Environmental Psychology

In the dynamic environment of modern air travel, inclusive design has emerged as a cornerstone for enhancing the passenger experience. Moving beyond traditional notions of accessibility, which often focus solely on individuals with disabilities, inclusive design embraces the diverse needs of all travellers; be it parents with prams, individuals with heavy luggage, elderly passengers, or those with temporary injuries. By considering the full spectrum of human diversity, airpor

Some places just feel easy. You walk in and immediately understand where you are, where to go, and what to do. No searching. No second-guessing. No stress. That’s what we call an intuitive environment. It doesn’t happen by accident. It comes from deliberate choices that help people make sense of the space as they move through it. A Space You Can Read Urban planner Kevin Lynch called it legibility: the ability to form a clear mental image of a place. In a legible environment,

Urban safety isn’t always about what happens in a space, it’s about what people think might happen. A park might be statistically safe, but still feel unsettling. A shortcut might be legal and well-lit, but still avoided after dark. Why? Because behaviour in public space is shaped as much by psychology as it is by policy. Environmental Psychology (EP), the science of how people perceive and respond to their surroundings, offers a powerful lens for improving behaviour and wel

Designing Spaces That Shape How People Feel, Think, and Behave Every environment influences us. It affects how we act, how we feel, and how we move through the world. Sometimes those effects are obvious, like when a crowded corridor makes us anxious or poor lighting leaves us disoriented. Other times, they’re subtle—a sense of calm in a well-designed waiting area, or an easier decision thanks to layout cues we don’t even realise we’re following. Environmental Psychology help

Airports are stressful. That’s not an opinion-it’s science. Research consistently shows that unfamiliar environments, time pressure, and lack of control are top contributors to passenger stress in transport hubs (Cohen et al., 2007; Correia et al., 2017). And in the airport context, all three often come together in one place: the terminal. But what makes an airport feel manageable-or overwhelming? The answer, often, is wayfinding. It's about the experience People tend to asso

When designing a space, it’s crucial to view it from multiple perspectives to ensure it meets the needs of all users. However, it’s equally important that these perspectives are not considered in isolation. Instead, they should be integrated and balanced through collaborative efforts, bringing together environmental psychology (EP), wayfinding strategy, user experience (UX), and inclusive design. Environmental psychology provides insights into how people interact with spaces

Because shaping environments works better with evidence. When we work on a hospital , a transport hub , or a civic precinct , there’s no room for assumptions or personal taste. What worked somewhere else won’t necessarily work here. To get it right, we need to understand how people actually behave in a space, and why. That’s where environmental psychology comes in. It’s the science of how environments influence human behaviour, perception, and decision-making. We use it to gr

Environmental Psychology (EP) explores the complex relationship between people and their physical surroundings. It examines how environments, whether natural or built, affect how we feel, think, and behave. From the stress of a confusing hospital corridor to the calm created by thoughtful public space design, EP helps explain how environments shape human experience. By understanding these dynamics, we can design places that do more than function. They support, guide, and upli