ABSTRACT
As the introduction to a frequently cited book, this chapter makes clear that the book is about the psychological processes which enable us to understand places, to use them and to create them. It is concerned with those situations in which people live and work, converse with others, are alone, rest, learn, are active or still. This does not mean it focuses on activities alone or only with the buildings which house them. It is about those units of experience within which activities and physical form are amalgamated – places. However, my use of the word ‘place’, in this book, is slightly unusual, showing how places have their impact, how our understanding of them influences our actions and how places are qualitatively different from objects.
