NCJ Number
79565
Date Published
1980
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This review assesses Sidney Brower's study of design qualities that contribute to the differential use of sidewalk and park space and residents' perceptions of environmental physical features likely to contribute to social problems.
Abstract
Respondents were shown three-dimensional models representing different arrangements of row houses that approximated existing conditions found in the study area. In addition, the 41 subjects were given verbal descriptions of the actual conditions and areas that the models represented. The models were divided into groups of four, and subjects were asked to indicate how the groups differed. The models were then presented in pairs, and subjects compared them according to which were deemed the most dangerous at night, the best place for children to play, the most likely to be littered, and the most desirable. All eight models were then presented to each respondent for the same type of comparison. The study found that nearly half the respondents perceived as more dangerous the models with less access and back yards, while half deemed the same models less dangerous. Suitability for play was found to be inversely related to the distance from automobile routes. Respondents seemed to indicate that the amount of litter correlates with numbers of people frequenting an area. Desirability responses parallelled other answers. Conclusions beyond the descriptive information of the data do not seem to be justified by the data analyses. Responses to the question on 'desirability' were shown to correlate with a composite of the responses to the other questions; however, this may be induced by the sequence in which the questions are put.