The Meaning of Activities in the Dwelling and Residential Environment


Book Description

The dwelling is a central setting in people's everyday life. People use their dwelling and residential environment for a large variety of activities and purposes. This book relates activities, settings and meanings to improve the insight into people-environment relations which is called a meaning structure approach.




The Role of the Outdoors in Residential Environments for Aging


Book Description

The Role of the Outdoors in Residential Environments for Aging presents new insights on the positive role nature and the outdoors can play in the lives of older adults, whether they live in the community, in an assisted-living environment, or in a skilled nursing facility. Current research suggests that increased contact and activity levels with the outdoors can be an important therapeutic resource for the elderly, with significant mental and physical health benefits. This unique book examines how to make the most of outdoor spaces in residential settings, exploring attitudes and patterns of use, the effect of plants, the physical environment, and health-related outcomes from contact with nature and enhanced physical activity.







Optical Fiber Sensors for Residential Environments


Book Description

The aim of this project is to start creating awareness and to convey the idea that optical sensor technologies are now technically and economically mature enough to provide safety enhancement features in the residential environment and market. a first app







Design for Secure Residential Environments


Book Description

There is currently a great deal of interest in crime prevention and how it can be reduced through better design. Design for a Secure Residential Environment provides the framework on which the risk of crime can be reduced through sensible design of the vulnerable parts of houses, community buildings and small commercial premises and the environment immediately surrounding the buildings. This book looks at how buildings should be assessed for security measures. It then looks at the design of external and communal areas, how lighting can improve security and then covers methods of making doors and windows secure. It describes various methods of electronic security and concludes with a chapter on how to plan and implement suitable security measures.




Toxic Communities


Book Description

From St. Louis to New Orleans, from Baltimore to Oklahoma City, there are poor and minority neighborhoods so beset by pollution that just living in them can be hazardous to your health. Due to entrenched segregation, zoning ordinances that privilege wealthier communities, or because businesses have found the OCypaths of least resistance, OCO there are many hazardous waste and toxic facilities in these communities, leading residents to experience health and wellness problems on top of the race and class discrimination most already experience. Taking stock of the recent environmental justice scholarship, a Toxic Communities aexamines the connections among residential segregation, zoning, and exposure to environmental hazards. Renowned environmental sociologist Dorceta Taylor focuses on the locations of hazardous facilities in low-income and minority communities and shows how they have been dumped on, contaminated and exposed. Drawing on an array of historical and contemporary case studies from across the country, Taylor explores controversies over racially-motivated decisions in zoning laws, eminent domain, government regulation (or lack thereof), and urban renewal. She provides a comprehensive overview of the debate over whether or not there is a link between environmental transgressions and discrimination, drawing a clear picture of the state of the environmental justice field today and where it is going. In doing so, she introduces new concepts and theories for understanding environmental racism that will be essential for environmental justice scholars. A fascinating landmark study, a Toxic Communities agreatly contributes to the study of race, the environment, and space in the contemporary United States."




Beyond the Neighborhood Unit


Book Description

Much of the research on which this book is based was funded almost a decade ago by separate grants from two different agencies of the U. S. Public Health Service, of the then still consolidated Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The first grant was from the Bureau of Community Environmental Management (Public Health Service Research Grant J-RO J EM 0049-02), and the second from the Center for Studies of Metropolitan Problems of the National Institute of Mental Health (Public Health Service Grant ROJ MH 24904-02). These separate grants were necessary because of budget cuts that truncated our original effort. We were fortunate to receive subsequent assistance from NIMH to conclude the research, as it is doubtful that a project of the scope and intent of our effort--even as completed in abbreviated form-will be funded in the 1980s. The original intent of this project, as formulated by our colleagues Ira Robinson and Alan Kreditor, and as conceptualized earlier by their predeces sors-members of an advisory committee of planners and social scientists ap pointed by the American Public Health Association (APHA)-was to rewrite Planning the Neighborhood, APHA's recommended standards for residential design. In particular, it was proposed that the new study take the point of view of the user in terms of residential standards. Hitherto, the private sector had domi nated these considerations (i. e. , the designer's predilections, the requirements of builders and material suppliers, and lenders' needs for mortgage security).




Home Environments


Book Description

The present volume in the series focuses on homes, residences, and dwellings. Although many fields have had a long-standing interest in different aspects of home environments, the topic has recently come to the forefront in the interdisciplinary environment and behavior field. Researchers and theorists from many disciplines have begun to meet regularly, share ideas and perspectives, and move the investigation of psychological, social, and behavioral aspects of home environments to the central arena of environment and behavior studies. This volume representative-though not comprehensive attempts to provide a sampling of contemporary perspectives on the study of home environments. As in previous volumes, the authors are drawn from a variety of disciplines, including environmental design fields of architecture and planning, and from the social science fields of psychology, sociology, anthropology, and history. This diversity of authors and perspectives makes salient the principle that the study of homes in relation to behav ior requires the contributions of many disciplines. Moreover, the chap ters in this volume reflect an array of research and theoretical view points, different scales of home environments (e.g., objects and areas, the home as a whole, the home as embedded in neighborhood and communities, etc.), design and policy issues, and, necessarily, a com parative and cross-cultural perspective. Home environments are at the core of human life in most cultures, and it is hoped that the contributions to this volume display the excite ment, potential, and importance of research and theory on homes.




Design in Familiar Places


Book Description

Residents look at their neighborhood differently than visitors and designers do. The features that they see as most important can differ significantly, so that spaces that are viewed as successful by designers may be disliked by residents. Designers who hope to create successful residential environments can benefit from a more complete understanding of the residents' perspective and their priorities. This residents-eye-view is especially critical in troubled neighborhoods. Brower compares the responses to the same environment by residents, tourists, and designers. Using observations, interviews, innovative survey methods, and an examination of the literature, he details accepted norms that govern who uses and controls neighborhood spaces, children's play networks, neighboring patterns, territorial behavior, and the personalization of space. Brower then describes the application of these ideas and findings in a series of design interventions in an inner city neighborhood in Baltimore. These interventions are thoroughly documented and evaluated, and the lessons learned from both successes and failures are used to inform design ouidelines for the study area. The interventions also help to define the role of outside professionals; in particular, the importance of involving residents in defining and resolving their own problems, and the need to accept space management and social organization as proper concerns of design. The book is written in clear, simple language, and uses drawings and photographs to illustrate the ideas presented.