Dominique Ansel

Spatial Decision-Making: Between Individual Choices and Collective References

Our individual spatial behaviours are all guided by collective references, whether for a choice of routes (by road, on foot, etc.), places frequented (choice among various shopping centres, etc.), or residential choices (choice of moving to another part of town or another locality). The ideas conveyed by our entourage (family, friends) or by some wider social group (e.g. via national surveys or the media) influence us. However, our individual spatial behaviours are not guided by collective references alone; individual determinants also come into play such as the means of transport we have for our daily commutes, the number of children in our household, or personal past experience (especially during our childhood).

Collective and Cooperative Behaviour Models

In modelling residential choice we cannot escape the debate about the effect of societal context on an individual’s decision-making. This debate depends on whether we set more store by the aggregate scale of society or by the individual’s decision-making. An individual-centred approach will focus on the particularities of an individual and the way her past, for example, influences her decisions.

Deciding Where to Live

This book proposes, from a cross-disciplinary perspective, an original reading of current work on residential choice and the decisions associated with it. Geographers, social-psychologists, economists, sociologists, neurologists and linguists have worked together in the context of collective research into evaluation, choice and decision-making in the use of urban and periurban spaces. A synthetic outlook has been constructed from these complimentary scientific references. The book, which is designed as a handbook, also provides the opportunity to set out the different approaches to deal with the models which have been developed in this field.

Preferences, Utility, Choice, and Attractiveness

The purpose of this chapter is to specify what is meant by preferences, utility, choice, and attractiveness in the context of daily and residential mobility. These notions will be addressed from the angles of economics, geography, and psychology. We are interested in the process of choice leading to a decision and action with spatial consequences, primarily in terms of residential mobility even if factors pertaining to local daily mobility such as modal choice and route choice are evoked.

Affect, Uncertainty, and Decision-Making

Decision-making is a complex cognitive process of selecting an action among various alternatives. Everyday life is full of situations calling for multiple decisions: living somewhere, moving home, choosing a route, changing route are all decisions that determine our life setting and way of life. These decisions may have a limited impact or over the longer term may cause slight inconvenience, a fleeting feeling of well-being or deep unease, or possibly even unbearable anxiety.