Pedestrian Activity of the University of Arizona: How the Built Environment Informs Mental Image and Pedestrian Activity of Campus Districts

Abstract

The campus environment faces many of the same challenges of building quality pedestrian experience that urban environments do. Environmental psychology, related to the built environment, investigates how elements of the built environment affect the mental image and pedestrian experience within places. This study aims to investigate the planning history of the Historic, Science, and Highland districts of the University of Arizona campus, and what elements of each district influence the mental image for pedestrians, and what can be done to better each district. Pedestrian-scale architectural features, accessible natural features, and cohesive pedestrian-oriented plans with mixed uses were found to create successful districts or the lack there of to reduce the quality and use of districts on the University of Arizona campus.