Environmental Enclosure in Urban Settings

Enclosure is important because of neurological effects and the evolutionary theory of environmental perception and preference. This article reports on a study in which six physical features were found to account for 93% of the variance in judged enclosure for Parisian street scenes: picture format, proportions of views covered by walls, proportions of views covered by ground, average lightness of the scene, depth of view, and number of sides open at the front of the scene. Methodological and substantive implications for the evolutionary theory of environmental perception and preference are discussed.