ABSTRACT
The grey environment is affected most by urban areas with a higher than average concentration of people and human activity. The relationship between a function or activity and its 'unpriced effect' is usually distance-related. These effects are also known as 'externalities'1 (Marshall 1924, Mishan 1972, Pinch 1985). Here we are concerned with externalities that have a characteristic spatial impact. Pinch (1985) refers to 'tapering effects'. Given the consequences for the spatial environment, it is logical that sufficient distance is maintained from the source of an externality that is experienced as negative. This approach has become commonplace in seeking to achieve an acceptable environmental quality in areas surrounding sources of environmental impact. It is a technical-functional approach that translates environmental health and hygiene standards into spatial contours. These contours separate areas with excessive environmental impact from areas in which that impact
has fallen to an acceptable level. This distinction can have implications for the functions and activities located in these areas. The fact that environmental impact can have spatial consequences is fundamental to what is referred to in this study as 'environmental/spatial conflict'.
