived from a
need for physical exercise? How can playgrounds be made responsive to the
needs, urges and feelings of young children when they are designed by
adults? The answers to such questions and others are obviously important if
design and planning are to be responsive to the social context within which
the design must operate and which it serves.
Generally there are two basic ways to become more sensitive to the
answers to these and a host of similar questions on every aspect of behavior
and environment. One is to learn from observation and direct consultation
with members of community or a specific group on society defined by factors
such as age and socioeconomic status. Another way is to become familiar
with the general principles or “universals” of behavior and perception.

SOCIAL ANALYSIS

Various methods have been developed to help designers know more
about the needs and attitudes of the public client. One method of gathering
attitudinal information is the questionnaire or attitude survey. The success of
these forms depends on the selection and wording of questions. Questions
such as “what do you think of so and so?” or “what kind of environment
would you like?” are inhibiting. Since most members of the public do not
know what all the possibilities are, their answers are limited by their past
experiences and imaginations, or loaded by the choices they are given in the
questions. Although attitude surveys are becoming increasingly
sophisticated, there are so many variables and difficulties that they may only
be useful as a ways to substantiate the hypothesis or intuitive guess of an
intelligent designer or planner who is familiar with the situation.
Factual questionnaire surveys which provide an indication of the actual
use of facilities, parks, and playgrounds are probably more valuable. Studies
of this nature at least tell us how the existing facilities are used and the
distance people of various ages are prepared, if not content, to travel for
various recreation activities and experiences. The extent to which particular
features or landscape or city have significance or what Lynch calls “image
ability” to the majority of the people can also be measured through interview
techniques.
Questionnaires may also be employed in the so called feedback or user
study. This analysis provides useful information and opinion about a specific
environment in which the respondents live and about which they are more
interested and able and qualified to answer. Several studies have been made
of reactions and patterns of tenants in housing developments in which the
findings are contrasted with the original expectations of the architect, which
are sometimes at odds with the actual use. It not possible to make
generalizations from these specific studies, but a series of user feedback
studies may reveal patterns and recurring problems. One of Alexander’s
techniques of generating form is based on the same concept, that of
improving the design by critical analysis of previous solutions to the same
problem.
Direct observation of behavior in particular use or activity areas
reveals another level of information. For example, Vere Hole’s of children’s
playgrounds in London, measuring the child’s attention time and the variety
of environment needed by children, those occupations and features receiving
most attention, and so forth, provides valuable general information for future
design work. It’s use is limited to some extent, however, by the specifics of

particular case study, since findings related to children’s play in London
would not necessarily apply in Los Angeles except in the very basic physical
needs inherent in maturation in body building. By observing people in parks
and public open spaces in a systematic way, it is possible to get an
impression of the way in which the environment is used or misused and the
way in which the design and arrangement of elements such a fountains,
benches result in different behavioral patterns. Even without the presence of
the people to observe, tell tales such as litter and worn path, graffiti, and
other marks can be an indication of use patterns or dissatisfaction with the
environment.
The other way to match the needs and desires of the people who will use it
is for them to build it themselves. The ideal concept is being limited by the
imagination of the people and their awareness of options and alternatives.
The experience of working with the potential users is in itself educational for
the designer as well as the participants. In addition, the project is more likely
to reflect the expressed need and interest of the users as they then are
defined. Flexibility in the solution will presumably take care of future users
whose needs and preferences may be different.
We must be cautious of the tremendous adaptability of the people to
the given environmental situations, which can, in fact, lead us to find
satisfactory-and even favor-environments that previously or objectively
would have been considered unsatisfactory or hostile. Attitudes change,
people move, life is ongoing, and there is always the dilemma that what the
people seem to want or need at one moment may be in conflict with long
term goals or the needs of others.
2. Behavior Settings
The interaction between human behavior and the nonhuman environment is
a two-way process. On the one hand, the environment has a definite impact
on the individual, and our response may be adapt to the imposed conditions.
On the other hand, we are continually manipulating or choosing our physical
surroundings in any attempt to make a life physically and psychologically
more comfortable.

Behavior is the result of a complex interaction between two main sets of
variables. The first is the environment that surrounds and affects the
individual. The second is the inner condition of the individual, which has two
parts: psychological, related to the body’s biological mechanisms, and
psychological, related to the cultural background, motives, and experiences
of the individual and his basic needs. Thus in design we are concerned with
three categories of human factors: physical, physiological, and
psychological.
PHYSICAL FACTORS
Analysis of average measurements and postures , movement , and
growth results in a set of dimensions for parts of building and detailed
landscape design. A door must be high enough to allow people to pass
through without stooping, seats must be at the right level and inclination to
be comfortable etc. Design details derived from purely visual considerations
may or may not fulfill the condition fit for user. Le Corbusier’s modular
system derived a set of visually pleasing proportions and dimensions from
the human body, thereby theoretically relating beauty and functional
satisfaction in his design. Special situations may logically result in deviation
from usual dimensions and standard. Example, when young children are
involved, the environment must facilitate growth and development.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
Human physiological needs are also relatively easy to specify. They
result from interaction of the inner biological condition of an individual with
the surrounding environment. People need food, water, air, exercise and
protection. A state of heath or disease may be regarded as an expression of
the success or failure of an organism to respond adaptively to the
environment changes. The process by which the individual maintain its
internal environment in an approximately permanent state is homeostasis.
This process is innate and automatic, resulting in the operation of body
mechanism and glands. Perspiring, shivering and sleeping are examples of
the body’s response to the environmental conditions.
Need can be fulfilled through the provision of nutritious food, clean air,
adequate and pure water, in addition to the elimination of disease with the
effective physical environment which allow for control of cold and heat. A
human comfort zone in which maximum and minimum temperatures and
humidity are specified has been developed by Olgay, suggesting an optimum
environment in terms of the homeostatic process, human comfort, and ease
of living. A semi-physiological need is the need for self-preservation and
avoidance of pain. It is a self-protecting device against physical injury and
death. The responsibility of city agencies to provide conditions of safety for
citizens has resulted in a series of regulations related and design
specifications to our need for security and fear of injury through falling.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
Health is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity .The definition
adopted by the World Health Organization describes heath as a state of
physical, mental, and social well being. Thus we come to the third human
component component in the environmental design:human psychological
and social needs, behavioral patterns and tendencies. It is the most difficult
of the three sets of human factors to define and relate to the form of the
environment.
Human psychological needs and perception of the environment differ
according to a multitude of variables including age, social class, cultural
background, past experience and motives, and daily routine of the individual.
These factors influence and differentiate the need structures of individuals
and groups. Even if the same need is identified, the overt behavior is likely to

be different. Despite the complexity of the variables and difficulties in the
definition of many needs, it is possible to suggest certain broad categories of
inner needs defined on the basis of observed behavior and empirical
evidence and social analysis. Some psychological are stronger than the
others, and our need structure changes according to the particular situation.
The basic human inner condition may be classified into five generalized
groupings of motivational forces and psychological needs: (1) social, (2)
stabilizing, (3) individual, (4) self-expression, and (5) enrichment. There is
inevitably overlap and potential conflicts among categories.
The first group of social needs, includes the need of the individual for
social interaction, for group affiliation, for companionship, and for love.
Together with these go the more subtle need to be needed and to be
sustained by others and by implication the need for the protection of other
people. The family group and the peer group are obvious manifestations of
these needs. The whole society is organized to a large extent around these
basic social needs. It is clear then that wherever the environment is meant
for people or where the purpose of the design is not contrary to the
fulfillment of these social needs, it should characteristically have a sociopetal
form designed to draw people together, to engender social relationships or at
least to make this possible.
The second set of needs have been called stabilizing needs. We have a
need to be free from fear, anxiety and danger. And we have a need for clear
orientation, a need to develop and to hold a clear philosophy in life., a need
to order and organize the environment a hope to have a say in its form and
content through democratic process. We have the inherent need to
manipulate the environment, not only from a point of view of developing
physical conditions responsive to our physiological needs, but also to satisfy
some more deeply rooted need to make a mark, to form and shape the
environment according to a symbolic metaphysical urge. The concept of
advocacy planning (self-help and self-determination) is to an extent related
to this desire for stability through participation in decisions concerning one’s
own local environment. The concept of self-help projects where derelict,
unused land is transformed through the energies, initiative, and artistic
expression of local people, who will be the users of the land, gives rise to a
form of design activity that not only satisfies the need of human sense for
stability and involvement basic to securitybut also leads to a completely new
type of design process. Other implication are imageability, the ordering of

space so that it is free from ambiguity, and the selection of paving surfaces
to provide information about a place and its use.
The third group is described as individual needs. Some of these overlap
or are similar to needs of self-expression. Here we recognize the need of
people at certain moments in their experience and development of selfawareness to be utterly alone in a period of time, the need of privacy. There
is a strong need for acertain amount self-determination, for an identity ans
sense of personal uniqueness in the environment, and related to this a need
to be able to choose or make individual decisions about one’s life.
The possibility of privacy today in urban environment becomes more
remote The design environment should make privacy a possibility. This is
most likely achieved by the dwelling itself. Privacy also may be attainable by
designing the outdoor environment to create areas less accessible to direct
use by urban population yet within minutes from it. Circulation should offer
choices. Within reason we should be able to do what we want. But we must
be careful that personal expression will not adversely affect the lives and
privacy and equal needs for uniqueness an identity of others in the society.
There is a potential conflict between self-expression and social needs.
There is variety of component needs making up the self-expression
group. They include the need for self-assertion and exhibition, for dominance
and power. There is also a need for accomplishment and achievement, for
prestige, and to be held in esteem by others. Ardrey calls this, the need for
status which is related to the need of territory.
Territory has been identifeied as oen of the three fundamental human
drives, the other two being status and sex. Laying claim to territory and
maintaining a certain distance from one’s fellow may be considered a real
human biological nee.
There is a clear relationship between space and territory and animal
survival. We must be interested in the relationship between space and
behavior. Observations indicate that space limitations or crowding can force
people into stressful situations but if there are too much distance between
people, inhibiting conversation and use. A second aspect of importance A
second aspect of importance is the evidence of pronounced variations in
spacing mechanisms and personal space exhibited by people of different
cultural background and nationality.

A too little personal space may result to psychological breakdown or
antisocial behavior. There are strong arguments that overcrowding in urban
slum conditions is equally detrimental to the mental and physical health of
the inhabitants, the human population is so profoundly conditioned by social
and cultural factors that the question of human overcrowding in cities is
more complicated than in the case of animal population. Thus, it is still not
conclusive that high densities in cities are undesirable and that we cannot
design urban forms that would emphasize the benefits of a large city life at
the same time reducing the ill effects.
We must ensure that the environment will provide possibilities for play
as a general concept more than simply through provision of “play grounds”.
For organized game and sports. A city should have built-in variety and
possibilities for imaginative response.
The last group of human need is called enrichment needs. People
(especially children) have a thirst for knowledge. Self-realization and
personal creativity, and, it seems, a strong need for beauty and aesthetic
experience. Human enrichment needs, then, seem to require the provision of
information about the environment so that our understanding of what we see
may be increased in detail. The environment should not only be beautiful
itself but it also should provide the possibility for creativity in the form of
environmental manipulation or simply in the provision of opportunities within
some kind of open space or recreation program.
Having reviewed the generalities of human needs, we must beware of
becoming oversensitive and self-conscious about these needs, which are part
of our general awareness. There is a danger in the development of specific
design forms to satisfy or fulfill some of these needs which would lead in all
probability to disappointment and conflict. It is not the intention here to
suggest that design should be specifically oriented toward the fulfillment of
any specific aspect of this spectrum of human emotional needs. It is simply
suggested that the design process should identify some of the basic
demands or needs which a particular component of the environment may
reasonably be expected satisfy and should ensure the fulfillment of those
desires. Remember, physical environment is only one part of a larger
process. It is the setting in which we, the social animal, interact with other
humans or the social environment.

Environment Perception and Behavior

Behavior, then results from the interaction of the individual(the social
environment) and with the surrounding (the physical environment).
Consequently, the environmental designer must be interested in the
structure of the environment and its effect on the individual. Second, and
very much related to this, we must render to understand the way in which
the environment is perceived by the individual; and third, we must be
interested in general behavioral reaction to situations, social and physical.
Our sensitivity to the environment and our adaptability or response to
environmental conditions can result in specific behavior, although we are
actually unconscious of the effect of the environment on us. This possibility
underscores the power that is in the hands of the environmental designer. It
has been demonstrated that behavior and social interaction can be
influenced by the arrangement of furniture in room. It has also been
suggested that architectural arrangements can result in conditions alien to
man, for example, where there is no opportunity for privacy (the open plan
house) or little physical contact to the ground( a high-rise apartment). The
judgments in this case are not made on the basis of human survival, which is
not in doubt, in terms of probable mental stress and discomfort.
Environments can thus be specifically designed to bring people together
agreeably for some purpose.
Another way, in which the influence of environment on behavior can be seen
is in the way places assume meaning. A church, a cemetery, a library may
also result in specific behavioral response.
The value of understanding the mechanics of visual sensation is, of course,
obvious. Knowing how the eye works and transforms retinal images of
constantly shifting light patterns into the visual world makes it possible for
the designers to eliminate distracting situations which makes life difficult. For
example, our 180 degree peripheral vision exaggerates the sense of
movement and the closer the walls of a tunnel or passageway, the greater
our sense of movement.
Perception is a more complex process than just seeing. Through it, people
select, organize, and interpret sensory stimulation into meaningful and
coherent images of the world. Sensation shades into perception as
experience goes from the isolated and simple to the complex interactions
characteristic of an ongoing awareness of the environment.

For landscape Architecture, another interesting theory about the interaction
of people with the physical surroundings concerns aesthetic satisfaction. It
has been suggested that the requirements for aesthetic enjoyment are
simply the requirements for visual perception itself, raised to a higher
degree. The essential thing in each case is to have a pattern which contains
the unexpected. This seems to be the heart of what we call “beauty”. This is
explained as follows, Our grasp and enjoyment of the world rest on two
complementary neurophysical principles: the principle of response to
novelty, change and stimulation; and the principle of response to repetition
or pattern.

3. User Requirement
3.1 Anthropometrics The study of human body measurement for use in anthropological
classification and comparison.

Ambulant disabled people

The figures of ambulant disabled people shown above are tall men. The
spaces shown for them are for forward movement, although in practice
ambulant people such as these are as a rule able with their mobility aids to
turn to the side to negotiate narrow openings. In the context of universal
design they do not
therefore have the same significance as for example wheelchair users,
pushchair users or electric scooter users, and they are comfortably
accommodated by circulation spaces suitable for independent wheelchair
users.

Self-propelled wheelchairs
In Britain it has since the early 1960s been the rule that a standard selfpropelling wheelchair has main wheels at the rear and castor wheels at the
front. Other standard features of the kind of wheelchair shown in 2.2 are
pneumatic tyres,
detachable armrests, swing-away detachablefootrests that are adjustable in
height, tipping levers at the rear and a folding cross-brace. The height of the
centre of the seat is typically at about 470 mm above floor level.
Wheelchairs of this kind may have domestic armrests, allowing the user to
approach closer to tables, wash basins etc. than where the armrests.
Attendant-pushed wheelchairs
The wheelchair shown in 2.4 has fixed armrests, fixed footrests, pneumatic
rear
wheels diameter 310 mm and solid front castor wheels diameter 205 mm. A
similar chair known as a car transit wheelchair has detachable armrests,
swing-away detachable footrests that are adjustable in height and a folddown
back. In and around public buildings the wheelchairs that people use more
often have large rather than small wheels; wheelchair users who are seen

being pushed along streets in wheelchairs with large main wheels as in 2.2
may be
able to move around independently inside
buildings.
The reclining wheelchair shown in 2.5 has
elevated legrests and a fully reclining back. As
depicted its length is about 1300 mm, but this
may be around 1750 mm where the backrest
has been lowered and the legrests raised to the
horizontal in order to accommodate a recumbent
person.
Powered wheelchairs
Examples of powered wheelchairs are shown
in 2.6 and 2.7. In and around public buildings,
small powered wheelchairs comparable to 2.7
are more commonly seen than large powered
chairs. A small powered chair may have length
and width dimensions of the order of 890 _
630 mm, a large one 1170 _ 680 mm.
The gradient of a ramp that a powered
wheelchair can be driven up is a function of
the weight of the disabled person seated in it.
As a general rule a typical powered chair can
manage a 1:5 gradient without difficulty. The
typical powered chair currently manufactured
is designed to carry a weight of 115 kg (18
stone), with the heavy-duty chairs that are
available being able to carry a weight of 165 kg
26 stone). There can be a danger of the chair
tipping over backwards if it is driven up a
ramp steeper than about 1:5.
Shower chairs
The mobile shower chair shown in 2.8 has a
perforated seat for drainage and brakes on all
four castor wheels.
Electric scooters
In Britain in recent years there has been a
steady increase in the use by disabled people
of electric scooters for mobility purposes.
Many have found that with electric scooters
they are more easily able to travel out around
local streets and shops and visit friends. A
related important factor has been the growth
of Shopmobility schemes, of which there are
now (September 2000) some 250 in towns and

cities around the country, where pushed
wheelchairs, powered wheelchairs and electric
scooters are available on loan to visitors with
disabilities who come to do their shopping.
The two scooters shown in 2.10 and 2.11 are
examples of the kind of scooters used by
Shopmobility schemes in the year 2000.
A feature of them, as shown by the diagrams
on page 47 and noted on page 42, is that the
turning space they require is considerably more
than that for self-propelled or pushed wheelchairs
or child pushchairs. It ought not,
however, to be assumed that the turning space
dimensions shown in 5.22 and 5.23 on page 47
will remain reliable for the architect’s purposes;
the design of features of electric scooters is
continuingly being refined and improved, one
of the effects of which may that the turning
space needed by typical scooters in future years
is less than as shown in 5.22 and 5.23.
Large electric scooters can have lengths of
the order of 1650 mm.
Child pushchairs
Buggy-type child pushchairs are shown in 2.12
and 2.13. These are small easily foldable lightweight
chairs of a kind convenient for taking
on buses, and are typical of the type of
pushchair commonly seen in shopping centres.
The 2.12 single buggy has a width of 480 mm,
enabling it to pass through narrow doors, as
relevant diagrams in this book show. The
impression is, however, that consumer preferences
for child pushchairs are changing, with
more comfortable, better upholstered and larger
pushchairs now becoming more prevalent. The
width of such pushchairs is greater, of the order
of 550 or 650 mm, but for passing through door
openings, etc. they need no more space than
standard wheelchairs. The carrycot shown in
2.14 has a width of 590 mm, with traditional
perambulators commonly being wider than this.
Correspondingly, many double pushchairs
commonly seen in shopping centres are wider
than the 815 mm of the buggy shown in 2.13,
with widths ranging up to more than 1000 mm.
Commentary on door openings with regard to

double pushchairs is on page 42, relevant plan
diagrams being on pages 46 and 47.
18 Building users: mobility equipment
Client’s Needs: The figure below shows Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs. The theory of self-actualization. He stressed the importance of
focusing on the positive qualities in people, as opposed to treating them as a
"bag of symptoms”.

4. Cultural/ Historical Significance
Existing Land Use. The pattern of existing land use must be designated in
relation to the site. Community Facilities both public and semipublic,
residential, commercial, industrial, and recreational are inventoried to denote
overall trends in development that may have bearing on uses of land
adjacent to and including the site under study.
Along with the study of existing land use, the site planner should meet with
the adjacent property owners to find out, if possible, what future
development of their sites may be under consideration and whether this
development will be in conflict with uses planned on the new site.

Existing Buildings. If a project is to be expanded, buildings on the site
must be shown graphically and their uses and facilities studied. Size, floor
area, and existing conditions must be inventoried. Are historical buildings
present? Existing buildings will strongly influence the physical layout of the
new site plan and will help to establish the grading and drainage patterns on
the site. They also may determine the choice of future architectural
expression in building type, color, façade, texture, materials, window type,
and roof style to ensure coherence and unity in design.
History. A campus plan or other large project may have a meaningful
background that influences future expansion. It is then pertinent to ask “Will
historic factors be of consequence to the project?” The history of these
projects should be investigated and shown graphically so that the relevant
influences may be considered in the design phase. The investigation may
show, for example, that specific buildings should be preserved within the
redevelopment of a campus, as should also be reviewed to see if artifacts are
present and need to be preserved.

SocioEconomic Factors. Social Factors have a broad range of effects on
community facilities and services. Sometimes new facilities displace homes,
businesses, or other community activities. For example, a new highway msy
cut through an area severing its cohesion by creating visual or physical
barriers and affecting business and property values.
Demographic Factors. Population is the base of many land use planning
decisions. Population trends in a local market area can identify potential user
or consumer. These characteristics include population change by births,
deaths, age, sex, family size, occupation, income levels, housing
accommodations, tax rates, and assessments

5. Activity/ Communication Linkages
While studying the location of the site and its relation to adjacent properties
and to the community, all existing ties or linkages, if any, should be
specified. Linkages may involve the movement of people, goods,
communication, or amenities. Now ask whether, by the addition of parkways,
parks, or pedestrian overpasses or underpasses, these linkages need
strengthening. Community facilities such as nearby shopping centers,
employment hubs, residential areas churches, school, parks, and
playgrounds should be inventoried in relation to the site. Determine whether
adequate linkages exist, and, if not, decide how they can be established or
improved by future development.
In planning terms, the aim in creating any communications system, whether
for the movement of people and freight, the transport of materials through
pipelines, or the transmission of power by cable, is to obtain maximum
coordination and maximum socio-economic benefit with minimum
disturbances to the environment.
Ideally, the various components of a nation’s communications network must
operate as a co-ordinated and integrated whole. It is self-evident that the
environmental impacts of the development of a communications system are
very closely linked with land use and landscape considerations in more detail
in relation to different systems, it is instructive to look at the broader
implications.
Traffic and Transit. In inventorying existing vehicular networks, trips--including their origin and destination, purpose, time of the day, and volume
—should be considered. Graphically plot transportation systems and their

location or routes when they are available. Check the volume of traffic or
frequency of flights to determine whether additional routes are necessary. If
sites are within 15 miles of airports, check noise zones and building height
restrictions for airport hazard.
Density. Density is an important sociological and legal element in most types
of development. In residential development, it is expressed in numbers of
families or dwelling units per acre. Density may also be used to express floor
area ratio or gross floor area covering the site.---if all floors were spread out
and assumed to be one-story in height as compared with total site acreage
Density may also influence privacy, freedom of movement, or social contact
among people.

Reference(s):
Land Use and Landscape Planning by Derek Lovejoy
A guide to Site planning and Landscape Construction by Harvey Rubenstein
Introduction to Landscape Architecture by Michael Louri

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