Book reviews / Journal of Environmental Psychology 29 (2009) 529–537532

illustrates, and is engaged in, the construction of knowledge, butexplicit treatment of knowledge construction as a psycho-socialprocess is not addressed.

In tandem with the technical approach, are issues of objectivity-subjectivity. Breakwell tends to situate hazards and associated risksas either external forces that impact on people, organisations andsociety, or as internal subjective meanings that are influencedthrough social processes. The author claims that the social–psycho-logical framework overcomes the objective-subjective divide, yetthese issues are a matter of philosophical perspective, and at themoment the basis of risk theory and the writers approach are Carte-sian/dualistic. It may be worthwhile to view risk as a relationshipbetween the values, intentions and capabilities of the agent(person/group/organization), what the decision-making or actionenvironment offers; and the trade-off between possible costs andbenefits in order to potentially achieve desired outcomes.

Clear, reasoned arguments advocating for new approaches torisk are sorely needed to help transcend the paucity of researchand the theoretical divide between cognitive and culturalapproaches to risk. The proposed framework does not seem toachieve this because the author tries to accomplish too much.While recognizing the importance of a comprehensive multilevelapproach to risk, the framework is not strongly conceptualizedand is open to criticism. For example, coming from an urban plan-ning background, I immediately noticed that the material concern-ing institutional and interpersonal relationships are not directlylinked with the physical environment, and considerations ofpolitical influences were largely absent. I was surprised and disap-pointed that Breakwell did not focus more on the value of social–psychological approaches to risk theory, or her application of socialrepresentations theory and identity processes to extend currentknowledge of risk. Regardless, this book opens discussion for futureendeavors and provides an extensive account of current research.

References

Jaeger, C. C., Renn, O., Rosa, E. A., & Webler, T. (2001). Risk, uncertainty, and rationalaction. London: Earthscan Publications Ltd.

Kasperson, R. E., Renn, O., Slovic, P., Brown, H., Emel, J., Goble, R., et al. (1988). Thesocial amplification of risk: a conceptual framework. Risk Analysis, 8, 177–187.

Julie Rudner1

Architecture Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne,Parkville VIC 3010, Australia

E-mail address: jrudner@unimelb.edu.au

doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2009.10.006

Open Space: People Space, Catherine Ward Thompson,Penny Travlou (Eds.). Taylor & Francis, Abingdon, Oxfordshire(2007). 224 pp. $62.959, ISBN: 13: 978-0-415-41534-7

Catherine Ward Thompson is the Director of OPENspace ResearchCentre and a Research Professor of Landscape Architecture at theEdinburgh College of Art. Her research focuses upon the accessibilityof outdoor areas for all, in particular older and younger generations.

Penny Travlou is a Research Fellow at the OPENspace ResearchCentre and a Lecturer in Cultural Geography and Visual Culture atthe Edinburgh College of Art. Her research has involved social inclu-sion, in particular for teenagers, and the use of urban public space.

1 Julie Rudner is a PhD candidate in the Melbourne School of Design. Her thesis isabout conceptions of risk in relation to children’s independent mobility.

Open Space: People Space aims to debate theories and practices inthe planning, design and management of outdoor environments thatencourage social inclusion. In particular, the focus is on the value of,and the benefits gained from, visiting environments with naturalelements; and its emphasis is the need to make such places inclusivefor everyone. Design issues relating to the accessibility and use ofa number of outdoor environments are examined, ranging frompublic urban spaces through to childcare centres, healing gardensand national country parks. The book is a collection of papers contrib-uted by researchers, with the papers grouped into four sections:policy issues, nature of exclusion, design issues and research issues.

The foreword and first section (three chapters) provide a broadoverview of the use of urban public spaces and countryside. Thesesections offer valuable insights into historical developments andchanges in policy, as well as considerations of socio-cultural behav-iours that have altered the use and perceived importance of openspaces for people’s quality of life and well-being. The chaptersprovide informative considerations of the relationship betweenhumans and their environments, and of the external, higher level,factors that can influence the general maintenance of open spacesand people’s access to, desire to use, and values attached to theseplaces. Different people’s use and preferred features of open spacesare described, but little is presented in this section about enhancingthe access of open space to all. Instead, the emphasis is on theimportance of open spaces for people’s health and well-being,thereby revealing the reasons why inclusive design is so important.

The second section (three chapters) provides case studies onvariation of the use and access to urban and rural environmentsfor different groups of people (based on ethnicity, age or socio-economics). For each case study, the discussion of historical andpolicy factors is continued, alongside the introduction of conceptssuch as identity, belonging and appropriation. The third section(four chapters) complements and extends the prior chapters byexamining design issues for places intended for specific groups ofpeople (young children, people with Alzheimer’s, families). There-fore, the concept of inclusive design is broadly referred to by iden-tifying features incorporated into the design of places for thesespecific sub-groups. Methodological processes and tools forresearching the interaction of people with the environment areintroduced. These are detailed enough for readers to understandand assess the presented research. Together these sections presentfactors that managers and design professionals should considerwhen facing the challenges of inclusive design, including that ofunderstanding different people’s perception of the environment.

The final section (three chapters) reverts back to broader discus-sions of theoretical and methodological issues, including forms ofanalysis for researching the value of outdoor spaces. Together allthe chapters subtly show the array of methods that can be usedto understand and assess people’s perception, behaviours andmotivations for using open spaces and the barriers that mayimpede their use.

Open Space: People Space flows nicely from beginning to end,progressing from broad overviews to specific examples, beforereverting back to broader methodological issues relating to thepresented concepts. After reading the book from cover to coverthough, the ending seems abrupt, as there is no conclusion thatreflects upon the complementary issues considered across thedifferent chapters.

The book does not provide definitive guidelines on how tocreate inclusive design and provides very few specific design exam-ples. This is not a downside to the book though (nor its aim), as itintends to highlight the need for considering specific groups ofusers and local socio-cultural factors that influence the accessibilityand desire to use open spaces. Together the chapters insteadprovide discussions on the importance of using different

Book reviews / Journal of Environmental Psychology 29 (2009) 529–537 533

methodologies and analyses to produce a comprehensive under-standing of users and absent users of such places. Communicationwith potential users is encouraged throughout the book becauseawareness of their varied viewpoints can aid designers and plan-ners in the creation of inclusive places.

Issues relating to specific populations who can be neglectedwhen planning everyday open spaces are rightly considered inthe book, but the applicability of these issues for spaces used byall (inclusive design) is rarely discussed. The chapters encouragereflection upon how designs might better accommodate theseindividuals’ needs and preferences to ensure inclusive open spaces.Considering the outcomes of the case studies, a goal of universaldesign may at times seem improbable though, as successful specificdesign attributes in one place may run counter to those in differentcircumstances. Moreover, individual chapters recognise the diver-sity within and across groups of people that can create problemswith planned shared space. More importantly, the book raisesawareness of the diverse range of individuals’ open space needsand benefits to be gained from access to quality open spaces.

Concepts and methods are introduced clearly and broadly,making them accessible to a wide range of readers, yet provoca-tively enough to promote reflection upon their applicability. There-fore, the intended readers of ‘‘policy makers, researchers, urbandesigners, landscape architects, planners, managers and students’’(book blurb) should all be satisfied by the content of Open Space:People Space. Similarly, the authors are key people representingdifferent academic disciplines, practicing architects and landscapearchitects, and members/directors of organisations relating togreen spaces, social inclusion and public policy. As half of themare associated with the OPENspace Research Centre in Edinburgh,the majority of the research, historical and political context is inreference to the UK and USA. This limits the book’s worldwideperspective, although many of the ideas and discussions will surelystill be relevant to other westernised countries.

Overall, the book is well presented with plenty of images andtables to supplement the text, making it an enjoyable, thought-provoking read. I find myself referring back to elements of thebook in conversations, thereby underlining its valuable contribu-tion for the consideration of open spaces, their use and design.

Sarah Payne1

School of Information Studies,McGill University, Montreal, Canada

E-mail address: sarah.payne@mail.mcgill.ca

doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2009.10.007

Climate change 2007: Mitigation of climate change, Bert Metz,Ogunlade Davidson, Peter Bosch, Rutu Dave, Leo Meyer (Eds.).Cambridge University Press, New York (2007). 851 pp., $85.00(paperback), ISBN: 978-0-521-70598-1

Bert Metz received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from DelftUniversity. He is a senior researcher at the Netherlands Environ-mental Assessment Agency and led the Netherlands delegation tothe negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol to the Climate Convention.He was elected co-chairman of the Working Group on Climate

1 Sarah Payne is a Post-Doctoral researcher at McGill University studying therestorative value of soundscapes within urban parks. Her research interests are inurban public spaces, affordances, restoration, soundscapes, fear of crime andwayfinding.

Change Mitigation of the Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange of the UN for the third and fourth Assessment Report.

Ogunlade R. Davidson is a Professor of Mechanical Engineeringand served as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Fourah BayCollege, University of Sierra Leone. He is currently Dean of Post-Graduate Studies at the University of Sierra Leone at that institu-tion. He was a Senior Fulbright Scholar at the University of Califor-nia, Berkeley in 1987, and MacArthur Scholar at PrincetonUniversity and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in the USA in 1990–1992. He has published extensively on African energy systemsand policies, power sector reform, renewable energy policy, mitiga-tion of climate change and on national climate change strategy.

Rutu Dave received her Bachelors degree in EnvironmentalSciences from the University of East Anglia (UK) in 2000. She wasawarded her Masters degree by Wageningen University(Netherlands) in 2002. Furthermore she was a special student atYale University, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in2001–2002, where she conducted research on Public Private Part-nerships in the Renewable Energy Sector.

Leo Meyer is Head of the Technical Support Unit of the IPCC andis a climate and energy specialist with the Netherlands Environ-mental Assessment Agency.

Climate change 2007: Mitigation of climate change is not lightreading for a summer afternoon. With 851 large format pages, it’snot light anything and that sense is only magnified when you getto the content. This is a serious report organized by four scientistswith contributions from hundreds of others (it takes 12 pages justto list all the contributors!) Climate Change 2007 is not somethingyou sit down and read – it is a reference book, and a valuable onefor anyone who is serious about understanding the present andfuture of climate policy.

This volume, actually, is only one of a set that make up the FourthAssessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange (IPCC), the others being a description of the scientific basisfor the analysis, and an analysis of the consequences of climatechange for natural and human systems. The IPCC has good breeding,established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ‘‘to provide theworld with a clear scientific view on the current state of climatechange and its potential environmental and socio-economic conse-quences.’’ (http://www.ipcc.ch/organization/organization.htm) Forgood measure, it also shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Goretwo years ago for this effort. However, winning a Nobel Prize doesnot necessarily assure an easy path. As reported recently in theNew York Times (Revkin, 2009), the IPCC has had some difficultystraddling the boundaries of science and international politicsgiven the rather strict limitations on its mandate to present theevidence but not make specific policy recommendations. Theinterface between science and policy has many twists and turnsthat can be very awkward to navigate.

While much the nitty-gritty of what this report covers will bemost comfortably read and best understood by physical scientists,this book is designed largely to serve policy makers because thatis where the action is. It is policy makers in governmentsthroughout the globe who can do what is necessary to move usfrom the most pessimistic to more optimistic scenarios these scien-tists have created. The volumes address five questions:

- How can Global Climate Change be reduced or avoided?- What are the costs of action versus inaction?- What is the critical timeline available for action?- What are the policy options available to ‘‘overcome the barriers

to implementation’’ (p. ix)?- How do these policies options align with other sustainable

development policies?