[svenrufus]

Can't give a very detailed answer as I am no expert in this sort of thing, but I know that there has been research done on the natural affinity people have with the environment. There was work done on how patients recover in hospitals if they have a view of a tree from their window - recovery time is considerably accelerated. There has also been some work done on kids in schools getting access to the outside world and how it improves attention span, discipline and learning across the board on other lessons. Can't give citations for this, but there is some stuff being done which gets toward what I think you are asking about.

I have also seen some more general stuff about how our ideal living environment is pretty universal across the world in terms of access to water, open spaces with wide views and scattered trees etc. The idea behind this is that it is an 'echo' of our ancestral memory from where our species evolved ie the African Plains.

It is important, as people who are dissociated from their environment and have no care for it are - IMHO - more likely to have no care for others around them in their society, nor for their environment as a whole and are those most likely to have sociopathic tendencies. Bold statement with no substantiation, but I do beleive that to be true.

Interesting area, if there is any research on it I'm sure it would be fascinating reading.