Quest for the Optimal Built Environment (Traditional or Modern) Through the Perspective of the Kaplan Model

Abstract

The field of environmental psychology is used in this study to help advance discussion among experts worldwide on the benefits and drawbacks of traditional and modern built environments. This research article uses the model given by Kaplan to prefer one environment over the other by taking case study sites from Islamabad and Rawalpindi cities of Pakistan as examples of modern and traditional built environments, respectively. Kaplan's model suggests that the four information variables; complexity, legibility, Mystery, and Coherence, can inform the users' preferences about the environment. The study aims to distinguish between the function and impression of traditional and modern built environments through a qualitative approach. It is concluded that the traditional built environment has merits over the modern built environment. The study calls on further research on the subject matter instead of blind following the modern built environment as the only solution in the case of Pakistan.