Theories of Architecture and Urbanism

The Image of The City

Part 1 : Identifying 5 Elements

 

Lynch's most famous work, The Image of the City (1960), is the result of a five-year study on how observers take in information of the city. Using three disparate American cities as examples (Boston, Jersey City and Los Angeles), Lynch reported that users understood their surroundings in consistent and predictable ways, forming mental maps with five elements: 

1. paths, the streets, sidewalks, trails, and other channels in which people travel; 

2. edges, perceived boundaries such as walls, buildings, and shorelines; 

3. districts, relatively large sections of the city distinguished by some identity or character; 

4. nodes, focal points, intersections or loci; 

5. landmarks, readily identifiable objects which serve as external reference points

 

We were given to indentify these elements in a selected city in Malaysia, which is Bandar Utama for my analysis. Below is a series of A4 size illustrated diagrams of Bandar Utama, identifying the 5 elements.