ABSTRACT

In the World Library of Psychologists series, international experts present career-long collections of what they judge to be their most interesting publications – extracts from books, key articles, research findings and practical and theoretical contributions.

In this fascinating volume, Professor David Canter refl ects on a career that has earned him an international reputation as one of the U.K.’s most eminent applied social psychologists and a pioneer in the fi eld of environmental psychology, through a selection of papers that illustrate one of the foundational themes of his research career: the psychology of place. Split into four parts, each with a new introduction written by the author, the book provides insights into theories, methods and applications of place psychology. Covering a range of publications from early research in the 1960s up to recent explorations, this volume provides the unfolding research that elaborates this seminal theory, offering rich perspectives on how places gain their significance and meaning.

Featuring specially written commentary by the author contextualizing the selections and providing an intimate overview of his career, this collection of key publications offers a unique and compelling insight into decades of ground-breaking work, making it an essential resource for all those engaged or interested in the study of places.

part 1|75 pages

Origins of the theory of place

chapter 1|5 pages

Architectural psychology

chapter 2|16 pages

Office size

An example of psychological research in architecture

chapter 7|6 pages

The psychology of place

part 2|82 pages

Elaborating the theory of place

chapter 8|26 pages

The purposive evaluation of places

A facet approach

chapter 9|27 pages

Putting situations in their place 1

chapter 10|13 pages

Intention, meaning and structure

Social action in its physical context

chapter 11|14 pages

Action and place

An existential dialectic