The classic text on the user centred design of public spaces; studying how people relate to the designed space around them and how the design of that space can affect their behaviour.

Sommer deals with topics such as privacy, spatial invasion, small group ecology and looks at the role of design in settings such as airports, stations, hospitals and schools. Although written when the study of behaviour and design was just beginning to be appreciated, the lessons are still deeply relevant to today’s spatial designers and are important to the new area of shared digital spaces in co-operative work environments and multi-player games.

Robert Sommer writes with authority and clarity and has updated this new edition of his work to include an introduction that sets the work in today’s context and detailed notes accompanying each chapter.

Robert Sommer is the Distinguished Professor of Psychology Emeritus at the University of California.