SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL
FACTOR IN SITE PLANNING
“Good planning and
design will be the product
of a process which
respects both nature of
man and the nature of
nature”--Elizabeth Kassler.
The criteria for housing, recreation facilities,
and use areas have assumed a great deal about
the nature of man. We consider how social and
psychological theory may present constraints
or positive direction in decision making and the
development of form at all scales of landscape
architecture
SITE VALUES/SOCIAL IMPACTS
What kind of setting is considered suitable for various
forms of recreation and leisure time behavior?
Which aspects of recreation are derived from a desire to get
away from pressure of the city and which are derived from a
need for physical exercise?
How can playgrounds be made responsive to the needs,
urges and feelings of young children when they are
designed by adults?
ANSWERS:
ONE is to learn from observation and direct consultation
with members of community or a specific group on society
defined by factors such as age and socioeconomic status
ANOTHER WAY is to become familiar with the general
principles or “universals” of behavior and perception.
SITE VALUES/SOCIAL IMPACTS
SITE VALUE is the unimproved value of your
land, which means it excludes capital
improvements such as buildings.
SITE VALUES/SOCIAL IMPACTS
SOCIAL IMPACT is the consequences to human
populations of any public or private actions that
alter the ways in which people live, work, play,
relate one another, organize to meet their needs,
and generally cope as members of the society.
Examples to be examined are:
SITE VALUES/SOCIAL IMPACTS
▪ Migration of population and resettlement
▪ Utilization of land and local resources
▪ Existing infrastructures
▪ Cultural heritage
▪ Local conflict of interests ▪Communicable
diseases
“ We must be cautious of the tremendous adaptability
of the people to the given environmental situations,
which can, in fact, lead us to find satisfactory-and even
favor-environments that previously or objectively
would have been considered unsatisfactory or hostile.
Attitudes change, people move, life is ongoing, and
there is always the dilemma that what the people
seem to want or need at one moment may be in
conflict with long term goals or the needs of others. “
BEHAVIOR SETTING
The interaction between human behavior
and the nonhuman environment is a twoway process. On the one hand, the
environment has a definite impact on the
individual, and our response may be adapt
to the imposed conditions. On the other
hand, we are continually manipulating or
choosing our physical surroundings in any
attempt to make a life physically and
psychologically more comfortable
IN DESIGN WE ARE CONCERNED
WITH THREE CATEGORIES OF
HUMAN FACTORS:
PHYSICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL, AND
PSYCHOLOGICAL
PHYSICAL FACTOR
Analysis of average measurements and
postures, movement, and growth results in
a set of dimensions for parts of building
and detailed landscape design. A door
must be high enough to allow people to
pass through without stooping, seats must
be at the right level and inclination to be
comfortable etc.. Design details derived
from purely visual considerations may or
may not fulfill the condition fit for user.
PHYSICAL FACTOR
PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTOR
Human physiological needs areal so relatively easy to
specify. They result from interaction of the inner
biological condition of an individual with the
surrounding environment. People need food, water, air,
exercise and protection. A state of heath or disease
may be regarded as an expression of the success or
failure of an organism to respond adaptively to the
environment changes. Need can be fulfilled through
the provision of nutritious food, clean air, adequate
and pure water, in addition to the elimination of
disease with the effective physical environment which
allow for control of cold and heat.
PSYCOLOGICAL FACTOR
Human psychological needs and perception of
the environment differ according to a multitude
of variables including age, social class, cultural
background, past experience and motives, and
daily routine of the individual. These factors
influence and differentiate the need structures
of individuals and groups. Even if the same
need is identified, the overall behavior is likely to
be different. Some psychological are stronger
than the others, and our need structure changes
according to the particular situation.
The basic human inner condition may be
classified into five generalized groupings
of motivational forces and psychological
needs: (1) social, (2) stabilizing, (3)
individual, (4) self-expression, and (5)
enrichment. There is inevitably overlap
and potential conflicts among categories.
(1) social
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Social interaction
Group affiliation
Companionship
Love
(2) stabilizing
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Free from fear
Free from anxiety
Free from danger
Clear orientation
Clear philosophy in life
(3) individual
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Self expression
Self awareness
Self determination
Sense of personal uniqueness
(4) self-expression
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Self-assertion
Dominance
Power
Accomplishment
Achievement
Prestige
Territory
(5) enrichment
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Self realization
Personal creativity
Aesthetic experience
USER REQUIREMENT
ANTHROPOMOETRICS The study of human body measurement for
use in anthropological classification and comparison.
USER REQUIREMENT
The spaces shown for them are for forward movement. In the
context of universal design they do not therefore have the same
significance as for example wheelchair users, pushchair users or
electric scooter users, and they are comfortably accommodated by
circulation spaces suitable for independent wheelchair users.
CULTURAL/HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
EXISTING LAND USE The pattern of existing land
use must be designated in relation to the site.
Community Facilities both public and semipublic,
residential, commercial, industrial, and recreational
are inventoried to denote overall trends in
development that may have bearing on uses of
land adjacent to and including the site under study.
CULTURAL/HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
EXISTING BUILDINGS If a project is to be expanded,
buildings on the site must be shown graphically
and their uses and facilities studied. Size, floor
area, and existing conditions must be inventoried.
Are historical buildings present? Existing buildings
will strongly influence the physical layout of the
new site plan and will help to establish the grading
and drainage patterns on the site.
CULTURAL/HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
HISTORY A campus plan or other large project may
have a meaningful background that influences
future expansion. It is then pertinent to ask “Will
historic factors be of consequence to the project?”
The history of these projects should be
investigated and shown graphically so that the
relevant influences may be considered in the
design phase.
CULTURAL/HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
SOCIO ECONOMIC FACTORS Social Factors have a
broad range of effects on community facilities and
services. Sometimes new facilities displace homes,
businesses, or other community activities.
CULTURAL/HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS Population is the base of
many land use planning decisions. Population
trends in a local market area can identify potential
user or consumer. These characteristics include
population change by births, deaths, age, sex,
family size, occupation, income levels, housing
accommodations, tax rates, and assessments
ACTIVITY/ COMMUNICATION LINKAGES
Linkages may involve the movement of people,
goods, communication, or amenities.
ACTIVITY/ COMMUNICATION LINKAGES
In planning terms, the aim in creating any
communications system, whether for the
movement of people and freight, the transport of
materials through pipelines, or the transmission of
power by cable, is to obtain maximum coordination
and maximum socio-economic benefit with
minimum disturbances to the environment.
ACTIVITY/ COMMUNICATION LINKAGES
TRAFFIC AND TRANSIT In inventorying existing
vehicular networks, trips---including their origin and
destination, purpose, time of the day, and
volume—should be considered. Graphically plot
transportation systems and their location or routes
when they are available.
ACTIVITY/ COMMUNICATION LINKAGES
DENSITY. Density is an important sociological and
legal element in most types of development. In
residential development, it is expressed in numbers
of families or dwelling units per acre. Density may
also be used to express floor area ratio or gross
floor area covering the site