NATURE EXPERIENCE IN TRANSACTIONAL PERSPECTIVE

A transactional account of human-environment systems holds that the va rious aspects of those systems serve to define each other. From this p erspective experiences of natural and built aspects of human environme nts are seen as mutually dependent. Examining implications of this vie w, the paper refers to a large, multidisciplinary body of research dea ling with various facets of nature experience. The literature supports discussion of both a general and a specific transactional character o f nature experience. In the general sense, individuals are engaged in an exchange across species and sociocultural levels of aggregation. Th is transaction draws motive force from an on-going process of differen tiation and evaluation of natural and human-made objects and environme nts. This process is integral to the development of cultures, and has led to the creation of conditions that challenge our biological adapte dness. Looking then to the specific transactional character, literatur e is reviewed to draw out reciprocities between individuals' experienc es of nature and their experiences of built, often urban, environments . Environmental evaluations, motivations for outdoor recreation, and b enefits attributed to contact with nature all speak to the existence o f experiential bonds between the natural and the built. Implications f or research and planning are discussed in closing.