ABSTRACT
If it is accepted that identifying the aims and aspirations of ordinary urban residents stands as a central task in the promotion of effective environmental planning, how can this be achieved? The next two chapters examine this question from a spatial-geographical point of view. Thus, the present chapter is primarily technically oriented, in that it aims to identify the methods that can be used to investigate the environmental perceptions of individuals and groups as part of the urban planning processes in Third World countries. A related theme is the evaluation of the strengths and limitations of the various specific methods identified. The somewhat wider philosophical, ideological and political issues involved in the employment of such techniques and approaches as a part of the planning sequence, and as a process contributing to public involvement in planning have been well-aired previously in this volume, notably in Chapters 1 and 5. Hence, in the present account, these important considerations are initially held in abeyance, but are reconsidered in the conclusion of this chapter, when a critique of the overall field of planning-oriented spatial perception research is provided.
