The Natural-Built Distinction in Environmental Preference and Restoration: Bottom-Up and Top-Down Explanations

Abstract

People tend to find natural environments more aesthetically appealing and restorative than human-made or built environments. It is widely assumed that this natural-built distinction in environmental preference and restoration stems to a large extent from bottom-up sensory processing of intrinsic characteristics of nature that may have signaled adaptive values during human evolution. This view of nature as a unique, irreplaceable source of health and well-being has motivated the greening of cities and other initiatives to reconnect people with nature. But how strong is the empirical support for a bottom-up account of positive responses to nature? This chapter critically reviews the empirical evidence in view of alternative explanations in terms of top-down influences of culturally transmitted views and personally learned positive experiences with nature. It is tentatively concluded that the available empirical evidence appears to be in favor of top-down, rather than bottom-up, accounts of the natural-built distinction in both environmental preferences and restorative effects. In accordance with recent insights relating to the immune system regulating functions of direct physical contact with nature, the chapter concludes with suggestions for future research focusing on top-down, resilience-building experiences with nature.