Arza Churchman

Disentangling the Concept of Density

At first glance, the concept of density is wonderfully appealing to planners. It is an objective, quantitative, and, by itself, neutral term. However, a second and third glance reveals that it is a very complex concept. Some of the complexity is inherent to the nature of the phenomena associated with density, but part of the complexity stems from the different ways in which density is defined and used in different countries and different disciplines. This review of the literature presents this complexity in an attempt to contribute to a better understanding of the concept and a more careful approach to its use. The review includes both academic and practice literature from the planning, urban studies, and environment-behavior disciplines and selected planning documents from countries around the world.

Territories and Territoriality in the Home

This research defines human territoriality as a set of attitudes and behaviors in and toward given physical areas and examines its expressions within the home. The authors interviewed 185 adult and child family members individually. The results indicate that the dwelling unit can be described as a territorial model: as a socio-spatial system in which each area has a clear social classification and is characterized by a particular pattern of behaviors and attitudes. Five different types of areas can be identified: individual, shared, public, jurisdiction, and activity areas. These differ in the degree and nature of control possible within them and in their associated behaviors and attitudes. The physical characteristics of the dwelling unit related to control were the size of the shared area and the quality of the boundaries of the individual and shared areas.

Is There a Place for Children in the City

The following questions are addressed: What are the characteristics of cities and neighbourhoods that are positive or negative for children? What are the implications for childrens lives of the existence of these positive characteristics, of their being able to take advantage of them? The problems facing children in their use of the various parts of the city are identified, as are the reasons why it is important to address these problems, and the elements of the city and the neighbourhood that can make a positive contribution to the quality of life of children, if they are responsive to their needs. At the city level, the critical aspects are those physical and social factors that facilitate or hinder the independent use by children of the existing opportunities and services. At the neighbourhood level, the important environmental characteristics are those that facilitate independent outdoor play at as early an age as possible.

The Role of the Physical Environment in Culture Shock

The concept of place attachment is examined within the context of a between-country migration situation, that of immigrants from the former Soviet Union to Israel. The study hypothesized that place attachment to Israel would be related to the immigrants motive for migrating to Israel and to the perceived differences between their physical environment in the Soviet Union and in Israel, examined on the city, neighborhood, building, and apartment level. An individual, structured interview was conducted with 60 students from the former Soviet Union studying in Israeli universities. Differences between the two countries were perceived for most of the attributes. The USSR was preferred on 22 attributes, Israel on 6. More important than the number of preferences is the direction of preference. Perceiving the new environment to be different does not necessarily mean that the immigrants will not become attached to that environment. If the preference is for the new over the old, then attachment to the new is more likely.

The pattern and meaning of neighbor relations in high-rise housing in Israel

This paper deals with the behavioral pattern of neighbor relations and their relationships to the subjective attitudes and expectations of the residents. The sample was 318 middle-class women living in eight-to 20-story buildings. The findings indicate that respondents so desiring were able to develop active social ties with their neighbors. Moreover, they interacted with neighbors despite the fact that the majority had opportunities for alternative social relations. The distinction between “localized” and “nonlocalized” high-rise residents does not seem meaningful in this case. Actual social ties with neighbors were related to norms and expectations regarding neighbor relations. Despite active neighboring, respondents did not have difficulties obtaining privacy.

Evaluation of an Urban Tourism Destination

Abstract Using the Tourist City model, this study evaluates Tel Avivs tourism product and visitor satisfaction and asks three major questions. What tourism components does the city offer? How do tourists relate to these components? And what differences, if any, emerged in the responses of the different visitor groups? This article employs two primary research tools: objective examination and structured interviews (n = 199). Respondents were classified into four tourist groups according to visitor motivation: (1) vacation, (2) business, (3) culture, (4) visiting friends and relatives (VFR). The findings indicate that the tourist and VFR groups experienced higher levels of satisfaction than business and culture visitors. Tel Avivs strengths were its beach and leisure components, while its weaknesses related to the citys physical aspects: transportation, cleanliness, architecture, and accommodation. Tel Aviv possesses a sufficient quantity of diverse attractions and has the potential to attract and satisfy not only VFR tourists and vacation tourists, but also ‘touring’ and business tourists. To attract all four tourist groups, the industry must focus more on secondary products and internal accessibility.

Can Resident Participation in Neighborhood Rehabilitation Programs Succeed

Citizen participation and neighborhood rehabilitation have received considerable attention in the last two decades and, to a large extent, have been inextricably linked. It is in the context of neighborhood rehabilitation that citizen involvement has been most implemented, most prominent, and most controversial.

Housing satisfaction and intention to move: Their explanatory variables

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between housing satisfaction and intention to move among apartment owners. The sample was 809 women, individually interviewed. The findings indicate that the two indicators are not necessarily different expressions of the same attitude. People may be satisfied with their housing and still intend to move, and others may be dissatisfied and not intend to move. Moreover, the variables explaining the variance of each indicator are different. The percentage of the explained variance was higher for intention to move than for housing satisfaction.

Building Walls Of Brick And Breaching Walls Of Separation

The significance of a physical separation in housing between socioeconomically different populations as subjectively evaluated by the residents involved was examined in three new housing developments built in neglected neighborhoods in Ramat Gan, Israel. Each development consists of five to seven modern new condominium buildings, very different in appearance and status from the adjacent old buildings. One hundred twenty women were interviewed from the new and old buildings. The everyday encounter between them takes place in the common public services, on the street, and through the view from their windows. A clear physical boundary was important to the groups of widely differing status and affected their attitudes and behavior. Physical separation between the new and the old buildings improved satisfaction with their housing among both population groups. In the absence of physical separation, dissatisfaction, disengagement, and indications of ethnic tension were more likely to be found.

Women and the Environment

The topic “women and the environment” encompasses far more than the transactions of a particular user group with the physical world of homes, neighborhoods, communities, and regions. It also addresses fundamental questions about the nature of our society, the nature of our environments, the nature of our professions, and the way we study, educate, do research, design, and plan. The present chapter first describes the general history of research, design, and policy with respect to women and the physical environment. We then discuss how the topic may be profitably addressed in terms of several themes: (1) the contextual nature of women’s lives, their embeddedness in a variety of social and cultural relationships, and the interpenetration of women’s activities with many physical settings; (2) the varied and changing nature of the traditional public/private distinction for women, and historical traditions and restrictions deriving from this distinction; (3) needs and exemplars of social change in respect to women’s environments, with emphasis on sociophysical units of change (e. g., homes, neighborhoods, communities, workplaces, etc.), the domains of needed environmental change (e. g., household activities, services, work, etc.), and the process of change (e. g., social action, policy and politics, and women’s participation in environmental decision-making processes).