City Image And Its Elements

Submitted By:
Ramiz Khan
Salman Naqvi
Submitted To:
Ar. Mohammad Khalid
Hasan
City Image
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, which in different environments is more or less
compelling, more or less embracing.

Contents of a City
The contents of the city images so far studied, which are
referable to physical forms, can conveniently be classified into
five types of elements:

1. Paths
2. Edges
3. Districts
4. Nodes
5. Landmarks.

Paths
Paths are the channels along which the observer customarily,
occasionally, or potentially moves.
They may be streets, walk- ways, transit lines, canals,
railroads. For many people, these are the predominant
elements in their image.
People observe the city while moving through it, and along
these paths the other environmental elements are arranged
and related.
Edges.
Edges are the linear elements not used or considered as paths
by the observer.
They are the boundaries between two phases, linear breaks in
continuity: shores, railroad cuts, edges of development, walls.
They are lateral references rather than coordinate axes. Such
edges may be barriers, more or less penetrable, which close
one region off from another or they may be seams, lines along
which two regions are related and joined together.
These edge elements, although probably not as dominant as
paths, are for many people important organizing features,
particularly in the role at holding together generalized areas,
as in the outline of a city by water or wall.
Districts.
Districts are the medium to a large sections of the city,
conceived of as having two-dimensional extent, which, the
observer fluently enters inside of and which are
recognizable as having some common, identifying character.
Always identifiable from the inside, they are also used for
exterior reference if visible from the outside.
Most people structure their city to some extent in this way,
with individual differences as to whether paths or districts are
the dominant elements. It seems to depend not only upon the
individual but also upon the given city.
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 traveling.
They may be primarily junctions, places of a break in transportation, a
crossing or convergence of paths, moments of shift from one structure
to another.
Or the nodes may be simply concentrations, which gain their
importance from being the condensation of some use or physical
character, as a street-corner hangout or an enclosed square.
Some of these concentration nodes are focus and epitome of a district,
over which their influence radiates and of which they stand as a symbol.
This symbol may be called cores. Many nodes, of course, take of the
nature of both junctions and concentrations.
The concept of node is related to the concept of path, since junctions
are typically the convergence of paths, events on the journey.
It is similarly related to the concept of district, since the cores are
typically the intensive foci of districts, their polarizing centre.
In an event, some nodal points are to be found in almost every image,
and in certain cases they may be the dominant feature.

Landmarks.
Landmarks are another type of point reference, but 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.
Their use involves the singling out of one element from a host of possibilities.
Some land- marks are distant ones, typically seen from many angles and distances,
over the tops of smaller elements, and used as radial references.
They may be within the city or at such a distance that for all practical purposes they
symbolize a constant direction. Such are isolated towers, golden domes, great hills.
Even a mobile point, like the sun, whose motion is sufficiently slow and regular, may
be employed.
Other land- marks are primarily local, being visible only in restricted localities and
from certain approaches.
These are the innumerable signs, store fronts, trees, door knobs, and other urban
detail, which fill in the image of most observers.
They are frequently used clues of identity and even of structure, and seem to be
increasingly relied upon as a journey becomes more and more familiar.
Elements that help a
Inhabitant in perceiving an
Image of the CIty
PATHS
For most people interviewed, paths were the predominant
city elements, although their importance varied according to
the degree of familiarity with the city.
People with the least knowledge of the city tended to think of
the city in terms of topography, large regions, generalized
characteristics, and broad directional relationships.
Subjects who knew the city better had usually mastered parts
of the path structure; these people thought more in terms of
specific paths and their interrelationships.
A tendency also appeared for the people who knew the city
best of all to rely more upon small landmarks and less upon
either regions or paths. The potential drama and identification
in the highway system should not be underestimated.

PATHS
Characteristic spatial qualities were able to strengthen the image of
particular paths. In the simplest sense, streets that suggest extremes
of either width or narrowness attracted attention.
Where major paths lacked identity, or were easily confused one for
the other, the entire city image was in difficulty.
People tend to think of path destinations and origin points: they
liked to know where paths came from and where they led.
Paths with clear and well-known origins and destinations had
stronger identities, helped tie the city together, and gave the
observer a sense of his bearings whenever he crossed them.
Some subjects thought of general destinations for paths, to a section
of the city, for example, while others thought of specific places.

EDGES
Edges are the linear elements not considered as paths: they
are usually, but not quite always, the boundaries between two
kinds of areas. They act as lateral references.
For example, they are strong in Boston and Jersey City but
weaker in Los Angeles. Those edges seem strongest which are
not only visually prominent, but also continuous in form and
impenetrable to cross movement. The Charles River in Boston
is the best example and has all of these qualities.
It is difficult to think of Chicago without picturing Lake
Michigan. It would be interesting to see how many Chicagoans
would begin to draw a map of their city by putting down
something other than the line of the lake shore.
EDGES
Great buildings, parks, and tiny private beaches all come down
to the waters edge, which throughout most of its length is
accessible and visible to all.
The contrast, the differentiation of events along the line, and
the lateral breadth are all very strong.
The effect is reinforced by the concentration of paths and
activities along its extent.
The scale is perhaps unrelievedly large and coarse, and too
much open space is at times interposed between city and
water, as at the Loop. Yet the facade of Chicago on the Lake is
an unforgettable sight.

DISTRICTS
Districts are the relatively large city areas which the observer can
mentally go inside of, land which have some common character.
They can be recognized internally, and occasionally can be used as
external reference as a person goes by or toward them.
Many persons interviewed took care to point out that Boston, while
confusing in its path pattern even to the experienced inhabitant,
has, in the number and vividness of its differentiated districts, a
quality that quite makes up for it.
Subjects, when asked which city they felt to be a well oriented one,
mentioned several, but New York (meaning Manhattan) was
unanimously cited.
And this city was cited not so much for its grid, which Los Angeles
has as well, but because it has a number of Well-defined
characteristic districts, set in an ordered frame of rivers and streets.

DISTRICT
Two Los Angeles subjects even referred to Manhattan as being
small in comparison to their central area! Concepts of size
may depend in part on how well a structure can be grasped.
Usually the typical features were imaged and recognized in a
characteristic cluster, the thematic unit.
The Beacon Hill image, for example, included steep narrow
streets, old brick row houses of intimate scale, inset, highly
maintained, white doorways, black trim, cobble stones and
brick walls, quiet, and upper- class pedestrians.
The resulting thematic unit was distinctive by contrast to the
rest of the city and could be recognized immediately.

LANDMARKS
Landmarks, the point reference considered to be external to the
observer, are simple physical elements which may vary widely in scale.
There seemed to be a tendency for those more familiar with a city to
rely increasingly on systems of landmarks for their guides to enjoy
unique- ness and specialization, in place of the continuities used earlier.
Since the use of landmarks involves the singling out of one element
from a host of possibilities, the key physical characteristic of this class is
singularity, some aspect that is unique or memorable in the context.
Landmarks become more easily identifiable, more likely to be chosen as
significant, if they have a clear form if they contrast with the back-
ground; and| if there is some prominence of spatial location.
Figure-background contrast seems to be the principal factor.
The back- ground against which an element stands out need not be
limited to immediate surroundings: the grasshopper weather-vane of
Faneuil Hall, the gold dome of the State House, or the peak of the Los
Angeles City Hall are landmarks that are unique against the background
of the entire city.
Travelways
The focus is primarily on how to better and more safely integrate motor vehicles,
bicycles and pedestrians in the Central Core. The intent is not to provide a revised
vehicular circulation plan for the Central Core or to address the integration of
multiple travel modes within the vehicular travel way, but to provide guidelines for
the design of City streets that will accommodate effective circulation of
automobiles and bicycles while also promoting a more walk able downtown that is
safe, convenient, and comfortable for pedestrians.
The Travelway Realm occupies the curb-to-curb
street cross section within the public right-of-way.
Travelway Realm
The travelway generally occupies 60 to
65% of the public right-of-way.
Street Types
PRINCIPLE:
The design of the public street rights-of-way shall balance vehicular circulation with
all modes of transportation to create a safe, comfortable, attractive and robust
pedestrian and bicycle environment.
Street design needs to effectively integrate
light rail with vehicular traffic.
A number of one-way corridor streets
serve as key arterials through the
downtown.
1.One-way Corridor Street
PRINCIPLE: Limit the use of one-way corridor
streets to corridors where they are necessary to
accommodate high traffic volumes, and introduce
side-walk extensions (i.e., bulb-outs) at street
intersections to calm traffic and reduce pedestrian
crossing distances.
Recommendations:
Provide sidewalk bulb-outs at street intersections.
Permit parallel on-street parking on both sides of
the street.
Where bicycle lanes cannot be accomodated and
bicyclists must ride in travel lane with vehicular
traffic, the addition of sharrows (i.e., pavement
markings that indicate that vehicles must share
the lane with bicyclists) should be considered.
Street Type: Corridor
2.Corridor Street with Widened Sidewalk
(one side only)
PRINCIPLE: Widened sidewalks should be
planned for selected Central City locations to
accommodate increasingly active pedestrian
streetlife.
Recommendations
Extend the sidewalk by eliminating the parking lane
on 1. one side.
Permit off-peak metered parking in one of the
travel 2. lanes.
Bicyclists ride in travel lane with automobile traffic.
3.One-way Transit Street
PRINCIPLE: Dedicate one lane of traffic to
transit-preferential use.
Recommendations:
Ensure that the sidewalk adjacent to the
tracks is wide enough to accommodate a
station stop with disabled access ramps.
On-street parallel parking is restricted to
the side of the street opposite the light-
rail tracks.


Street Type: Transit
4.Neighborhood Retail Street
PRINCIPLE: Provide ample on-street parking, including angled parking, to
support pedestrian-friendly retail activity. Enable the growth of full tree canopy
by placing trees beyond the sidewalk into the parking areas.
Recommendations:
Back-in angled parking should be used rather than front in angled parking. It
offers many benefits. It is safer for pedestrians and cyclists There is less danger
to traffic when maneuvering, it is easier for truck and rear door loading, and
passengers can enter and leave the vehicle without danger from traffic.
Introduce angled parking where possible to provide more on-street parking than
parallel parking.
Differentiate parking zones from the travel lanes by special paving materials or
permeable concrete. These zones can be part of a green-street program of
storm-water management.
Reduce the width of travel lanes to reduce traffic speeds and create a safer
pedestrian environment.
Consider locating street trees within parking zones, enabling trees to have full
tree canopies without requiring building setbacks from the 80 right-of-way.
Thus, street-walls can follow the build-to-lines at the edge of the right-of-way
and maintain a well defined pedestrian-oriented environment.


5.Slow Street (with angled parking on one side
and additional street trees)
PRINCIPLE: Remove one travel lane to
accommodate angled parking.
Recommendations:
Provide angled parking on one side and parallel 1.
parking on the other side within the existing curb-to-
curb dimension. Back-in angled parking is a viable
alternative.
Introduce new street trees between the existing full
2. canopy street trees.
Provide sidewalk bulb-outs at the street
intersections.
Neighborhood Residential
Angled parking on slow-moving streets
6.Two-way Street with Median
PRINCIPLE: Introduce central medians for large
trees as traffic-calming elements to create safer,
pedestrian-friendly streets, while retaining easy traffic
flow.
Recommendations:
Create new 10 center medians in the center of the
street.
Plant new street trees that contrast in scale and
character with the side street trees.
Consider use of permeable pavement or pavers where
appropriate.
Bicycles should share the road with vehicle traffic.
Tree planted center median
Neighborhood Residential
16 7 7 12 12 10 16
Curb-to-Curb
48
80
Right-of-Way
8.Bicycle Street (one-way)
PRINCIPLE: Introduce dedicated bicycle lanes on
residential neighborhood streets.
Recommendations:
The bicycle lane should be 6 wide.
Sidewalks should be 11 wide.
Planting strips should be 8 wide to meet the
recommendations of Friends of the Urban Forest
standards for adequate irrigation of the existing
mature street trees.
Consider expanded planting strips/bulb-outs at
intersections.
Bicycle
One-way street with bicycle lane and on-
street parking on both sides of the street.
11 11 8 8 7 7 11 11 6
19 19 42
9.Alleys: Residential District Alleys
PRINCIPLE: Alleys in residential districts should
perform as minor streets, providing a traffic-calmed,
pedestrian scaled environment providing frontage access
to residential units and vehicle access to garages and
service areas.
Recommendations
Residential development along alleys should be set back
5 from the r.o.w., to facilitate the provision of adequate
daylighting, landscaping, and privacy.
In the case of a new parking access, a 5 setback from
the property line is required to provide clearance for
vehicle turning.
Alleys should have paving materials that are conducive
for both vehicular and pedestrian activity. Rougher
paving texture should be used to slow vehicle speeds.
Where possible, the paving should be designed to
attenuate stormwater flows, e.g. with the use of porous
paving material and retention systems.
Trash bins must be screened from view and may not
intrude into the alley right of way.
Front-loaded
townhouses
Rear-loaded
townhouses
Alley
Alleys should have one-way vehicle circulation.
Sidewalks are not necessary. However, a 4-inch curb can be used to delineate the
pedestrian realm.
Cross-slopes of paving should be ADA compliant.
Landscape elements should be encouraged within private property adjacent to
alley right-of-way.
Parcels with units extending from street to alley should have their vehicular access
from the alley, in order to minimize the number of curb-cuts along the street and
reduce conflicts in the pedestrian zone.

Townhouses front alley
shared street
On-Street Parking

PRINCIPLE: Provide on-street parking as a means of enhancing access to
adjacent uses, buffering pedestrians from moving traffic, and increasing activity on
the street.
Guidelines:
On-street Parking. To the extent feasible, on-street parking should be provided on
all streets to support adjacent uses and enhance pedestrian safety and activity.
Intermittent Parking Zones. Where traffic capacity needs to be balanced with on-
street parking, consider using the curb lane for parking during off-peak periods
and for traffic during peak periods. This strategy may allow for the narrowing of
some arterial and collector street cross-sections (i.e., lane removal) where it is
desirable to provide wider pedestrian zones and off-peak traffic volumes do not
require three travel lanes.
Parking Orientation. On-street parking should be primarily parallel parking on
high-volume arterial and collector streets. Angled parking may be used on lower-
speed and lower-volume commercially-oriented collector and local streets,
particularly on retail main streets.


Back-in Angled Parking. Back-in angled parking is generally more
favorable for bicyclists, easier for loading of packages, and can provide
a traffic-calming effect. Reverse (back-in) angled parking requires a
wider edge zone in the roadside due to the longer overhang at the rear
of most vehicles. This extra width can be compensated by the narrow
travel lane needed adjacent to parking for maneuvering.
Bicycles and Angled Parking. Avoid marking bicycle lanes in
conjunction with front-in angled parking. Rather, provide a striped
area, without bike lane markings, six feet in width between angled
parking and the travel lane on streets heavily used by bicyclists. Bicycle
lane markings may be used in conjunction with back-in angled parking
Metered Parking. Use metered parking to provide reasonable short-
term parking for retail customers and visitors while discouraging long-
term resident and employee parking. Restrict time limits of 30 minutes
or less to areas reserved for special, short-term, high-turnover parking
such as passenger loading, convenience stores, dry cleaners, etc.
Maximum time limits should not exceed 2 hours where turnover of
parking spaces is important to support nearby retail business.
Taxi-Cab Stands. Locate taxi-cab curb space in strategic high-use areas
(e.g. hotels, convention center, Sacramento Valley Station). Taxi queue
areas could have synergy with transit services.
Parking Restrictions. At least 20 to 50 feet from mid-block crosswalks and at least
20 feet from the curb return of intersections (30 feet from an approach to a
signalized intersection) or as required to maintain a proper sight distance triangle
depending on speed and roadway geometrics.
Motorcycle and Scooter Parking. Convenient on-street motorcycle parking should
be provided to encourage motorcycle and scooter use. Ample on-street
motorcycle and scooter parking should be provided within the Central Core in
prominent, well-lit locations as close as possible to main entrances of buildings,
Motorcycle parking bays should be striped perpendicular to the sidewalk in the on-
street vehicular parking zone.

Back-in angled parking provides for
convenient loading and unloading and
is safer for bicyclists
Parallel parking works better on
narrower streets.
AIMS
To study graphics most
commonly
Seen and understand their
importance and implication that
they inflict upon us, and their
role in making our life easier.
HYPOTHESIS
Cities cannot work without urban
graphics.

OBJECTIVES
Understand significance of
signage's in history .
To study various considerations
that go into making a signage
system work .


2
SIGNAGE

NEED OF STUDYING SIGNAGE



Importance of corporate identity by studying
various company logos ,etc.
To provide alternates to signage which do not
comply to their purpose.


Anywhere we look around we see a brand name
(logo) an informative signage , street furniture a
paving etc.


Hence our role as architects or designers becomes
very importance as it is our duty to guide a layman
to his/her destiny without much concern.
Common signage's for
handicapped
Sources : world wide web
Various signage's
3
SCOPE OF SIGNAGE

Also in our ever increasing commercial life signage of companies etc. that
adorn the buildings and beautify the facades are also to be taken care of
.they should not go to an extend of annoying or disturbing a human being
As already discussed paving or street furniture can act as mood
stimulators hence they demand extra attention as they can play a very
important part in the way an individual works or his output of works
.similarly murals adorning the walls of our buildings not only beautify the
faade but also gives us an idea of the character of the building .hence it
becomes very important to understand the usage of these murals so that
one is able to design murals so that one is able to design murals in a way
that it brings out the positive image rather than a negative one .
Scope of this exercise is immense but only some key constituents will be
highlighted . Parts of the subject to be dealt in detail will include SIGNAGE
COMMERCIAL SIGNAGE .
The choice of these key constituents is based on their importance w.r.t to
the subject and also time constraint. It is already understood how very
important signage are in our lives. similarly in this ever growing
commercial life portraying an image is also very important and a difficult
job and hence this will become an area of detailed study.
4
Neon lights for
illumination
ILLUMINATION
Signage's not only give the identity to the
space but also ,act as visual magnet for
the people .these signage are usually
illuminated to enhance the visual beauty
of the space created. Many signs are
required to relate their messages after
dark as well as during natural daylight.
The careful designer must determine
which signs require artificial illumination
by readily available stock fixtures
produced by many manufactures ,or they
can be internally illuminated .
In recent times neon lights have taken a
huge chunk of the lighted signage. This is
mainly because of the rapid
commercialization and competition
between the corporate players. These
signage's not only make the signage
visible at night but also make them look
more attractive and enhance the
appearance of the place . Also solar
lamps or solar illumination has recently
been very successful in illumination of
signage systems at night .apart from
making the signage visible they are
environment friendly .cheap in usage
,and dont depend on conventional
source of energy.

19
PROBLEMS FACED BY SIGNAGE

If not placed properly obstruct the movement of pedestrians and vehicles and
become potential traffic hazard .
In most cases proportions are out of scale to structures and spaces .
Create visual blight by which the aesthetic of the area is lost or further
detiorated .amidst the confusion ,the viewer receives no information .
Posters struck haphazardly on any structure or writing on the walls are an
eyesore .they deface the structure .
No professional ethics followed .


POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Form a regulatory authority that controls the sign system centrally .
Device a manual that clearly explains and regulates the signage system .
Impose fine on those who flout the regulations .
Ban sticking of posters on walls and public property .
Provide guidelines to various advertising agencies on hoardings and
billboards etc. comprising of sizes to be used in different areas.
Provide color coding schemes in conjunction with the structures in
question .
46
VISUAL PERCEPTION
Graphic is vision and vision is deeply related to human power and
behavior of perception .to understand graphics we must understand
driving force behind graphics .the perception .
FIELD OF VISION
Normal field vision suitable for signs ,covers an angle of 60 degree.
Areas beyond this zone of vision tend to become vague .logically this
field of vision can be enhanced greatly if the subject is turning or
moving the head.
Normally people are too busy to look around .thus orientation
,mounting height and relation to main pedestrian and traffic does not
affect perception .consistency in the height and orientation of graphic
reduces this undue load on the observer and generates healthy
environment visually.
READING ABILITY
An average educated person can read about 125 to 300 words a minute.
This obviously depends on age ,intelligence ,psychological background
etc. the idea of establishment a reading rate is to practically find the
overloading of graphic message.
22
LEGIBILITY
studies indicate that on normal sunlit day
,a person with 20 20 vision can read one
inch high letter on a standard shelled eye
chart at a distance of 50 feet. This depends
immensely on psychological factors ,such as
figure ground relationship and brightness
contrast.
EYE LEVEL
average height of the viewer is the eye
level .however all viewers are not on the same
eye level i.e people sitting in the vehicles
have an eye level of 46 while people walking
have an eye level of 56.therefore signage
meant for motorist should be at a lower level
so that they can be read easily without really
taking ones eyes off the road.
COLOR
Colors put together can make a place look
like festivity and gay ,and if handled
unprofessionally can clutter up the urban
landscape ,colors in rhythm mean
,harmonious ,co existence of colors ,where
all colors get registered properly in order of
preference.
The color scheme
COLOR`S EFFECT ON HUMAN`S BRAIN
People are thought to color more readily than form or shape and it is thought to
hold their attention longer .for example ,the red and white of COCA COLA ,the
blue of FORD ,yellow arches of MCDONALDS ,are now important parts of graphic
landscape .research has shown that certain colors can cause predictable
emotional and psychological effects .we also learn to respond to them in certain
ways ,for example ,
RED stimulates appetite ,in retail it is used for attracting attention
BLUE creates a condition of mental calmness ,it decreases appetite .it is also a
corporate color used to communicate stability .
WHITE is color of purity.
BLACK is the color of luxury .
PURPLE is the color of royalty.
GREEN is a cool color ,it is refreshing .it is also the color of environment and
health.
GREY creates a mood of dignity and safety.
YELLOW is friendly and cheerful.
Sometimes a deeper meaning is also derived from the colors that a brand uses
.these meanings are derived from a particular regions language ,religious
philosophy etc. thus the cultural context within which a color is used should
also be taken into account .

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Traffic signals
TRAFFIC SIGNING PRINCIPLES
In vehicle oriented perception ,shape is seen first ,then color is noticed and
finally one notices the message in it.
SHAPE MESSAGE
CIRCLE CRITICAL RULES:STOP,YIELD
RECTANGLE GUIDANC,LANE
DIAMOND WARNING

COLOR AND SHAPE MESSAGE
RED CIRCLE BREAKING RULES
GREEN CIRCLE TURNING RULES
BLUE CIRCLE LOCAL GUIDANCE
YELLOW DIAMOND WARNING

Though the actual signage is seen at last ,driver prepares himself for
necessary action seeing the shape and color .thus reaction time is sufficient
for any particular action at all speeds.
THANK YOU