Research indicates that nature offers many physical and mental health benefits, including restoration - or recovery from mental fatigue. However, questions remain what exactly in one's environment is experienced as restorative and why.... more
Research indicates that nature offers many physical and mental health benefits, including restoration - or recovery from mental fatigue. However, questions remain what exactly in one's environment is experienced as restorative and why. Bridging environmental aesthetics, environmental psychology and cultural studies, this study establishes a connection between landscape and mindscape as seen, for instance, in the ways in which and orderly environment is interpreted as an orderly state of mind and vice versa. Using data drawn from a qualitative survey targeting expatriate Finns, the article mobilises content analysis to interpret the results and concludes that a 'favourite place' is aesthetically appealing, enables actions that are experienced as restorative and is as much an interpretation of a space as a physical place.
This research studies the spatial preferences and place attachment levels of the newcomers compared to the existing users by means of visual perception and adaptation in the context of Istanbul’s Prince Islands. The visual and physical... more
This research studies the spatial preferences and place attachment levels of the newcomers compared to the existing users by means of visual perception and adaptation in the context of Istanbul’s Prince Islands. The visual and physical distance of the islands to mainland, give a chance to explore the certain images shared by inhabitants. The hypothesis assumes that the islands are gated communities where entrance is limited physically and semantically. Place attachment is analysed due to the outcomes of relations between the environmental preference, physical structure, social adaptation and social interaction in various levels of perception, cognition and residency periods. Proximity, accessibility, topography, size and
limits are parameters considered for the analyses of physical structure. Existing, or newcomer, the individuals symbolically interact more with the island than the city. With the help of physicaland visual isolation, islands strongly encourage place attachment in forms of social bonds and present welcoming environments for the newcomers. The results of the research show that living in the context of smaller, limited settlement units, facilitates the social adaptation of the occupants that, improves social relations and consequently environmental satisfaction.
This paper critiques a common research method, image-based studies, in assessing environmental references. The method is used, in particular, in the elds of environmental psychology, landscape studies, and health studies, here called... more
This paper critiques a common research method, image-based studies, in assessing environmental references. The method is used, in particular, in the elds of environmental psychology, landscape studies, and health studies, here called empirical environmental preference studies or EEP studies. I argue that the established view in the EEP eld that nature is inherently experienced as more aesthetically appealing and restorative than urban environments may be biased because of the imagebased method. This paper presents a literature review of EEP studies, discussing them in a framework of environmental and everyday aesthetics. The conclusion is that EEP studies may strip cities of their physical, socio-cultural, and aesthetic layers; and comparing nature and cities as places of restoration may be unfruitful as our relationship with nature and urban environments is dissimilar.
This research studies the spatial preferences and place attachment levels of the newcomers compared to the existing users by means of visual perception and adaptation in the context of Istanbul’s Prince Islands. The visual and physical... more
This research studies the spatial preferences and place attachment levels of the newcomers compared to the existing users by means of visual perception and adaptation in the context of Istanbul’s Prince Islands. The visual and physical distance of the islands to mainland, give a chance to explore the certain images shared by inhabitants. The hypothesis assumes that the islands are gated communities where entrance is limited physically and semantically. Place attachment is analysed due to the outcomes of relations between the environmental preference, physical structure, social adaptation and social interaction in various levels of perception, cognition and residency periods. Proximity, accessibility, topography, size and limits are parameters considered for the analyses of physical structure. Existing, or newcomer, the individuals symbolically interact more with the island than the city. With the help of physical and visual isolation, islands strongly encourage place attachment in f...