Abstract
Urbanizing social-ecological systems often experience environmental degradation, especially in the Global South. Traditional urban psychology has attributed this to decreasing environmental concern due to weakening connections to nature. However, urban psychological research has barely considered how predictions may improve when including psychological complexity, exemplified by context, in the urbanization-concern link. In this work, we test for sensitivity of a loss of nature connection to cultural context, for substitution by additional southern urban features, and for the emergence of aggregate preferences based on the feedback between these mediators in regard to the overall relationship. Our structural equations model is calibrated using original survey data from the globalized southern megacity Bangalore, India. The spatial explicitness of our data allows for representative sampling from its rich urban variation. Spatial lags of exogenous variables provide instrumental variables to control for endogeneity arising from feedback. The results suggest that modernization-induced value change is the main policy leverage that facilitates pro-environmental preferences within a uniquely Indian interplay of various urban psychological effects.
Highlights
The percentage of people living in cities doubles approximately every 100 years
This study extends the literature by developing a joint model of these three previously neglected mechanisms underlying the influence of urbanization on environmental concern (EC) in the Global South
This is evidenced by the fact that the overall unlikelyptoosibtieveoibnsfleurevnecedoifnutrhbaengizlaotbioanl onnorEtCh,isthinedemedairnepcloicnatterdibiuntoiuornsspoatfiaalgsgamrepglaetferodmpBoasnitgiavleorceausality stem fro[m10]s. oHuotwheevrenr, uthribs ainnfliuzeantcieonis leaxrgpellayndartivioennsby(mtheoduneirqnuiezIantdioiann maneddiagtilnogbuarlbizaantfieoantu).resT, hwehsiechfeatures dominatpertehveionuesgnaotritvhercno-bnatsreidburetsioeanrschfrmomay vhavrieoouvserclonoksetrdu(cFtisgutraed4)i.tiWonhialellynasttuuredeiexdpebriyenucrebeaxnhipbistys chology. iHn othwe egvloebr,alotnhoertrht,rtahdeitmioaninalcocnrotrwibdutiinognseffofecatgsgdreogarteeidnfpoorscietivaepositive aggregatceauisnaflliutyenstceeminfroBmansoguatlhoerren (uer.bga.,naiznaotionnymexiptlyanaantidongse(nmeordaelrinziezdatiaolntraunidsmgl)o,baanlidzaationnu).mThbeesreof these effects might persist beyond modernization
Summary
The percentage of people living in cities doubles approximately every 100 years. It doubles every 30 years in the Global South [1]. This process, known as urbanization, profoundly changes the complex interactions between human beings and their environment, that is, within social-ecological systems [2]. Urbanization is generally associated with an overconsumption and degradation of environmental resources within and beyond a city’s limits [3]. Examples of altered (rather than merely decreased) ecosystem service valuation and protection do exist [4]. Urban policymakers in the Global South would benefit from quantitative models that predict the most effective ways to establish more sustainable trajectories for their cities; extant frameworks leave considerable room for improvement in this regard [5]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
