A Study on Aspects of Spatial Selection by Observation of Behavior in front of Convenience Stores

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to study the relation between human behavior and space. To this end, this study analyzed the spatial selection of people in front of convenience stores based on observation of their behavior in terms of spaces furnished with items, called item spaces. The observation was conducted at two stores, one in Nagayama area of Tama City and one in Shibazaki area of Chofu City, both in Tokyo Metropolis. The former store has large parking space in front of the store, while the latter has little space in its front. The result shows that both the frequency and the accumulated time of behavior decrease as the distance from the entrance of each store increases. However, the tendency differs between the kinds of behavior which are often conducted alone and those which are usually carried out interactively. Furnished items like trash cans also affects the spatial selection.