ABSTRACT
This chapter examines conceptual, philosophical and theoretical bases of Environment-Behavior Research, of which culture-built form research forms parts, it seems important to reconsider some of the basic, often unstated assumptions which inform ongoing work. Even sociobiology agrees that culture defines our species although there the origins of culture may be seen differently and its roots pushed further back. There has been a revived interest in our communality as humans, all possessing culture, and in possible evolutionary uniformities among cultures and built environments. In a reconsideration of approaches to culture-environment studies, therefore, it seems that more clarity is an essential requirement; more clarity about the nature of the domain, the taxonomies used to drive units and components and the mechanisms linking components of culture and environment. Mechanisms indicate ways in which culture is linked to preference and choice; ways in which lifestyle profiles and environmental quality profiles are made congruent.
