Liveability

Abstract

The ecosystem of the species called human is the living environment. The quality of the match between people and their living environment is known as liveability. In this chapter, the different perspectives on the relationship between people and environment will be clarified as well as the different forms of liveability that we can distinguish. This results in a reflection on the neighbourhood as an ecosystem and the operationalisation of a sustainable liveability. The qualities of a sustainable liveability are basic needs, and part of these needs have a spatial dimension that are of interest for the design of a sustainable liveable neighbourhood. The well-known elements of this sustainable liveability are health, safety and the importance of the green environment. The quality of the social environment may have a more important role in the well-being of people than the physical environment, but there is a clear relationship between both. The explanation is in another basic need: control over the social and physical environment. The relationship is in the fact that the physical environment facilitates the control over the social interaction. So, at the end of this chapter we emphasise the way the built environment facilitates the control over social interaction by the individual. This will be explained with an example and with design guidelines.

Understanding Qualitative Conceptions of Livability: An Indian Perspective

“…M. van Dorst [7], in his research work on livability reported that the ecosystem of the species called human is the living environment. The quality of the match between people and their living environment is therefore known as livability.…”