Social and

psychological
considerations
Site Planning and Landscape Architecture
Group 2
Good planning and design will be the
product of a process which respects
both nature of man and the nature of
nature

Elizabeth Kassler
Site Values AND
Social Impact

Behavior Settings

User Requirements
Social &
Psychological
Considerations
 SITE VALUES
SOCIAL IMPACT
considerations
 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?

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
Basic approach
 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
when they are designed by adults
 Become familiar with the general principles or
“universals” of behavior and perception.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
Social Analysis
 QUESTIONNAIRE OR ATTITUDE SURVEY
The success of these forms depends on the selection
and wording of questions.
Questions such as “what do you think of so and so?”
or “what kind of environment would you like?” are
inhibiting.
Answers are limited by past experiences and
imaginations, or loaded by the choices they are given.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
Social Analysis
 FACTUAL QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY
Provide an indication of the actual use of facilities,
parks, and playgrounds.
Studies of this nature tell us how the existing facilities
are used and the distance people of various ages are
prepared, if not content, to travel for various recreation
activities and experiences.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
Social Analysis
 FEEDBACK OR USER STUDY
Provides useful information and opinion about a
specific environment in which the respondents live and
about which they are more interested and able and
qualified to answer.
It not possible to make generalizations from specific
studies, but a series of user feedback studies may reveal
patterns and recurring problems.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
Social Analysis
 DIRECT OBSERVATION
Occupations and features receiving most attention,
and so forth, provides valuable general information for
future design work.
It is possible to get an impression of the way in which
the environment is used or misused and the way in which
the design and arrangement of elements.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
SITE VALUES AND SOCIAL IMPACT
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.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
BEHAVIOR
SETTINGS
TWO WAY PROCESS
 The environment has a definite impact on the
individual, and our response may be adapt to the
imposed conditions.
 We are continually manipulating or choosing our
physical surroundings in any attempt to make a life
physically and psychologically more comfortable.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
BEHAVIOR VARIABLES
 ENVIRONMENT that surrounds and affects the
individual.
 INNER CONDITION of the individual:
 PHYSIOLOGICAL, related to the body’s biological
mechanisms
 PSYCHOLOGICAL, related to the cultural
background, motives, and experiences of the
individual and his basic needs.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
PHYSICAL FACTORS
 Analysis of average measurements and
postures , movement , and growth results in a set
of dimensions for parts of building and detailed
landscape design.
 Special situations may logically result in
deviation from usual dimensions and standard.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS
 They result from interaction of the inner
biological condition of an individual with the
surrounding environment.
 The process by which the individual maintain its
internal environment in an approximately
permanent state is HOMEOSTASIS.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS
 A human comfort zone in which maximum and
minimum temperatures and humidity are
specified, suggesting an optimum environment
in terms of the homeostatic process, human
comfort, and ease of living.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS
 A semi-physiological need is the need for self-
preservation and avoidance of pain. It is a self-
protecting device against physical injury and
death.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
 Human psychological and social needs,
behavioral patterns and tendencies, difficult of
the three sets of human factors to define and
relate to the form of the environment.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
 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.
 Even if the same need is identified, the overt
behavior is likely to be different.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
BASIC HUMAN INNER CONDITION
 SOCIAL NEEDS
Includes the need of the individual for social
interaction, for group affiliation, for companionship, and
for love.
Design should characteristically have a societal
form designed to draw people together, to
engender social relationships or to make this
possible.
Social &
Psychological
Considerations
BASIC HUMAN INNER CONDITION
 STABILIZING NEEDS
The need to be free from fear, anxiety and danger; for
clear orientation, to develop and to hold a clear
philosophy in life; to order and organize the environment
Uses the concept of advocacy planning (self-
help and self-determination). Imageability and
order of space free of ambiguity.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
BASIC HUMAN INNER CONDITION
 INDIVIDUAL NEEDS
The experience and development of self-awareness to
be utterly alone in a period of time, the need of privacy.
Design should reflect an identity and sense of
personal uniqueness in the environment.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
BASIC HUMAN INNER CONDITION
 SELF-EXPRESSION
Include the need for self-assertion and
exhibition, for dominance and power, for
accomplishment and achievement, for prestige,
and to be held in esteem by others.
Territory has been identifeied as one of the
three fundamental human drives,

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
BASIC HUMAN INNER CONDITION
 ENRICHMENT
People have a thirst for knowledge. Self-
realization and personal creativity, a strong need
for aesthetic experience.
Design require the provision of information
about the environment so that our understanding
of what we see may be increased in detail.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
Environment perception and behavior

BEHAVIOR results from the interaction of the

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
Environment perception and behavior

 The structure of the environment and its effect

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
Environment perception and behavior

 The value of understanding the mechanics of

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
Aesthetic satisfaction
 The requirements for aesthetic enjoyment are
simply the requirements for visual perception
itself, raised to a higher degree.
 The essential thing in each case is to have a
pattern which contains the unexpected. This
seems to be the heart of what we call “beauty”.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
 USER
REQUIREMENT
anthropometrics
 The study of human body measurement in
anthropological classification and comparison.
 Older people, children, people with mobility issues,
wheelchair users and so on may have specific
requirements.
 Good accessibility and easy manoeuvrability around
the building must be considered

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
anthropometrics
 STATIC ANTHROPOMETRY is the measurement of
body sizes at rest and when using devices such as
chairs, tables, beds, mobility devices, and so on.
 FUNCTIONAL ANTHROPOMETRY is the
measurement of abilities related to the completion of
tasks, such as reaching, maneuvering and motion, and
other aspects of space and equipment use.

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
Client needs
Abraham Maslow’s
HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Social &
Psychological
Considerations
 Quiet lang
BEA, Kevin
BELLEZA, Jenniela
LIOC, Charis Leanne
MASARATE, Roshene Nesly
TUGANO, Nicole Andrea
BSA-3A