PIONEERS OF TOWN Ar.

Ayaz Ahmad Khan

PLANNING Assistant Professor
Invertis University
KEVIN LYNCH
ABSTRACT

“There seems to be a public image of any given city which is the overlap of

many individual images. Or perhaps there is a series of public images, each

held by some 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,

Kevin A. Lynch
which, in different environments, is more or less compelling, more or less

embracing.”
 INTRODUCTION
• Kevin Andrew Lynch was born on 7th Jan 1918 & died on
25th April 1984.

• He was an American urban planner & author.

• He is best known for his work on mental mapping & on

perceptual form of urban environments.

• His famous book The Image of the City which he

published in 1960 is very famous among his works.

• He was a disciple of FLW before he studied city

planning, & spend his academic career at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, teaching there.

• He practice site planning and urban design

CONCEPT OF MENTAL
MAPPING
A mental map is a person's point-of-view
perception of their area of interaction.

A person’s perception of the world is known as

mental map, it’s an individual’s own map of
their known world.

The image which the user form in his mind

about the architectural and urban components
of the city and their places so he can direct his
motion through the city after that.
CONCEPT OF MENTAL
MAPPING
Mental maps of an individual
can be investigated by:

Asking for directions to a

landmark or other location.

Asking someone to draw a

sketch map of an area or
describe that area.

Asking a person to name as

many places as possible in
short period of time.
 CONCEPT OF MENTAL
MAPPING
Mental image properties :

The overall mental image of an urban

environment will be:

1. Partial : not covering the whole city

2. Simplified : omitting a great deal of

information

3. Unique : each individual has his/her own

4. Distorted : not necessary has real distance or

direction.
 ABOUT THE BOOK :
IMAGE OF THE CITY
“This book is about the look of cities, and whether this
look is of any importance, and whether it can be
changed”.

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.

The book looks at three American cities: Boston, Jersey

City, and Los Angeles.
 ABOUT THE BOOK :
IMAGE OF THE CITY
In the first section, new concepts of
legibility and Imageability are presented to
lay the theoretical foundation of the entire
book.

Followed by that, Lynch introduced three

American cities as examples to reveal his
outcomes of field reconnaissance, and then
made comparisons between each other.

In the third section, five elements and their

interrelationships are summarized from
previous researches which act as the core
content of the book.
 ABOUT THE BOOK :
IMAGE OF THE CITY
In Lynch’s view, image can be
explained as “a picture especially in
the mind”, a sentimental combination
between objective city image and
subjective human thoughts.
The productions of environment
images are influenced by a two-way
process between the observer and the
observed.
The observer, with great adaptability
and in the light of his own purposes,
selects, organizes, and endows with
 THEORY - FIVE POINTS
Kevin Lynch found that there are five basic elements which people use to
construct their mental image of a city:

Pathways
Districts
Edges
Landmarks
Nodes
1. PATHWAYS

These are the streets, sidewalks, trails, canals, railroads and other channels in which
people travel;

They arrange space and movement between space

Paths are the channels along which the observer moves. They may be streets,
walkways, transit lines, canals, railroads.
1. PATHWAYS
1. PATHWAYS
Why paths are important elements in the city image?
1. Concentration of uses

2. Containing significant
buildings and facades
1. PATHWAYS
Why paths are
important
elements in the
city image?

3. paths are the

most important
elements in
people’s images :

• other elements
are arranged and
along them.

• Unclear paths =
unclear city
 2. EDGES
Boundaries;

They can be either Real or Perceived;

These are walls, buildings, and shorelines, curbstone, streets, overpasses, etc.

Edges are linear elements that form boundaries between areas or linear breaks in
continuity (e.g. shores, railway cuts, walls).
2. EDGES
 2. EDGES
The strongest edges are continuous in form, and often impenetrable to cross movement.
 2. EDGES
The strongest edges are continuous in form, and often impenetrable to cross movement.

Manmade edges

Natural edges
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
PATH & EDGE
Edges : Paths :
Prevent motion in specific direction Direct the motion to specific direction
 3. DISTRICTS
Medium to large areas that are two-
dimensional;

An individual enters into and out of

these areas;
Districts are the
Have common identifying
medium-to-large
characteristics.
sections of the
city which the
observer
mentally enters
"inside of," and
which are
recognizable as
3. DISTRICTS
 3. DISTRICTS
Are the medium to large parts of the city
which share the same characteristics
Style - spatial form, topography- colors,
texture, urban fabric
 3. DISTRICTS
Districts may have Clear edges, or soft
uncertain ones gradually fading away
into surrounding areas.
 4. 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.
 4. NODES
Nodes are points, the strategic spots in a city into which an observer can enter, and
which are the intensive foci to and from which he is travelling..

They may be primarily junctions or concentrations.

4. NODES
Strategic points in the city
that:

• the user can enter it

• be directed to many
destinations

• it can be gathering places

or intersection of paths, or
places for activities
 5. 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.
5. LANDMARKS
Landmarks are another type of point-reference, but in this case the observer does not
enter within them, they are external. They are usually a rather simply defined physical
object: building, sign, store, or mountain.
 5. LANDMARKS
A physical element with unique and special
visual features that has a "point-specific”
location, and can be identified from the
distance.
 5. LANDMARKS
What makes landmark a land mark?

Clarity of general form Singularity: “one in the context”

Difference in form, shape & height from Contrast with the surroundings
surroundings
 5. LANDMARKS

Uniqueness nature
THREE CITIES ON THIS
CONCEPT
Three Cities
The image of the cities Boston, Jersey Cities and Los Angeles derived from the consensus of v
interviews and sketch maps.

Boston
THREE CITIES ON THIS
CONCEPT

Jersey City
THREE CITIES ON THIS
CONCEPT

Los Angeles
BOSTON MENTAL MAP IN
DETAIL
THUS IMAGE OF THE
CITY
None of lynch’s elements exits in isolation :

all combine to provide the overall image:

• Districts are structures with nodes

• Edges define Districts

• Paths introduction to Districts

• Nodes sprinkled by landmarks ….

• Nodes emphasizes the connection between paths

All combine to provide the overall image of the

city
CONCLUSION & WHAT
PURPOSE IT SERVED
Preventing feeling lost

Helping make the city feel like “home”

So it is important to understand how people think and form their mental impression
about the city and the common themes they share to help designers to design urban
environment in a clear manner for users
THANKYOU…