Residential Environments

JUAN IGNACIO ARAGONÉS is Lecturer in Social Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.GUIDO FRANCESCATO is Professor, School of Architecture, University of Maryland.TOMMY GÄRLING is Professor of Psychology, Goteburg University, Sweden.

Housing fulfills a basic human need for shelter. It protects us from the weather and from hostile intruders. Often it is an expression of personal identity and social status. A home is a major personal financial investment and housing is an important part of the economy. The home is also invested with profound psychological and social meaning. It helps meet our needs to feel rooted and to belong. It is a center of privacy, a refuge from the world, and at the same time the place where we interact with our family, friends, and acquaintances. As such the home is an important factor in personal and social development, particularly in childhood.Because of the complex role of housing in human life, residential environments are an important area of study in a wide variety of fields, including anthropology, architecture, economics, environmental design, geography, psychology, and sociology. The dwelling is the nucleus around which the discourse about residential environments is articulated, but it is not its only component. Residential environments also involve other elements such as the neighborhood, neighbors, and the larger urban community. This multidisciplinary study of residential environments conveys the complex nature of people's experiences with thier residences, neighborhoods, and communities.

Presents a cross-disciplinary and transcultural collection of essays on residential environments, conveying the complex nature of people's experiences with their residences, neighborhoods, and communities.

Residential Environments by Juan I. Aragonés, Guido Francescato & Tommy GärlingResidential Satisfaction Research: The Case For and Against by Guido FrancescatoThe Geography of Residential Choice by Frans M. Dieleman & Clara MulderA Psychological Conceptualization of Residential Choice and Satisfaction by Tommy Gärling & Margareta FrimanA Psychological Approach to the Study of Residential Satisfaction by María AmérigoResidential Satisfaction in the Urban Environment within the Unesco-Man Rome Project byMarino Bonaiutto & Marilia BonnesSelf-Help Building and Residential Satisfaction: A Social Constructionist Approach by Esther WiesenfeldThe Dwelling as Place: Behaviors and Symbolism by Juan I. AragonésSpatial-Physical Neighborhood Attributes Affecting Social Interaction Among Neighbors by Oddvard Skjaeveland & Tommy GärlingThe Effect of Neighborhood Reputation on Fear of Crime and Inner City Investment by Catherine A. Garland & Daniel StokolsWaste Removal Systems and Recycling Participation in Residential Environments by John Thorgersen