Abstract
The construction of an industrial installation is frequently associated with important social impacts that influence the quality of life of nearby residents in different ways. The most obvious and well-documented are a decreased quality of the environment (noise, air pollution, dust and odors), which affects the level of stress, and both physical and mental health. However, other significant impacts are associated with a change in the meaning of the environment (for example with increased risk), with a symbolic threat to the identity of local communities or the change in the use of public spaces (with fewer social activities) and the reduction of green, restorative areas.
In this chapter, we assume the theoretical perspective of quality of life proposed by Moser (2009), valuing person-environment congruity as a key aspect of individuals’ perceptions of their environments. People-environment congruity is the “interrelation between the individual and his or her (especially residential) environment, considering the match between individual life satisfaction and objective standards of living” (p. 351). After the description of the above-mentioned impacts on the quality of life of the residents, this chapter develops their adaptation to these environmental changes.
The final part of this chapter focuses on some psychosocial variables that can moderate the impacts of this environmental change on the quality of life of residents. In particular, the importance of a more participative and inclusive approach to the changes in the landscape is stressed (Lima et al. 2012).
“From an individual point of view, a high quality of life in the context of sustainability might be best characterized by a people-environment congruity”
(Moser 2009, p. 351)
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Lima, M.L., Marques, S. (2017). Living in Industrial Areas: Social Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation. In: Fleury-Bahi, G., Pol, E., Navarro, O. (eds) Handbook of Environmental Psychology and Quality of Life Research. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31416-7_28
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