Housing fulfills a basic human need for shelter. It protects us from the weather and from hostile intruders. Often it is an expression of personal identity and social status. A home is a major personal financial investment and housing is an important part of the economy. The home is also invested with profound psychological and social meaning. It helps meet our needs to feel rooted and to belong. It is a center of privacy, a refuge from the world, and at the same time the place where we interact with our family, friends, and acquaintances. As such the home is an important factor in personal and social development, particularly in childhood.

Because of the complex role of housing in human life, residential environments are an important area of study in a wide variety of fields, including anthropology, architecture, economics, environmental design, geography, psychology, and sociology. The dwelling is the nucleus around which the discourse about residential environments is articulated, but it is not its only component. Residential environments also involve other elements such as the neighborhood, neighbors, and the larger urban community. This multidisciplinary study of residential environments conveys the complex nature of people's experiences with thier residences, neighborhoods, and communities.

This edited volume has been compiled to present the latest developments in the field of social dilemma research. Social dilemmas are situations when there is a conflict between self-interest and collective interest. Research in this area has gained interest in the last twenty years in disciplines such as sociology, psychology, and economics. It also has wide applications to numerous real-world issues such as environmental degradation, organizational management, and societal public good. The main aim of this work was to investigate under what circumstances people make decisions that are inline with the collective interest as well as investigating what can increase the likelihood of cooperation. There will be three man sections mirroring the different levels of analysis: individual, group, and societal.

Land Public Transport continues to gain greater attention in transport policy and economics, given its importance in assisting social cohesion and its contribution to reducing congestion and emissions.
The chapters in this book are a refereed selection of the best papers initially presented at the 9th International Conference of Competition and Ownership of Land Passenger Transport (The Thredbo Series) in Lisbon in 2005. This was the ninth in a series of Thredbo conferences on the same general topic, gathering some of the world??'s best specialists in the field, from academia and from practice from all continents.
The range of current issues and depth of their treatment makes this a very valuable book for scientists and practitioners alike who desire to keep abreast of the very latest developments in institutional reform in land passenger transport.
*Unique in its behavioral science perspective on the threats to quality of urban life from car use and policy measures to reduce car use
*Provides a consolidated reference in car ownership and use
*Key topical area backed up by international policy e.g. The Kyoto Protocol

This volume gathers distinguished researchers on travel behavior from a variety of disciplines, to offer state-of-the-art research and analysis encompassing environmental, traffic and transport psychology; transport planning and engineering; transport geography; transport economics; consumer services research; environmental sociology and well-being research. The underlying dilemma is that neither contemporary transportation technology nor contemporary travel behaviors are sustainable. The path toward sustainability is complex, because the consequences of changing technology and attempts to change travel preferences can be extreme both in economic and in social terms. The Handbook of Sustainable Travel discusses transportation systems from environmental, social and economic perspectives, to provide insights into the underlying mechanisms, and to envisage potential strategies towards more sustainable travel. Part I offers an introduction to the subject, with chapters review historical and future trends in travel, the role of travel for a good society, and the satisfaction of travelers with various features of travel options. Part II proceeds from the fact that the car is the backbone of today's transportation system, and that a break with automobiles is likely to be necessary in the future. Contributors review the development of private car use, explore economic and psychological reasons why the car has become the primary mode of transport and discuss how this can be changed in the future. Part III addresses the social sustainability of travel, providing insights into the social costs and benefits of leisure, business and health travel, and taking into account the social costs or benefits of measures whose goals are primarily environmental. The authors provide the necessary background to judge whether proposed transport policies are also sustainable from a social perspective. Part IV highlights future alternatives to physical travel and surveys ecologically sustainable travel modes such as public transport and non-motorized modes of transportation.

How do human beings comprehend, evaluate, and utilize the physical environments they inhabit? In this edited volume, a distinguished group of international contributers examines in detail the interconnections between what we know about, feel, and hope to accomplish in real world environments. Psychologists, planners, architects, and geographers discuss the state of knowledge in environmental cognition, building and landscape assessment, aesthetics, and decision-making. Gaps in our thinking about environmental issues are also discussed. The authors present an analysis of how our knowledge can be utilized in the design and planning of settings better suited to human needs. Of interest to psychologists, geographers, and environmental designers, Environment, Cognition, and Action examines the dynamic interplay of assessment, knowledge, and action of people in all settings relevant to daily life - home, school, office and industry.

This book reviews problems with credit use and causes of indebtedness among young adults, while uncovering possibilities to encourage a healthier attitude towards loans in this segment of the population. Both consumption loans and mortgages are covered in order to adequately represent real-world credit use by young people about to enter adulthood. It focuses on three distinctive actors: the legislative authorities, the financial institution, most commonly a bank, and finally the individual borrower. More specifically, the book discusses the functioning of these three entities in the context of young adults borrowing behaviour, and would appeal to academics, researchers and students of financial institutions and banking.

This volume gathers distinguished researchers on travel behavior from a variety of disciplines, to offer state-of-the-art research and analysis encompassing environmental, traffic and transport psychology; transport planning and engineering; transport geography; transport economics; consumer services research; environmental sociology and well-being research. The underlying dilemma is that neither contemporary transportation technology nor contemporary travel behaviors are sustainable. The path toward sustainability is complex, because the consequences of changing technology and attempts to change travel preferences can be extreme both in economic and in social terms. The Handbook of Sustainable Travel discusses transportation systems from environmental, social and economic perspectives, to provide insights into the underlying mechanisms, and to envisage potential strategies towards more sustainable travel. Part I offers an introduction to the subject, with chapters review historical and future trends in travel, the role of travel for a good society, and the satisfaction of travelers with various features of travel options. Part II proceeds from the fact that the car is the backbone of today's transportation system, and that a break with automobiles is likely to be necessary in the future. Contributors review the development of private car use, explore economic and psychological reasons why the car has become the primary mode of transport and discuss how this can be changed in the future. Part III addresses the social sustainability of travel, providing insights into the social costs and benefits of leisure, business and health travel, and taking into account the social costs or benefits of measures whose goals are primarily environmental. The authors provide the necessary background to judge whether proposed transport policies are also sustainable from a social perspective. Part IV highlights future alternatives to physical travel and surveys ecologically sustainable travel modes such as public transport and non-motorized modes of transportation.

This volume fulfills a long-felt need for a single text which documents the theoretical foundations of travel choice modeling. With contributions from a good cross-section of the leading researchers in the field, the work provides a valuable reference which will be of lasting interest and value.
Divided into three parts, Microeconomic Theory, Behavioral Decision Theory and Statistical Theory, the book extends approaches to travel choice modeling beyond the consumer theory developed in economics by applying theories from the fields of geography, psychology and statistics and in doing so addresses two fundamental questions: what are the theoretical foundations of travel choice modeling and what should they be?
Containing twenty specially commissioned chapters, this book represents the latest and best thinking in this rapidly expanding field. Activity-based and dynamic approaches are fast emerging as the state-of-the-art in transport modeling and are replacing trip-based models. This book tackles the key theoretical foundations that underpin these new approaches by asking: are there developments in traditional microeconomic theory which make it useable? Is behavioral decision theory a more appropriate theoretical foundation? Which are the statistical data analytical issues in each case and how can they be solved?

Readers need look no further if they seeking an edited volume compiled to present the latest developments in the field of social dilemma research. Social dilemmas are situations when there is a conflict between self-interest and collective interest. This work examines under what circumstances people make decisions that are in line with the collective interest as well as investigating what can increase the likelihood of cooperation. Three man sections mirror the different levels of analysis: individual, group, and societal.