Environmental Messages in Multiple-family Housing: Territory and personalization

Abstract

The home and its private outdoor space may be characterized as primary territory. As such, it allows the occupants the opportunity to exert control over the activities and behaviours taking place. This paper examines how certain mechanisms are used to enhance or reflect residential territory and, thereby, promote one's sense of privacy, in the design of the adjoining outdoor spaces of homes in multiple-family housing in Abu-Nuseir, Jordan. Two surveys were conducted in Abu-Nuseir, comprising (1) a questionnaire and (2) a field inspection of the territorial marking and personalization of the immediate outdoor environment adjoining residential buildings. Occupants' use of actual and symbolic barriers as a means of manipulation and personalization is reviewed. Results suggest that the presence of actual and symbolic barriers is interpreted as a deterrent to intrusion and an indication of stronger occupant territorial attitudes. Territorial personalization in the environmental setting of multiple-family housing provides an ecological mechanism indicative of one's membership in a group and domain. Territorial features depend upon their inherent physical qualities, general symbolic meanings and the cultural milieu in which they exist.