1 People-Environment Relationships in a Digital World 1 David Uzzell Environmental Psychology Research Group Department of Psychology University of Surrey Guildford, GU2 7XH d.uzzell@surrey.ac.uk Introduction The environment is not a neutral and value free backdrop to our lives (Moser and Uzzell, 2003). It is constantly conveying meanings and messages. The physical world is an integral part of human action and is used to promote identity and to locate the person socially, culturally and economically. For environmental psychologists, psychological processes are always situated; that is, they are invariably place-related and place-dependent. This is no less true of the digital world. How will the growth in information and communication technologies (ICT) affect the future shape and structure of the city, for example, people’s travel needs and travel patterns, work and leisure activities? Do we really believe that the information and communication technologies will facilitate and enhance the civility of our collective life in cities? Is the digital world a truly participatory community or little more than a participatory illusion? How can we ensure that the information and communication technologies are the servant rather than master of society? These are critical questions not least of which because they intersect with other major urban and societal concerns, such as social exclusion and sustainable development - which are problematic in their own right without adding the patina of the ICTs. Cities are constantly changing and have done so since the first peoples gathered to create urban settlements in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys. Notwithstanding this, the current changes in the structure and functions of cities are so fundamental they suggest that not only will the form of cities change, but the very way we use cities will be transformed too. We are all part of a digitally rich community and probably need no persuasion that the benefits of the information and communication technologies for our work and leisure are all- pervasive, profound and most of the times welcome. The digital technologies have resulted in a more widely connected, more cheaply connected, and more quickly connected society than ever before. Our actions are no longer so firmly tied to place, especially local place. We have access to the whole world – and clearly we do in ways which would have been unimaginable 20 years ago, let alone 40 years ago when Marshall McLuhan’s claimed “W e now live in a global village... a simultaneous happening” (McLuhan and Fiore, 1967: p.63) . Our reach is global and many have the potential and facility to walk on a global stage. We can now almost wrap our arms around the world in which we live. The growth in digital technologies, however, presents us with several paradoxes. Communication technologies simultaneously enhance and alienate our communication The ICTs paradoxically seem to simultaneously enhance but also alienate our communication. There is a growing literature now on the effects of computers on human relationships in which people lose touch with the world, with consequences such as feelings 1 Published in Uzzell, D. (2008) ‘People-Environment Rel ationships in a Digital World’, Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 25, 2, 94 - 105.