Fundamentals

of Urban Design
and Community
Architecture

By: Ar. Jero D. Detera

Image of the City
Kevin Lynch
Kevin Lynch
• An American urban planner and
author. He is known for his work on
the perceptual form of urban
environments and was an early
proponent of mental mapping.
• His most influential books
include The Image of the City (1960),
and What Time is This Place? (1972).
• A student of architect Frank Lloyd
Wright before training in city planning.
The Image of the City
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 American cities as
examples (Boston, Jersey City and
Los Angeles), Lynch reported that
users understood their
surroundings in consistent and
predictable ways.
The Image of the City
According to the book, he stated
that there is a public image of any
given city that is composed by
overlapping many individual images
and also each individual image is
unique. He classified the contents
of the city images into five types of
elements which are paths, edges,
districts, nodes and landmarks.
Paths
Paths are the channels which
the observer moves. They can
be streets, walkways, transit
lines, canals and railroads.
Different
features of Path
Particular paths may
become important features
in a number of ways such as
customary travel.
Different
features of Path
Concentration of special use
or activity along a street may
give it prominence for the
observers.
Different
features of Path
Specific spatial qualities
were able to strengthen the
image of particular paths.

Special façade
characteristics are important
for path identity.
Different
features of Path
Proximity to special of the
city could also endow a path
with increased importance
Different
features of Path
Paths with clear and well-
known origins and
destinations had stronger
identities.
Edges
Edges are the boundaries
between two phases, linear
breaks in continuity. For
instance shores, railroad cuts,
edges of development and
walls.
Edges
Linear elements not used or
considered as paths.
May be barriers or seams
Not as dominant as paths but are
important organizing features of
the city
Strong edges are:
• Visually prominent
• Continuous
• Impenetrable to cross movement
Different types
of Edges
Fragmentary Edges: In the
abstract continuous but only
visualized edges in discrete
points.
Different types
of Edges
Overhead Edges: Elevated
railways.
Different types
of Edges
Visible Edge:
District
Districts are large city areas which
observer can mentally go inside of.
The physical characteristics that
determine districts are; texture,
space, form, detail, symbol,
building type, use, activity,
inhabitants, degree of
maintenance, topography.
Districts have different kinds of
boundaries such as hard, definite
and precise.
District
• Medium to large sections
of a city, conceived of as
two-dimensional

• Recognizable as having
some common,
identifying character

• Dominance depends
upon the individual and
the given district
Nodes
Nodes are the strategic foci
into which the observer can
enter either junctions of paths
or concentrations of some
characteristic.

Directly related to the concept

of paths and the concept of
districts.
Landmark
Landmarks are the point references
which are external to the observer
and simple physical elements vary
in scale.
Location at a junction involving path
decisions strengthens a landmark.
Unique and special in place of the
continuitiesused earlier.
Sequential series of landmarks as
traveling guides.
Landmark
Spatial prominence can establish
landmarks in two ways;
• Making element visible from
many locations.
• Setting up local contrast with
nearby elements.
Elements Interrelationship
Elements are not isolated from each other.
Districts are structured with nodes, defined by edges, penetrated
by paths and sprinkled with landmarks.
These elements are the raw material of the environmental image
at the city scale. The must be patterned together to provide
satisfying form.
Responsive
Environment
Ian Bentley
Responsive Environment
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 American cities as
examples (Boston, Jersey City and
Los Angeles), Lynch reported that
users understood their
surroundings in consistent and
predictable ways.
Permeability
Permeability is defined as a place that is
accessible to users and can offer them a
choice.
An environment which allows people a choice
of access through it, from space is a key
measure of its responsiveness.
The permeability of a public space depends on
the number of alternative routes it has to offer
from one point to another
Alternatives routes should be visible, otherwise,
users already familiar can only take advantage
of the space. So visual permeability is also
important.
Permeability The design trends that highlight
the permeable aspect of public
space are the increasing scale
of development and the use of
hierarchical layouts.

The simplest way of meeting

these demands is through the
design of perimeter blocks.
Fronts facing outwards onto
public space particularly a
street, square, or park, close
enough to enjoy its liveliness.
Variety
• Variety offers users a choice of
experiences.
• Variety of experience implies places
with varied forms, uses, and
meanings.
• Developers and planners are more
concerned with economic
performance and easier
management, than with variety.
• Variety also depends on feasibility:
economic, political, and functional
Variety
Variety of use and spaces in
collaboration unlocks the other angles
and scales of variety.

• A space with varied uses has varied

types of buildings, of varied forms.
• It attracts varied people, at varied
times, with varied approaches, for
varied reasons.
• Because the varied activities, forms,
and users provide a rich mix of
perceptual conception.
Variety
Variety of uses depends on
three main factors:

• range of activities
• possibility of supply
• extent to which design
encourages positive
interactions
 Legibility
• Degree of choice depends on how
legible it is: how layout is understood.
• Legibility is important at two levels:
physical form and activity patterns
• Legibility in the old days: important
buildings stood out.
• Legibility of form and use is reduced in
the modern environment.
• Separating pedestrians from vehicles
also reduces legibility.
• Legibility is strengthened by Lynch’s
physical elements of the city.
Legibility Legibility and Elements Complimented
Legibility
Analysis the typical factors to look:
•The relative intensity of use.
•Recording the relative importance of each path,
and the public relevance of any associations.
•Carefully planning any strong linear barriers.
•Record areas with different patterns of use.
•Record areas with different visual characters,
and decide what makes the differences, overall
building forms, ambiance, materials, or details.
Robustness
Spaces that can be used for
different purposes offer the
users more choices than
places where design limits
them to a single fixed use.

In most buildings, the various

parts have different
potentials for contributing to
robustness. Two sorts of
areas need special attention
namely, Hard or Soft and
Active or Passive.
Robustness
Robustness concerns the
ability of specific spaces
within the building to be used
in a wide variety of ways.

There are three key factors that

support long term robustness:
• Building depth
• Access
• Building height
Visual Appropriateness
Visual Appropriateness focuses on
details.
A vocabulary of visual cues must be
found to communicate levels of
choice.
Interpretations can reinforce
responsiveness by:
• supporting the place’s legibility
• supporting the place’s variety
• supporting the place’s
robustness
Visual Appropriateness
Visual appropriateness is significant in the
places which are most likely to be visited by
people from a wider range and variety of
backgrounds, particularly when the
appearance cannot be altered by the users
themselves.

Visual appropriateness is important in the

more public aspects of the spaces in the
scheme.
Richness
The variety of sense experiences
that users can enjoy.

There are two ways for users to

choose from different sense
experiences
• focusing their attention on
different sources of sense
experience
• moving away from one source to
another
Richness
The basis of visual richness depends
on the presence of visual contrasts

• The sense of motion: gained

through movement
• The sense of smell: can not be
directed
• The sense of hearing: user has
limited control
• The sense of touch: voluntary and
involuntary
• The sense of sight: most dominant
in terms of information input and is
the one easiest to control
Richness
• allows people to achieve an environment that bears the
stamp of their own tastes and values
• makes a person’s pattern of activities more clear
• Users personalize in two ways: to improve practical facilities
and to change the image of a place
Richness
Users personalize as an affirmation of their
own tastes and values and because they
perceive existing image as inappropriate

Personalization comes in two levels:

• Private
• Public

Personalization is affected by three key

factors:
• Tenure
• building type
• technology
Putting it All together
permeability: designing the overall layout of routes and
development blocks
variety: locating uses on the site
legibility: designing the massing of the buildings and the
enclosure of public space
robustness: designing the spatial and constructional
arrangement of individual buildings and outdoor spaces
visual appropriateness: designing the external image
richness: developing the design for sensory choice
personalization: making the design encourage people to
put their own mark on the places where they live and work