Determination of Environmental Ethics Approaches of Urban and Regional Planning Students

Abstract

Urban planners who are environmentally conscious and aware will take action to take responsibility, inform, and control. Raising environmental awareness is essential in urban planning education to understand environmental problems. Therefore, it is necessary to educate urban planning students on environmental ethics. This study investigates the environmental attitudes and behaviors of urban and regional planning students, who will shape the environment in the future within the context of the value-belief-norm theory. Moreover, to find clues that will shape environmental education in the course curriculum. The study included 226 students from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in the Faculty of Architecture of Yıldız Technical University (YTU) and Amasya University (AU). Questionnaire data has been evaluated using principal components analysis, correlation analysis, T-test, and ANOVA analysis. According to the study findings, urban planning students have adopted biocentric, ecocentric, and anthropocentric value orientations. The study has found that students with ecocentric value orientation tend to show more pro-environmental behavior. The study concludes that the student’s characteristics also affect how they show pro-environmental behavior and evaluate environmental policies. In conclusion, focusing on ecocentric approaches in urban planning education can positively affect adopting pro-environmental behavior and policies. Additionally, study findings show that students with relatively better economic conditions are more inclined to have a biocentric value orientation. Based on the literature and these study findings, pro-environmental behavior is not a single-dimensional structure caused only by individuals' personal and professional characteristics. People's environmental attitudes and behaviors are shaped by their upbringing, school, friends, and culture. It shows that pro-environmental behavior has a multi-dimensional complex structure, and a conceptual framework can provide guidance to explain these kinds of behavior.