Topophilia

As part of his work on human geography, Yi-Fu Tuan developed a theory of topophilia. Topophilia, literally “love of place,” is defined as humans’ innate affection for place and environment. It is, above all, an individual's perception and instinctive reaction to environmental settings, typically associated with more natural environments. In the context of green health, topophilia highlights the affective bond and salutogenic psychological response to natural environment settings.

As a theory, topophilia aims to address how humans respond to their environment, the relationship between this response and health, and how urbanization affects the topophilic response. Human response to the environment is personal but can be contextualized for a deeper theoretical understanding. This contextualization can occur across system levels. At the individual level, the response to environment is highly based on perception, and perception is the culmination of the senses. There is a distinct visual acuity within environments. There are aspects that fascinate and draw attention; there are facets that distract and appear incoherent. In outdoor environments, changes in topography and built or natural features may perk up visual perception. With indoor environments, response is often limited to the contents within the room but may also include the view field out of a window.

The tactile sense can influence environmental perception through the arduous task of walking up a steep, rocky path; the act of digging and planting a garden; or the memories of sand between the toes. The auditory sense provides awareness of things seen and unseen: the crashing waves, birds chirping, traffic sounds, and so forth. Smell is an imperative sense, as it has strong memory attachment. The smell of a flower or distinct environment can take a person back to a previous experience and time. In perceiving an environment with these four senses, a response and memory are formed. The memory can be invoked with the reexperiencing of any of these senses. This can be an unconscious response to an environment. Associated feelings resurface, and affective bonds are realized: topophilia.

Human perception can also be described at the group level. There are age, gender, and cultural differences in the response to environments. Value is added to specific attributes of environments. Various tribes of American Indians responded to and valued different aspects of their environments. American Indians in the southwestern United States highly valued the scarce water sources and the ethereal peaks and sandstone formations of their desert habitat. Those tribes across the prairies and Great Plains valued the open expanse and great horizons. Eastern American Indians greatly valued the many streams and rivers flowing from the mountains to the sea. This environment provided a mode of transportation and an abundant food source.

In terms of gender and cultural norms, the daily environments and mental maps of men and women can vary greatly. A study of rural women in Spain found the home and surrounding environment to be a place of both topophilia and topophobia. Some women described their homes and setting with affection, citing recreation, relaxation, escape, and [Page 468]creation. Others described feelings of imprisonment and seclusion, more aligned with fear or aversion to place, or topophobia.

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