Housing, Space and Quality of Life

Ricardo Garcia Mira, David L. Uzzell, J. Eulogio Real, Jose Romay

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351156349
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Urban Planning & Landscaping

Houses, and other spaces and environments in which people spend their time, have a crucial impact on quality of life. We are increasingly living in multi-cultural cities and communities, and this too significantly affects how we feel about spaces in which we live. This volume brings together psychologists, architects, designers and planners to discuss issues of housing, space, sustainability and multi-culturalism. In doing so, the book provides an insightful critical analysis of space, place and the quality of life. It also addresses the implications of intercultural tension on quality of life and on the way in which people use and interact in a multi-cultural space. With case studies from Spain, Turkey, Brazil, the UK, the USA and Israel, it discusses issues such as low-cost housing, security, environmental conservation and sustainability, alternative building techniques, cultural diversity and its impact on housing and urban design.

Chapter 1
Housing, Space and Quality of Life: Introduction

Ricardo García-Mira, David L. Uzzell, J. Eulogio Real and José Romay

As a physical setting, the residential environment is critical for human well-being. We spend most of our working time in buildings, and most of our leisure time at home or close by in our neighbourhood. This fact alone justifies the need to study the role that housing and space play in the quality of life of individuals and communities.

The concept of quality of life is complex, because it includes a multitude of contributory facets such as housing, education, work and environment, as Blanco and Chacón (1985) point out. One can identify at least three different approaches to the study of quality of life in the context of housing and the environment. First, quality of life studies have focused on subjective well-being or life satisfaction (Donovan and Halpern, 2002). This research concentrates on asking people if they are satisfied with their lives in general, although it can be extended to examine individuals' longer term life goals and aspirations, as well as measuring people's self-reported psychological health and mental state. Second, quality of life has typically been understood by governments to be synonymous with standard of living (Jackson, 2002). Consequently, if a government strives to improve the nation's standard of living, it can be said to be improving the nation's quality of life. This is, of course, debatable especially in the context of the third interpretation of quality of life which has been to link the concept directly to sustainable development such that the two terms are used almost interchangeably. Partly this follows a philosophical argument that unless we engage in more sustainable practices the quality of life for the population will deteriorate; one suspects however, that the term quality of life has been used because it is more accessible and meaningful than the phrase sustainable development. Each of these three positions is reflected in the papers in this book.

One of the more important factors contributing to quality of life is housing, because it often serves to define the life space of a person. It has, however, been appreciated that housing, space and quality of life necessarily require a multidisciplinary approach and this is reflected by research in recent years investigating, for example, planning participation (Horelli, 2004), the use of objective and subjective measures in modelling of residential quality and the design of indicators (Bonaiuto, Fornara and Bonnes, 2003; Marans, 2000, 2004), the study of space and its utilisation in the domestic context (Kellet, 2004), the study of space with regard to cultural diversity (Turgut and Kellet, 2001), the use of new technologies in communication and information (Craig and Edge, 2004), or data analysis and research methodology in general (Lawrence 1987, 2004; Hurol, Y., Urban Vestbro and Wilkinson, 2004).

The chapters in this book present the work of thirty-five researchers concerned with the relationship between housing, space and quality of life, in the context of the physical, psychological and social aspects of urban life.

Cities are not static phenomena; they are constantly changing. The rise of 'edge city' has seen the thrust of urban development in recent years occurring on the periphery of our cities, where retail and service facilities are leading to changes in architectural styles, economic patterns and social behaviour (Garreau, 1991; Rowe, 1991; Uzzell, 1995). Such significant changes lead to changes in the perception and interpretation of urban structure and spaces, which inevitably has an impact on people-environment relationships in general and how residents interact with the city in particular. This is addressed by Garcia Mira and Goluboff in their analysis of the interpretation of urban space from the perspectives of two different types of users: pedestrians and automobile passengers. They demonstrate how the use of the car and other means of transport in cities will affect the knowledge of the urban environment and the perception and use of space.

The home is clearly a crucial aspect of the study of housing and space. The concept of home represents the essence of the housing experience. It may express the personality, culture and lifestyle of the homeowners. This, in turn, will depend upon whether the individual lives alone or shares (i.e., with family or friends), whether they are the owner or a renter, and their cultural background. The same physical space can be utilized in a different manner by different users. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of home as it is one of the principal sources of retreat, relaxation and social interaction in our leisure time. The chapters by Ozsoy and Pulat, and Ozaki address facets of the home in two different cultures, and its relationship to evaluations of quality of life and lifestyle.

But a home and the feeling of home is only the final step in the process of finding a place to live. Prior to that sense of home is the decision where to live and in what kind of house or apartment. This will be contingent upon objective economic constraints as well as subjective social and environmental preferences. The chapter by Oppewal et al. examines these issues in the case of student preferences for university accommodation. A further chapter on residential preferences by Craig et al. focuses more particularly on preferences for architectural properties and assesses preferences for different cladding materials on houses.

Choice in housing is the privilege of the wealthy. Many people do not have the luxury of choice — for them it is enough simply to find a place to live and to have a roof over their heads. This is, of course, not an uncommon experience in Third World countries. The chapter by Mikami et al. evaluates a technical and assistance programme which has the objective of helping Brazilian people who wish to move to a new location and self-build their houses in a safer and healthier way, while at the same time protecting the environment.

Houses and homes cannot be assessed simply in their own terms, as if separate and unrelated to their surroundings. The context in which houses are situated can be important not only for how they are appraised architecturally, but also the effect that location and setting can have on the evaluation of our quality of life. We may like our house, but if we are not happy with the surroundings this will have a negative effect on our overall evaluation of our housing and our quality of life. The chapter by Apak et al. evaluates a large residential area in Istanbul, and the problems related to security as a consequence of the spatial (e.g., configuration, inner or outer location) and social (e.g., use, isolation) characteristics of the urban area. Romice, drawing on the results of a European Union funded research project (NEHOM), also discusses the issue of quality of life from a neighbourhood perspective, arguing that integrated and coordinated actions are the most appropriate way to achieve successful urban management and the sustaianble regeneration of disadvantaged neighbourhoods. She concludes with a discussion of how current practice and research in interdisciplinary training and education of design and related disciplines in the UK can and should impact upon this kind of work.

Migration movements can affect significantly the perception of residential areas, and the consequential demographic changes may be evaluated differently by newcomers and long-time residents. This is particularly true for small communities, where the absorption of a new population is more problematic and the resources scarce. This is the subject of the chapter by Potter et al. who examine a small community in Nebraska.

The chapter by Thompson approaches the issue from a more global and interdisciplinary perspective, paying attention to the links between the buildings and their mental connections with individuals and groups. The development of mental representations of the spatial environment is also addressed in the chapter by Fernández. He argues the case for age as one of the relevant predictors of spatial knowledge and demonstrates how the interaction between children and their environment affects their acquisition and future development of environmental knowledge.

Finally, the chapter by Märtsin and Niit investigates the differences in the use of the home as a reflection of the socio-cultural context into which it is integrated with the norms and customs adopted by each culture. Home is analysed as a regulator of people's openness/closedness, and their management of the boundary between the self and non-self. The authors review the different theoretical concepts that have been employed for defining home as a territorial space comprising different functional units (e.g., public, family and private rooms).

Despite the efforts made over the last fifty years to develop a substantial and coherent theoretical framework to understand and analyse the design and construction of housing, the reality is that research efforts became fragmented as they were subject to the different disciplines involved in housing studies (i.e., architecture, psychology, urban planning). Furthermore, research has had difficulties connecting with the professional field of architecture, as has been pointed out by Symes (1984). One can identify at least two reasons why the social scientific study of housing has not been well integrated into professional architecture. First, there are the inevitable difficulties when two or more disciplines come together; not only will each have its own concepts, theories and methods; different disciplines have different languages and these can be significant barriers to communication. But even more important, each will hold particular assumptions about people-environment relationships. For example, one criticism that has been levelled at architects is that there has been a tendency to assume a deterministic perspective, i.e., architects tend to look to psychologists and social scientists for advice on how physical design can directly influence behaviour; social science deals with probabilities, not certainties. Second, there may be a conflict between the knowledge generation goals of science and the objective of application required by the design professions; science defines the problem narrowly in order to secure knowledge generation such that this makes the knowledge so context specific it may not be generalisable for practical application. Alternatively, the scientific search for general principles is at the expense of specific applicability (Gifford, 1998; Garling and Hartig, 2000; Uzzell, 2000; Moser, 2000). Consequently, integrating into professional practice knowledge that is derived from user or residents' perceptions is not unproblematic.

It was also suggested by Proshansky, Ittelson and Rivlin (1970) that for the kind of interdisciplinarity that is being advocated here to work, it requires an interdisciplinary superstructure of evidence-based theoretical constructs. This can only emerge through cooperation and empirical endeavour. There is some evidence that this is now happening both in terms of practice and in the training and education of architects and psychologists (cf. Romice and Uzzell, forthcoming). This book offers another opportunity for a constructive and creative dialogue between the design disciplines and the social sciences in which theories and methodologies can be shared Drawing on presentations made at the 17th International Conference of the International Association for People-Environment Studies (2002, A Coruña, Spain) on the theme of Culture, Quality of Life and Globalization - Problems and Challenges for the New Millennium, all the chapters in this volume demonstrate the multi-disciplinary as well as interdisciplinary approaches that have been used to explore the contribution of housing and space to quality of life issues.

References

Blanco, A. and Chacón, F. (1985). La evaluatión de la calidad de vida[The evaluation of the quality of life]. In J.F. Morales, A. Blanco, C. Huici y Fernández: Psicología Social Aplicada [Applied Social Psychology]. Bilbao: Desclée de Brouwer.

Bonaiuto, M., Fomara, F. Bonnes, M. (2003). Index of perceived residential environmental quality and neighbourhood attachement in the urban environment; a confirmatory study on the city of Rome. Landscape and Urban Planning, 65, 41-52.

Craig, A. and Edge, M. (2004). Internet-Based Methodologies in Housing Research: An Iterative Study Using Quantitative, Financial Measures to Gauge Housing Choices. In Y. Hurol, D. Urban Vestbro and N. Wilkinson (Eds.), Methodologies in Housing Research. Gateshead, Tyne and Wear: The Urban International Press.

Donovan N. and Halpern, D. (2002).Life satisfaction: the state of knowledge and implications for government, London: Cabinet Office/Prime Minister's Strategy Unit.

Garreau, J. (1991). Edge City: Life on the New Frontier, London: Doubleday.

Gärling, T. and Hartig, T. (2000). 'Environmental psychology and the environmental (design) professions', Newsletter of the International Association of Applied Psychology, 121, 1, 30-32.

Gifford, R. (1998). Special places. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 18 (1), 3-4.

Horelli, L. (2004). Enquiry by Participatory Planning within Housing. In Y. Hurol, D. Urban Vestbro and N. Wilkinson (Eds.), Methodologies in Housing Research. Gateshead, Tyne and Wear: The Urban International Press.

Hurol, Y., Urban Vestbro, D. and Wilkinson, N. (Eds.) (2004), Methodologies in Housing Research. Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, UK: The Urban International Press.

Jackson, T. (2002). Quality of Life, Economic Growth and Sustainability. In M. Cahill and A. Fitzpatrick (eds.) Environment and Welfare: towards a green social policy, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 97-116.

Kellet, P. (2004). Exploring Space: Researching the use of domestic space for income generation in developing countries. In Y. Hurol, D. Urban Vestbro and N. Wilkinson (Eds.), Methodologies in Housing Research. Gateshead, Tyne and Wear: The Urban International Press.

Lawrence, R.J. (1987). Housing, Dwellings and Homes. Design Theory, Research and Practice. London: John Wiley and Sons Ltd.

Marans, R.W. (2004). Modelling residential quality using subjective and objective measures. In Y. Hurol, D. Urban Vestbro and N. Wilkinson (Eds.), Methodologies in Housing Research. Gateshead, Tyne and Wear: The Urban International Press.

Marans, R.W. and Couper, M. (2000). Measuring the quality of community life: A program for longitudinal and comparative international research. Paper presented at the Second International Conference on Quality of Life in Cities, Singapore, March 2000.

Moser, G. (2000). Applying general psychology or doing environmental psychology, Newsletter of the International Association of Applied Psychology, 121, 1, 34-35.

Romice, O. and Uzzell, D. (forthcoming). Forty Years On: A Capital Experience in Psychology/Architecture Collaboration.

Proshansky, H.M., Ittelson, W.H. and Rivlin, L.G. (1970). Environmental psychology: man and his physical setting. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Rowe, P. G. (199...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• 1. Housing, Space and Quality of Life: Introduction
• 2. The Perception of Urban Space from Two Different Viewpoints: Pedestrians and Automobile Passengers
• 3. Space Use, Dwelling Layout and Housing Quality: An Example of Low-Cost Housing in Istanbul
• 4. An Evaluation of 'the Feeling of Security' in a New Mass Housing Compound in Istanbul
• 5. Transfer Process of Self-Built Houses in Environmental Protection Areas in the Region of Campinas, Brazil
• 6. Assessing the Acceptability of Alternative Cladding Materials in Housing: Theoretical and Methodological Challenges
• 7. Neighbourhood Quality of Life — Global and Local Trends, Attitudes and Skills for Development
• 8. How Does Immigration Impact on the Quality of Life in a Small Town?
• 9. House Design as a Representation of Values and Lifestyles: The Meaning of Use of Domestic Space
• 10. Student Preferences for University Accommodation: An Application of the Stated Preference Approach
• 11. Culture and Architecture: Theoretical and Methodological Issues
• 12. The Influence of Developmental Maturity in the Environmental Representation of the City: An Empirical Approach
• 13. The Home as a Territorial System (II)
• Index