Suvarna Garge (Editor)

The Image of the City

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Language
  
English

ISBN
  
0-262-62001-4

Author
  
Kevin A. Lynch

Pages
  
194 pp

Publication date
  
1960

Originally published
  
1960

Publisher
  
MIT Press

The Image of the City httpsimagesnasslimagesamazoncomimagesI5

Subjects
  
Urban planning, Architecture

Similar
  
A Theory of Good City Form, The Death and Life of Great Am, What time is this place?, Delirious New York, The Concise Townscape

The Image of the City (1960) is a book by Kevin Lynch. The book is the result of a five-year study of Boston, Jersey City and Los Angeles on how observers take in information of the city, and use it to make mental maps. Lynch's conclusion was that people formed mental maps of their surroundings consisting of five basic elements.

Contents

Kevin lynch the image of the city


Lynch's Five Elements

  • Paths
  • These are the streets, sidewalks, trails, canals, railroads, and other channels in which people travel;
  • They arrange space and movement between space.
  • Edges
  • Boundaries;
  • They can be either Real or Perceived;
  • These are walls, buildings, and shorelines, curbstone, streets, overpasses, etc.
  • Districts
  • Medium to large areas that are two-dimensional;
  • An individual enters into and out of these areas;
  • Have common identifying characteristics.
  • Nodes
  • Large areas you can enter, serve as the foci of the city, neighborhood, district, etc.;
  • Offers the person in them multiple perspectives of the other core elements.
  • Landmarks
  • Points of reference person cannot enter into;
  • These are buildings, signs, stores, mountains, public art;
  • Mobile Points (such as Sun) can be used as well.
  • References

    The Image of the City Wikipedia