What Americans Build and Why: Psychological Perspectives
Cambridge University Press, 7/29/2010
EAN 9780521734356, ISBN10: 0521734355
Paperback, 316 pages, 22.8 x 15.3 x 1.7 cm
Language: English
What Americans Build and Why examines five areas of Americans' built environment: houses, healthcare facilities, schools, workplaces, and shopping environments. Synthesizing information from both academic journals and the popular press, the book looks at the relationships of size and scale to the way Americans live their lives and how their way of life is fundamentally shaped by the highway system, cheap land, and incentives. This book is timely because although Americans say they crave community, they continue to construct buildings, such as McMansions and big box stores, that make creating community a challenge. Furthermore, in many ways the movement toward teleworking, discussed in the chapter on office environments, also challenges the traditional place-based formation of community. Although focused on the United States, the book also includes reference to other parts of the world, especially regarding the retail environment.
1. The landscape of housing
suburbia, new urbanism, and McMansions
2. The landscape of health care
high tech and humanistic
3. The landscape of schools
big schools, small schools
4. The landscape of work
visible or virtual?
5. The landscape of retail
big box and main street
Closing comments.