The image of environment and mental maps in rural areas: The case of a kibbutz in Israel

Abstract

At the outset of this article I raised two questions. (1) Is the cultural homogeneity of the kibbitz reflected in its mental maps? (2) Are there differences between the rural and urban perceptions of environment? Two main conclusions can be drawn: (1) Despite a high degree of sociocultural homogeneity, two distinct conceptions of the term “environment” exist; the differences are in the scope of the area and in the number of elements recorded and are rooted in the age groups and in the personal range of activity of the interviewee. (2) The perception of elements in the rural environment does differ from that of the urban areas: cognition of the environment of the rural population is built around nodes and districts, while that of the urban population is built around paths and landmarks. The explanation of this difference is rooted in the different landscapes and in the individual's different personal activity within that landscape.