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    A Reaction Paper of

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    In his book "The Image of the City", Kevin Lynch argues that people navigate cities using "mental maps" composed of five elements: paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. He examines how residents of Boston, Jersey City, and Los Angeles orient themselves in their urban environments. Lynch proposes that cities should be designed to be legible and imageable by having identifiable patterns that give residents a clear mental map and sense of emotional security. His work provides guidance for urban designers to create cities that allow people to easily map, learn, and navigate their urban surroundings.

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    A Reaction Paper of

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    In his book "The Image of the City", Kevin Lynch argues that people navigate cities using "mental maps" composed of five elements: paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. He examines how residents of Boston, Jersey City, and Los Angeles orient themselves in their urban environments. Lynch proposes that cities should be designed to be legible and imageable by having identifiable patterns that give residents a clear mental map and sense of emotional security. His work provides guidance for urban designers to create cities that allow people to easily map, learn, and navigate their urban surroundings.

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    A REACTION PAPER FOR THE IMAGE OF THE CITY BY STEVENS

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    A Reaction Paper Of

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    In his book "The Image of the City", Kevin Lynch argues that people navigate cities using "mental maps" composed of five elements: paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. He examines how residents of Boston, Jersey City, and Los Angeles orient themselves in their urban environments. Lynch proposes that cities should be designed to be legible and imageable by having identifiable patterns that give residents a clear mental map and sense of emotional security. His work provides guidance for urban designers to create cities that allow people to easily map, learn, and navigate their urban surroundings.

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    A Reaction Paper of

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    Anonymous JTw90ez
    In his book "The Image of the City", Kevin Lynch argues that people navigate cities using "mental maps" composed of five elements: paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. He examines how residents of Boston, Jersey City, and Los Angeles orient themselves in their urban environments. Lynch proposes that cities should be designed to be legible and imageable by having identifiable patterns that give residents a clear mental map and sense of emotional security. His work provides guidance for urban designers to create cities that allow people to easily map, learn, and navigate their urban surroundings.

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    A Reaction Paper of

    The Image of the City


    by Kevin Lynch

    “There seems to be a public image of any city which is the overlap of many
    individual images. Or perhaps there is a series of public images, each held by someone
    significant number of citizens. Such group images are necessary if an individual is to
    operate successfully within his environment and to cooperate with his fellows. Each
    individual picture is unique, with some content that is rarely or never communicated,
    yet it approximates the public image, which in different environments, is more or less
    compelling, and more or less embracing”---Kevin Lynch

    By the appraisable aforementioned statement above by Kevin Lynch, We can


    already somewhat identify or imagine what would be the contents of his book, “The
    Image of the City”.

    In his book, “The Image of the City”, Lynch tackled that in any circumstances in
    urban, people direct or orient themselves by means of “Mental maps”. In his book,
    there were three cities he compared; American cities (Boston, Jersey City, and Los
    Angeles) and analyze at how people orient themselves in these cities. A central notion
    in this book is that of legibility (also called imageability and visibility). To be specific,
    Legibility means the “apparent clarity of the city scape” or how will it be well read by
    people. People who move through the city engage in way-finding. They need to be
    able to recognize and organize urban elements into a coherent pattern or can be
    recognizable patterns and can be easily visually grasped of recognizable symbols. “In
    the process of way-finding, the strategic link is the environmental image, the
    generalized mental picture of the exterior characteristics that can be seen by an
    individual. This image is the product both of immediate sensation and of the memory of
    past experience, and it is used to interpret information and to guide action (p.4). Lynch
    proposes that these mental maps consist of five elements: (1) paths: the channels which
    the observer moves. They may be streets, walkways, transit lines, canals, railroads; (2)
    edges: the linear elements not used as paths by the observer. They are the boundaries
    and linear breaks I continuity: shore, walls, etc.; (3) districts: areas characterized by
    common characteristics; (4) nodes: strategic focus points for orientation like squares
    and junctions; and (5) landmarks: external points of orientation, usually were easily
    identifiable physical object in the urban landscape. Out of these five elements, paths
    are especially important according Lynch, since these organize urban mobility.

    A clear mental map of the urban environment is needed to overcome or to


    avoid the fear of people about disorientation or misdirection. A legible mental map
    gives people an important sense of emotional security. The city itself is thus a powerful
    symbol of a complex society, argues Lynch. An environmental image has three
    components: identity (the recognition of urban elements as separate entities), structure
    (the relation of urban elements to other objects and to the observer), and meaning (its
    practical and emotional value to the observer). It is important that these urban
    elements are not hermetically designed into precise and final detail but present an
    Open and end order. Lynch presents his work as a list to do or guideline for urban
    designers. Thus, they should design the city in such a way that it gives room for three
    related ‘movements’: mapping, learning, shaping. First and foremost, people should be
    able to acquire a clear mental map of their urban environment. Second, people should
    be able to learn how to navigate in this environment by training. Third, people must be
    able to operate and act upon their environment, meaning, they should be able to
    freely move that is.

    In my own opinion or in my point of view, this book is very useful to understand


    and to relate on how people perceive, live or occupy and move around in the urban
    ground. This book shows that urban space is not just composed of its physical
    characteristics but equally by representations in mental images. Mobility is not just free-
    flowing movement but also and most likely relies on structuring and identifying the
    environment through the aid of mental maps.

    One such question is the about the way-finding thought. It is my curiosity about
    the small establishments. Just my concern, how can people know that there is a small
    business actively running at a corner of a city? Neither unless some people may take a
    picture of those then disseminate it through social media nor can it be found with the
    trendy Google Maps. Yes these were also reliable, but to what extent?

    Additional to my concern above, about the Google maps or other apps


    conveys maps, as what to other people’s experiences, not all the time it is useful. Why?
    because there are instances that the route is not ideal for your mode of transportation.
    If this is not included in with the city’s plan, then fear of disorientation will still roam to
    people. Are locative services undermining the potential for exploration and
    unexpected encounters with “new places” and people, when our movements are
    guided and goal-oriented? Lynch himself feels that disorientation is the cause of fear
    and anxiety, and already claims that “to become completely lost is perhaps a rather
    rare experience for most people in the modern city” (p. 4). Yet under controlled
    circumstances he acknowledges that “there is some value in mystification, labyrinth, or
    surprise in the environment” (p. 5).

    Thus, for me, “The Image of the City” is still an applaudable work and can be
    reread as a fresh work in this age and still to be or should be recommended. Lynch’s
    division of mapping/learning/shaping can well be applied as important questions that
    can be posed for each locative media project. Which to be concluded, in my opinion,
    his book still gives me the ideal agenda for urban design.

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