The study of quality of urban life involves both an objective approach to analysis using spatially aggregated secondary data and a subjective approach using unit record survey data whereby people provide subjective evaluations of QOL domains. This book provides a comprehensive overview of theoretical perspectives on QOUL and methodological approaches to research design to investigate QOUL and measure QOL dimensions. It incorporates empirical investigations into QOUL in a range of cities across the world.

In this handbook social science researchers who focus on sustainability present and discuss their findings, including empirical work, case studies, teaching and learning innovations, and applied projects. As such, the book offers a basis for the dissemination of information, ideas and experiences acquired in the execution of research projects, especially initiatives which have influenced behavior, decision-making, or policy. Furthermore, it introduces methodological approaches and projects which aim to offer a better understanding of sustainability across society and economic sectors. This multidisciplinary overview presents the work of researchers from across the spectrum of the social sciences. It stimulates innovative thinking on how social sciences influence sustainable development and vice-versa.

This fourth volume in the Advances in Environment, Behavior, and Design series continues the intent of earlier volumes by exploring new directions in the multidisciplinary environment-behavior (EB or EBS) field. The series is organized around a framework of theory, methods, research, and utilization that some say has defined the field for the past 15 years. This fourth volume is devoted to chapters that explore the integration of theory, quantitative and qualitative research, and utilization in policy, planning, and architec ture. The authors selected for this volume exemplify the multidisciplinary character of the field-they have been selected from architecture, environ mental psychology, environmental studies, housing research, landscape ar chitecture, social anthropology, social ecology, urban design, and urban planning; from academe and practice; and from Australia, Europe, and North America. HISTORY OF THE ADVANCES SERIES The idea for the series emerged in 1983 at meetings of the Board of Directors of the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA). Sev eral publishers were contacted about the possibility of an EDRA Annual Review. Eliot Werner at Plenum Press expressed great interest but suggested that an Advances series would be more appropriate since publication could be tied to a less specific timetable. EDRA, Plenum, and the editors signed a contract in June 1984 for three volumes, with an open door for oral agreements between Plenum and the editors after that time. Four volumes have been published (Volume 1, 1987; Volume 2,1989; Volume 3,1991; and the current Volume 4), each containing 10 to 12 chapters."

This insightful book focuses on state-of-the-art retirement communities in the United States today. Experts from the fields of urban planning, architecture, and aging present in-depth profiles of a variety of retirement communities. The changing function and character of retirement communities--resulting from changes in supply and demand, alternate lifestyles, and other environmental needs of an ever-increasing aging population--are explored. The timely discussions in this useful resource offer insights into the relative strengths and weaknesses of various types of retirement communities with respect to the varying needs, abilities, and desires of older people.

The work synthesizes past and current research on the quality of urban life that has been done internationally. It emphasizes the contributions of the urban environment to the overall well-being of residents living in urban areas ranging in scale from small cities and their hinterlands to metropolitan regions. By urban environment, we mean the socio-physical aspects of urban living ranging from individual dwellings and neighbourhoods to public services (i.e. transportation, rubbish collection, etc.) to neighbours and community organizations. The work emphasizes not only perceptions of and behaviours within urban environments but the actual conditions to which individuals are responding. That is, the research covers both the subjective and behavioural aspects of urban living but also the objective conditions which drive them.

The work that has been underway is theoretically driven and will contribute to knowledge in several academic disciplines. At the same time, it is designed to inform public policy and planning in each setting.

This book stems from a long period of collaborative research between the editors, research colleagues, and their graduate students. It als draws on collaborative research with international scholars investigating aspects of urban quality of life in their respective settings. Many of these efforts parallel work initiated by the editors in metro Detroirt and in southeast Queensland. It involvesresearch that incorporated theoretical and methodological appraches to the conceptualizing and measuring quality of life. The book will cover research designs that are based on both the analysis and modelling of aggregate secondary data and thecollection, analysis and modelling of primary survey data on subjective urban quality of life. It also covers the interface of survey data with spatial objective data using GIS techniques.

The book will comprise chapters which: 1) provide an overview of theoretical perspectives on the study of urban quality of life; 2) present research designs for the collection of data to measure and model QoL domains; 3) provide a series of case studies of urban QoL in a number of around the world."

This fourth volume in the Advances in Environment, Behavior, and Design series continues the intent of earlier volumes by exploring new directions in the multidisciplinary environment-behavior (EB or EBS) field. The series is organized around a framework of theory, methods, research, and utilization that some say has defined the field for the past 15 years. This fourth volume is devoted to chapters that explore the integration of theory, quantitative and qualitative research, and utilization in policy, planning, and architec ture. The authors selected for this volume exemplify the multidisciplinary character of the field-they have been selected from architecture, environ mental psychology, environmental studies, housing research, landscape ar chitecture, social anthropology, social ecology, urban design, and urban planning; from academe and practice; and from Australia, Europe, and North America. HISTORY OF THE ADVANCES SERIES The idea for the series emerged in 1983 at meetings of the Board of Directors of the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA). Sev eral publishers were contacted about the possibility of an EDRA Annual Review. Eliot Werner at Plenum Press expressed great interest but suggested that an Advances series would be more appropriate since publication could be tied to a less specific timetable. EDRA, Plenum, and the editors signed a contract in June 1984 for three volumes, with an open door for oral agreements between Plenum and the editors after that time. Four volumes have been published (Volume 1, 1987; Volume 2,1989; Volume 3,1991; and the current Volume 4), each containing 10 to 12 chapters."