Mental images and congruence strategies: An investigation of congruence between residents and private open spaces in three dominant housing patterns of Yazd

Abstract

Residents usually try to establish congruence between their own needs and the affordances of the open space in order to satisfy their needs and achieve a better living environment. This congruency, being affected by some differences between the residents’ mental ideal images of open space and the actual open space, can be achieved by different strategies. The present study aims at investigating how congruence is established between residents and open spaces in tree dominant housing patterns of Yazd, as a traditional city in Iran. This study is a qualitative research, adopting an ethnographic approach. The results revealed that when the residents’ actual open space is more similar to their desired and ideal open space, they establish a two-way relationship with the space, adapt their behaviors to the space or change the space according to their needs. However, the more the open space is different from the residents’ ideal of open space, the more their relationship becomes one-way and the residents are obliged to change their needs and behavior according to the affordances of the environment or move from their houses to another one having their ideal open space.