Image of the city

The two articles “The City Image and its elements” by Kevin Lynch and “The Neighborhood, District, and the corridor” by Andres Duany and Elizabeth Zyberk deals with the aspect that there is a public image of any city which is the overlap of many individual images.

Kevin Lynch article deals with the structure of a city which exists not only in physical reality but also in the minds of its inhabitants thus he has classified city’s physical form into five types of elements: paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmarks, whereas Andres Duany and Elizabeth Zyberk article deals with how one can design urban elements to create urban spaces and their approach of breaking down urban space into district elements – neighborhoods, districts and corridors is influenced by Kevin Lynch. They want to reshape urban and suburban patterns to create places where people can interact freely.

People can mentally adapt to any situation, but there are design strategies that can make urban orientation easier. For the purposes of study, the interconnected design elements have be broken down by Kevin Lynch into five categories: Paths, Edges, Districts, Nodes, and Landmarks.

Paths

Paths consists of the “channels along which the observer customarily, occasionally, or potentially moves”. These can include streets, paths, transit routes, or any other defined path of movement. It is important to note that the paths an individual identifies may not correspond to a traditional street network. These are often the most predominant items in an individual’s mental map as this is main mechanism for how they experience their city. Broadway, wall street, madison avenue etc are the major paths of the New York City. Every streets and avenues in the city are the paths in one aspect or the other.

Edges

Edges provide the boundaries that separate one region from another, the seams that join two regions together, or the barriers that close one region from another. They are linear elements, but are not the paths along with the individual experiences the built environment. They can be physical edges such as shorelines, walls, railroad cuts, or edges of development, or they can be less well-defined edges that the individual perceives as a barrier. Hudson river is the strong edge of the Manhattan. Central park acts like an edge to upper west side and upper east side, same is the case with 5^th ave, it acts as an edge to central park.

Districts

Districts are “medium-to-large sections of the city”. They are typically two-dimensional features, often held together by some commonality. The individual often enters into or passes through these districts. According to Lynch, most people use the concept of districts to define the broader structure of their city. Upper west side, upper east side, battery park, times square etc are the among the few district of the New York city. They are self sufficient districts and urbanized areas with a balanced mix of uses.

Nodes

Nodes are points within the city, strategically located, into which the individual enter. There are often junctions – a crossing or converging of paths. They often have a physical element such as a popular hangout for the individual or a plaza area. In many cases, the nodes are the centers of the district that they are in. Union Square, Madison Square, Columbus Circle etc are the best example of the New York City nodes. These are the point where broadway runs diagonally and intersect the avenues.

Landmarks

Landmarks are a point-reference (similar to nodes). However, unlike nodes, which the individual enters during his or her travels, landmarks remain external features to the individual. They are often physical structures such as a building, sign, or geographic features. The range of landmarks is extensive, but the commonality is that there are used by the individual to better understand and navigate the built environment. New York city has various landmarks- Empire State Building, Central Park, Ground Zero etc. Sounds and smells sometimes reinforced visual landmarks, although they did not seem to constitute landmarks by themselves.

“Districts are structured with nodes, defined by edges, penetrated by paths and sprinkled with landmarks”. These elements are simply the raw material of the environmental image at the city scale.

I feel that these elements do not make up the city; rather, they characterize them because they can be manifested in many shapes and forms of which the designer will implement. They are guidelines for the observer to follow and be able to read as a legible criteria within the city. Both the articles have overlapping ideas and gives the clear picture about the different urban elements and urban spaces. Thus we as an urban designers can create more psychologically satisfying urban environments by understanding how people perceive these urban elements and design. These articles are introducing a new way of thinking about the urban form of a city.

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