Cities - Environmental Psychology - Handouts, Lecture notes of Environmental Psychology

Download Cities - Environmental Psychology - Handouts and more Lecture notes Environmental Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! LIVING IN and EXPERIENCING CITIES Cities: Positive and Negative Reactions. Negative – social and physical problems. Positive – richness and vibrancy of city life. Increased tempo. “New York is a nice place to visit, but would not want to live there.” Leads people to move to suburbs surrounding core city to avoid negative aspects of cities while still able to enjoy the positive. But as move further out, less concern and involvement in the core city. Deterministic approach to city living – Milgram Characteristics of city  Overload  Social withdrawal Number of people Density of people (220,000 in 10 min. walking radius of a point in mid-Manhattan) Diversity of people (ethnicity, income, lifestyles) Overload manifested by brusque vs. leisurely interactions, avoid eye contact, etc; lack of helping; failure to respond to problems; screen out others (doorman guards apartment building, unlisted phone number ?) Milgram – helping studies. But presence of others vs. chronic overload; potential cost of helping (crime); lack of expectation of reciprocity. City dwellers can be helpful under some circumstances – no danger, obvious need, specific (and infrequent) request. Lack of helping, lack of involvement, and brusqueness of interaction patterns limited to strangers vs. friends and relatives. Compositional (urban neighborhood or urban village) approach to city living (sociologists and urban planners) Discovery of urban neighborhoods during urban renewal period when ‘slums’ (typically occupied by ethnic groups) replaced by apartments to lure middle-class back to city. Residents displaced and dispersed. They grieved for the loss of a ‘way of life’ and social support. Physical slums vs. social slums. Residents of any large city more likely to identify with their neighborhood or area of the city rather than the city as a whole. Neighborhoods reduce overload and provide social support – good for residents. Neighborhoods divisive vs. city goals. – NIMBY “Community of Neighborhoods” Same issues occur in any large institution. Docsity.com