Our environment plays a significant role over our lives. The social, cultural and physical environments in which people live are the other major determinants that largely shape their day-to-day life styles, behaviors and activities. What we create has enormous implications on how we work, share with neighbors, and feel in the world from the layout of cities and communities to the social structures that dictate interaction. This environment includes natural components, man-made structure, and the cultural systems present throughout societies.
1. How Social Context Plays a Role
This includes social surroundings, which refers to social relationships, norms, and structures in a society that shape individuals. These range from the communities you participate in to our families, peers, and the larger societal institutions such as schools, workplaces and government. Social norms regulate behavior, determining how people communicate and interact with economic and political structures.
Research proves this so for example, someone from a more collectivist society will have its members prioritize the community welfare over their own gain which can change how they define work vs. play vs. … etc. By contrast, more individualistic cultures might encourage autonomy and self-expression, which is reflected in things ranging from vocation to leisure activities.
In addition, social environment can be a determinant of access to resources and opportunities. Social constructs at the community level lead to inequities in education, healthcare, and employment. These structures have a bearing on how people live their lives, what they aspire to, and what constraints they might face.
2. How one’s upbringing and cultural exposure shapes life
Another major factor shaping daily life is cultural environment. Culture is a way of life of a group of people — the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about the nature of those behaviors. It governs everything from what you eat and wear to the arts, religion and holidays.
Cultural environments also create the spaces where people create and live. For example, the specific open space of a community could take the form of parks and recreation grounds, or a place with history either continues to build the environment or choose to maintain historical buildings or even village type of structural designs. Such environments promote particular lifestyles and even shape the businesses that succeed, whether food markets or fashion outlets.
Cultural influences also apply to social events and rituals. In some cultures family gatherings and public celebrations constitute a focus of life, dictating the patterns of socialization and impacting work schedules, holidays, and personal time. Such common experiences forge connections and enhance feelings of belonging and identity.
3. Effect of the Location on the Actions
Just as The natural surroundings and constructed environment interact with human behaviors. From cities to the countryside, the built environment influences the opportunities for work, recreation and transportation where people live.
Within the limits of cities, where numbers of people live in close proximity, where there’s a system already in place, people tend to live faster, using public transport, interacting digitally, occupying small homes. These environments promote economic activities like retail, services and entertainment, and tend to lead to longer working hours and greater convenience.
In contrast, isolated areas may offer a more peaceful and connected lifestyle where people rely on agriculture or natural resources for livelihoods. The geography — open space, farmland, nature — encourages different kinds of work and play.” On the other hand, rural residents might have a deeper connection to the land and do more outdoor activities and have closer-knit, smaller communities.
So does the structure of physical spaces — whether it is the urban intersection, the suburban neighborhood or the rural farm. Places with strong public transit systems enable more sustainable commuting, while places without can fuel more car-dependent habits. Similarly, urban areas which provide greenspace access, walkable streets and recreation facilities significantly contribute to physical activity, social cohesion, and ecological sustainability.
4. HUMAN-MADE COMPONENTS: BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
The buildings and structures that constitute a common part of the human habitat, the man-made environments. Everything from comfort to productivity is dictated by the designed environment of cities, neighborhoods and individual homes. Designed buildings allow for shelters, work places, and community spaces which are components contributing to a quality of life.
In cities with modern conveniences — conducive to expansive roads, dependable public transit, effective utilities and fast internet — its residents benefit from the access to a fast-paced, tech-forward lifestyle as well. But older or still-growing communities may have less reliable infrastructure, and that does pose challenges to residents’ daily lives. Poor transportation, lack of healthcare facilities, or lack of sanitation don’t only directly impact health, economic opportunities, and quality of life.
The design of buildings matters, too. The high-rise apartments, office complexes and shopping centers that clutter the city all contribute to the sense of a fast-paced, full-bore urban life. On one hand, suburban or countryside homes will include sprawling mansions, estates, farms, neighborhood areas for extended family or agriculture.
How these communities make common provision for environmental sustainability — the extent to which they deploy such things as green building technologies, renewable energy sources and eco-friendly transportation networks — can also shape the way people go about their day to day lives. Such innovations reveal opportunities for sustainable living that touch on all aspects of our energy usage and waste disposal.
Synthesis: A Tangled Network of Influences
Human life exists within an enveloping environment — social and cultural influences, physical infrastructure and man-made markers — that shapes every waking moment. Each urban, rural or suburban environment creates its own unique opportunities and challenges and that shapes individual and collective behaviors. The realization that these factors do not exist in isolation–that they are linked to each other and are part of a wider interplay that keeps societies running smoothly, and individuals busy every day–is critical to being able to understand them in the first place. In the end, the space we inhabit shapes us — who we are, what we do and how we interact with each other.
