Comparison of perceived and desired urban environmental quality. [Terre Haute]

Thesis/Dissertation · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1978

OSTI ID:5039806

Good, J K

In order to determine how well urban residents' perceptions of the quality of life in their city correspond to the quality of life they desire, a model suitable for evaluating this interrelationship was developed. By taking a multiple-operational approach in which three diverse techniques of assessment were used, it was determined how urban residents perceived the quality of life in their city, as well as their corresponding desires. Subsequently, perceptions of various key attributes of the urban environment were compared to corresponding desires in order to determine the level of satisfaction with each. Terre Haute, Indiana, was selected as a city in which to test the relationship between perceived and desired environmental quality. Demographic and economic growth in Terre Haute has been stagnant since the 1920s, creating social and financial problems in both the city's public and private sectors. Of particular importance to this investigation was an awareness of the peculiarities of citizen attitudes toward Terre Haute, and a basic comprehension of how these attitudes (especially the negative, defensive, and indifferent ones) were formed. Since the data derived by the methodology of this study were dependent upon how the citizens perceived and/or evaluated various segments of their urban environment, all results were affected by citizen attitudes toward those phenomena and toward Terre Haute in general.

• OSTI ID: 5039806
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
290300 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
ATTITUDES
DEMOGRAPHY
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
FEDERAL REGION V
INDIANA
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
NORTH AMERICA
QUALITY OF LIFE
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
URBAN AREAS
USA