What do we experience in the built environment?

A wide range of academic disciplines have tried to grapple with what humans experience in public places, otherwise known as the built
environment. The causes and effects of environmental stimulation have been studied by psychologists, sociologists, physicians, philosophers, architects and neuroscientists, to name only a few. These approaches essentially all come to the same conclusion: the configuration of the built environment matters. Yet these scholars’ conclusions haven’t widely been reflected in the work of practicing architects. This paper summarizes the work of about a dozen major researchers in this field. However, only one is a woman – and she is an architect. How have the men who have reached these conclusions communicated these arguments? Why have they failed to influence the field of architecture at large? Why have so few women been compelled to explore these issues?

This paper will discuss research by a number of scholars. Each, to different degrees, has addressed elements of place identity, place attachment, environmental perception and the settings in which certain behaviors occur, but none of them have
done so in as comprehensive a manner as the subject deserves.