History

Barrett McMillin

Professor Fitzgibbon

Special Topics: 311 A

December 3, 2007

Built Environment and How It Affects Decisions and Behavior

Throughout history one can look at the structure and organization of any one particular city and can draw conclusions on how that city was ran and how efficiently it operated. The construction and landscape of the city affects the people and residents of the city in every aspect of their lives. The effects range from affecting their everyday schedules, social lives and interactions. The way that a city is built contributes significantly to how people treat and respect the city and provides an inside look into how the people that live in or around the city act and carry themselves. The construction of the city and the built environment directly affects the behavior and actions of the individual or resident in either a productive and positive way or in a destructive and harmful sense. However there can be a mix of people act due to the built environment and conditions.

The idea of built environment is typically to stimulate community activity and to promote physical activity. This is done by designing certain features such as a park in order to stimulate physical activity in the community and encourage others to follow this lifestyle. In this aspect built environment is good for the people and city. The construction of parks and gyms promotes the idea of exercise in the community and an interaction between different groups of people. Meanwhile there are some cities that have built environments that are for the sole purpose of entertainment and tourism. Probably the two best examples of this in the supplementary reading would be the construction of Central Park in New York and the city of Las Vegas and its gigantic gambling industry.

First, Central Park provided an area where people could go to enjoy themselves and relax. This park is an ideal place for exercise and has many trails and paths to run on and exercise. Not only is the park great for working out in, but it provides a great area for things such as picnics and parties. The atmosphere of Central Park gives off a good genuine feeling and directly affects the people of New York. Central Park is generally a typical tourist attraction and the people of New York know this. Residents of New York work to keep the park kept and clean so that they can have a place that is enjoyable and fun to be in. This is important because even though Central Park is man-made and artificial it makes the people of New York somewhat behave in a different way. Many sensible New Yorkers would not trash or deface purposely and from the reading Central Park was a place to parade and show off personal belongings on Sunday afternoons.

Many wealthy and affluent couples or groups would ride in carriages or some form of transportation to show off their economic stature. This shows that the built environment of the city directly affects the behavior and actions of the city residents. It was common knowledge and in essence that the wealthy would use the park and that the poor or non-whites were not to use the park. The concept of the park was originally to set imaginary rules or regulations on who could use the park and how they should act inside the park.

Although there was a great positive affect on how the park contributed to the behavior of the people, there were and still are negative actions in the park. Central Park at night was a place that many women were raped early on and still today there are many murders. The park is a wide open and easy place to sneak up upon an individual and this contributes directly to the actions of some of the residents. The park can abet and supplement to criminal behavior since that at night it is easy to commit a crime. Many people know this and this information negatively affects the actions of some residents in the New York City area.

Also in the early times of the park, the racial tensions caused discontent and disgruntlement in the park. Whites believed that the park was solely to be used by whites and blacks were unwelcome. This caused the whites and blacks to bring out the negative and mean spirited sides of their personalities in order to fight for their beliefs. The park was the main source of fighting in that the whites believed that it was their right and privilege to use the park by themselves and the blacks believed that they also had the right to have use of the park. These beliefs brought fights and discord between the two groups and the use of the park and built environment directly affected the actions of the citizens around the park.

Secondly, the city of Las Vegas is the perfect example of the built environment and how the built environment directly affects the actions and behavior of individuals. The phrase "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." is the perfect illustration of the mischievous and playful behavior that takes place in Vegas. The city is set up to entertain the idea of naughty and disobedient behavior in adults. On the strip is one of the most magical and fantastic sites with all of its neon, glowing lights and signs, and the happy people who stroll the strip. There are liquor and alcohol stores everywhere in the city and multiple casinos on