Abstract |
Many engineers, planners, sociologists, psychologists, and architects recognize that the well-being of residents of an urban community may be profoundly affected by the designs used for transportation, drainage, communication and other urban facilities. A better understanding of how the well-being of people living in an urban community relates to the physical features of their residential environment is important both to planners who desire to minimize any potential adverse effects from their design and professionals (primarily in mental health and law enforcement) who must deal with the problems symptomatic of a low level of well-being. While the establishment of causal relationships was beyond the scope of this study, the associations developed by regression analysis demonstrated that physical characteristics are roughly as important as social characteristics in explaining well-being problems. The primary relationship is that physical features that attract many outsiders accentuate well-being problems in a residential community while those that isolate a community minimize such problems. (Modified author abstract) |