NATURE EXPERIENCE IN TRANSACTIONAL PERSPECTIVE

A transactional account of human-environment systems holds that the various aspects of those systems serve to define each other. From this perspective experiences of natural and built aspects of human environments are seen as mutually dependent. Examining implications of this view, the paper refers to a large, multidisciplinary body of research dealing with various facets of nature experience. The literature supports discussion of both a general and a specific transactional character of nature experience. In the general sense, individuals are engaged in an exchange across species and sociocultural levels of aggregation. This transaction draws motive force from an on-going process of differentiation and evaluation of natural and human-made objects and environments. This process is integral to the development of cultures, and has led to the creation of conditions that challenge our biological adaptedness. Looking then to the specific transactional character, literature is reviewed to draw out reciprocities between individuals' experiences of nature and their experiences of built, often urban, environments. Environmental evaluations, motivations for outdoor recreation, and benefits attributed to contact with nature all speak to the existence of experiential bonds between the natural and the built. Implications for research and planning are discussed in closing.