Topophilia

Topophilia lies at the intersection of geography and environmental psychology, describing the human emotional experience of the physical environment, including sensory perceptions, attitudes toward nature, and valuations of specific components or composites of the landscape. Topophilia generally implies an affection for specific places, but the term involves a spectrum of responses that may include disaffecting experiences for disliked or less preferred locations. Hence, since its original expression by the geographer Yi-Fu Tuan in the mid 1970s, the meaning of topophilia has evolved, and additional related terminologies have emerged. For example, the term topophobia has been used to describe the fear of specific geographical features. Furthermore, it is difficult to disentangle topophilia and topophobia—which are often associated with the nonliving components of nature—from the human emotional response to the living components of nature, which is captured separately by the terms bio-philia and biophobia.

When confronted with images or direct experiences of different landscapes such as rain forests, sandy deserts, meadows, ocean fronts, and urban landscapes, most individuals do not find it difficult to declare ranked preferences, although they may not be able to articulate the rationale for such preferences. Attempts to deconstruct responses to specific components of natural or built landscapes are rare, but recent research to elucidate topophilia have revealed four domains within which human emotional attachment or detachment from the physical environment can be categorized: (1) ecological diversity, including the natural composition of vegetation, animals, and insects and the presence of water bodies; [Page 2851](2) synesthetic tendency, described as the comingling of the senses of sight, smell, texture, and temperature; (3) cognitive challenge, including geometrical shapes, landscape complexity, and opportunities for solitude and contemplation; and (4) familiarity, according to the level of comfort experienced by repeated exposure to the same or similar places.

Understanding the determinants of individual or group preferences for specific components of natural and urban landscapes has been proposed for facilitating the design of restorative environments such as hospital landscapes, where residents hope to recover from diseases, or urban landscapes, where the pressures of daily survival can contribute to subnormal mental health conditions. Additional research may assess variations in individual preferences based on community expressions of topophilia.