People’s conceptual environmental appraisals of urban space in daylight and electric light

Abstract

Urban spaces should be resilient, inclusive and safe for all residents including children, elderly and vulnerable groups. This implies that urban planning, management and design should provide public spaces that support human needs of active mobility, social interaction and psychological restoration across seasonal and diurnal variation in natural light. Environmental psychology postulates that an understanding of how people experience or appraise an environment is a critical component in the relationship between urban design and human behaviour. In this conceptual paper we propose and discuss overarching (visual) impressions of the environment (environmental appraisals) that could be utilized to deepen the understanding of how people experience urban green spaces under different lighting conditions. In a certain setting, people respond to specific components of the environment; such perceived molecular environmental qualities make up the overall impression of the setting, and shape critical human-environment transactions fundamental to human well-being. The perceived stimuli are considered to act together to form the perceptual basis for higher order, molar aspects, so called conceptual environmental appraisals. We introduce Küller’s human-environment interaction model and Brunswik’s lens model to describe conceptual environmental appraisals. Recognising urban forests as important settings for physical active mobility, social interaction, and psychological restoration, we outline the theoretical underpinnings of three conceptual environmental appraisals: prospect – refuge pertaining to the perceived safety of the environment, environmental preferences, and the perceived restorative potential of the environment. The appraisals have been shown to be relevant in studies on electric lighting in urban space, and possible to assess by means of observer-based assessments also among children, elderly and vulnerable groups. Assessment outcomes may inform discussions on conflicting goals for sustainable development with regard to people’s health and well-being, energy use, light pollution and the welfare of other species in urban planning, management and design.