Abstract
Social Psychology and the urban fact. In this paper, the study of urban life as a domain for Social and Environmental Psychology is proposed. The city is a spatiat and social structure that influences upon the individual and social behavior. The most relevant models for the social-psychological study of urban life are reviewed. The first constributions of sociologists and psychologists on this subject are also included. Their explanations are based on the negative effects of urban life, specially as a consequence of the success attained by overload theories. Subsequently, the work on definition of models for quality of urban life is stressed. The paper suggests that it would be neccessary to take into account, at least, four factors: level of space control, level of security in the setting, social activities programs, and esthetic satisfaction due to urban places.
