No matter the demographic of people being questioned, we as people can all relate to the need for clear and distinct territories, a sense of privacy and a desire for personal space, however as individuals we all experience the same events and situations entirely differently, depending on such factors as pervious experiences, personality type, cultural influences, age, socio-economic status, gender, etc. When taking into account the above referenced “factors” a clear and distinct definition of the key concepts , being discussed, is in order.

Territory, Privacy, and Personal Space:

Concepts such as Territory, privacy, and personal space take on a new meaning in relation to the ever-increasing population density. Here we take a brief look at the definition of each concept, as well as how each concept relates to high-density populations.

Territory:

The term territory refers to an area of land under the ruler ship or jurisdictions of a governing power (weibster.com). A similar term called, Territoriality refers to manner in which both Humans as well as animals utilize and defend, usually via physical acts of aggression, their physical space. (Territoriality, 2004). According to Abu-Ghazzeh (2000) “no area can be called a territory unless it is characterized by its owner's personal means of identification and unless it constitutes a component of the social behavior of its related group” (para. 1). What this means is that, behaviors are the catalyst to what truly define territory, not geographic location. This behavior is seen in people as well as, in the animal kingdom. Animals create, mark, and regulate their territory; just people do, but people just utilize different methods, then animals.
Privacy:
People are social beings and need contact and interaction from other people in order to maintain proper mental health, people must be around, and learn to interact appropriately with the world around us, as well as the others people we share that space with. With at being said, lets not forget to consider privacy, which is equally important concept factor in the concept of Privacy. The concept of privacy centers on the ability to limit the sharing of information or contact, physical or otherwise, from others. (Privacy, 2004). According to an article titled: Privacy (2004) a core concept of privacy is the autonomist of an individual to choose to make “decisions about openness/closedness, as well as abilities to control degrees of openness, vary with time and circumstances” (Background and Definition, para. 2). Privacy is such a flexible concept to define, due the fact that not only does it depend on the circumstance of the situation, but it also involves the individual in that particular situation.

Personal Space:
The concept of territory and the concept of personal space share a lot in common. In this instance of personal space, your body is your physical territory. The concept of personal space was first discovered and observed in the behavior patters found in certain mammals (Personal Space, 2004). According the article titled: Personal Space (2004) the concept illustrates “the emotionally tinged zone around the human body that people feel is 'their space'” (Personal Space Concept, para. 1). However, a person’s personal space is directly correlated with that person’s familiarity with the individual wishing to encroach upon that person’s, personal space. For example, according to the article Personal Space (2004) children and sexually intimate couples feel less of a need for personal space around said partner/ or parent of that child. Lastly, another example of how different factors affect personal space is how People from different cultures may feel different requirements for personal space (Personal Space, 2004).
Population density changes:

As more and more medical knowledge becomes readily available to the public at large via the Internet, in addition to all the new advances in medical technology, and other such factors, people are quite simply living longer. With this increased longevity comes a price to pay, the price is increased population density. Population density means is the number of citizens that in habit one square kilometer. When a territory becomes over populated and there are too many people living in too close of proximity to each other, certain problems can arise due to loss of personal space A large amount of people with an inadequate amount of space means you can kiss territory, privacy, and personal space goodbye. Population density increases means a high level of stressor for individuals inhabiting there over populated territories, as well as greater frequency to encounter life stressors. (Urban Environments and Human Behavior, 2004). Many of the life stressors mentioned above center round concepts of personal space, privacy, and territory (Urban Environments and Human Behavior, 2004).

How this change in population density affects us

The increase in population density seems to elicit certain behaviors, behaviors such as, the increased need for privacy as well as, an increase in territorial types of behaviors. A study done by Abu-Ghazzeh (2000) displays that “the tendency of residents to delineate territorial boundaries increased in inverse proportion to the sense of privacy provided by the immediate environment” (p. 107). In other words, people tend to display more acts of identifying and psychical defending their territories the more their privacy is withheld from them, cue to overpopulation.
There is a slight inconsistency here, though. Overpopulated areas make privacy a highly sought after commodity, which sadly deceases the value of human interactions, the less the better in this type of scenario. (Urban Environments and Human Behavior, 2004).

Natures Effect in Urban environments

In certain parts of American it has becomes so densely overpopulated that the need to expand to make more room for the ever-expanding population of new citizens, often meant the destruction of natural landscape areas. Eventually, fewer parks were being built, as more and more projects sprang up in their stead. However what people forgot to consider during this time was that, nature has an especial strong pull on people, especially people from urban environments. In fact according to an article in Urban Environments and Human Behavior (2004), “urban residents often seek nature and want to visit urban parks, gardens, and recreational areas for leisure” (Parks, Squares, and Nature in Urban Environments, para. 2). Citizens of overly urbanized environments tend to report that they feel restorative effects form being around nature. In fact, Van den Burg (2007) asserts, “it appears that people in urbanized societies commonly believe that contact with nature provides them with restoration from stress and fatigue and improves their health and well-being” (p. 83). Nature’s natural beauty and wonder has a strong allure to all living creatures big and small, but especially to people in urbanized environments that are not used to seeing nature due to over industrialization of certain areas.

Noise and its effect on the individual
So what is noise exactly? Noise is any undesired sound that is recognized by the brain, as a nuisance or environmental stressor. (Stansfeld & Matheson, 2003). What this, essentially mean is more pragmatic terms is, that believe it or not, the jackhammer going off across the street from your house every morning at 6 am (when you don’t have to be up for work until 10 am) for the past two weeks is messing with you your head ( among other things), and on a deeper level then one may realize. Of course living in a normal society means sharing space with others that share that same space or territory. So let’s clarify, It is not every single noise that is detrimentally affecting your health, there are certain factors to consider when looking at how noise pollution affects peoples health, Factors such as, “The response to noise may depend on characteristics of the sound, including intensity, frequency, complexity of sound, duration and the meaning of the noise.” (Stansfeld & Matheson, 2003, para.1 ). When it comes to the types of noise, that would causes detriment to the health of the individual exposed to it, an aircraft noise is something that seems harmless enough yet, according to Stansfeld and Matheson (2003)“ Aircraft and road traffic noise exposure are associated with psychological symptoms” also, “In children, chronic aircraft noise exposure impairs reading comprehension and long-term memory and may be associated with raised blood pressure. (Stansfeld & Matheson, 2003, para. 0).

Strategies in the battle against Noise pollution
Here we will examine a couple of strategies that can be used to lower, or reduce noise in the living environment or the workplace. In Downtown San Diego, the local airport offer to replace old fashion windowpanes for specialized soundproof replacement windows to no cost to the property owner. You can ask your apartment manager to request these sound proof windows be installed in your apartment. A second strategy to fighting the battle against the negative effects of noise pollution is wearing foam ear plugs to sleep at night. “Studies on noise abatement show that, by reducing indoor noise level, the amount of REM sleep and slow wave sleep can be increased” (Stansfeld & Matheson, 2003, para. 7).
Conclusion:
If you live in a densely populated, over urbanized/industrial environment the effects that environment has on individuals is no doubt detrimental, and as we covered noise pollution can have ill effect on not only physical heath, but cognition/learning and psychological health as well. The more we understand what we are doing to ourselves, by living so far removed from nature, the more we can start to incorporate these valued resources into a value for these natural resources and all the benefits associated therein.

References:

Abu-Ghazzeh, T. M. (2000). Environmental Messages in Multiple-family Housing: territory andpersonalization. Landscape Research, 25(1), para.97-115.doi:10.1080/014263900113190

Privacy. (2004). In Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology. Retrieved fromhttp://www.credoreference.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/entry/estappliedpsyc/privacy

Personal Space. (2004). In Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology. Retrieved fromhttp://www.credoreference.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/entry/estappliedpsyc/