The Visual Identity of Cities

It is important for modern-day city planners and builders to have a deep understanding of how the visual form of a particular city came to be so that they can perpetuate the image of the city in the subsequent design of buildings. The image of the city means a lot to the inhabitants of the city. The more expressive and unforgettable the visual form is, the better the experience and attachment of the dwellers in the city. Without this understanding, city planners and architects may design buildings in such a manner that erodes the original image of the city, making it lose its historical value. Kevin Lynch embarked on deep research to demystify the concepts behind the visual perception of cities, often providing insights valuable for those seeking architecture dissertation help. This was back in 1953, a time when city planners had largely neglected the need for restoring and maintaining the unique image of particular cities. Kevin Lynch based his theories on three American Cities - Los Angeles, Boston, and Jersey City.

Kevin Lynch asserts that every city possesses deeper traits other than what the eye can see or the ear can hear. For every city, there is always a mystery to unravel or a hidden treasure to be explored. This majorly stems from the circumstances that led to the formation of the city and the past experiences of the occupants of that city. Although the design of a city can be viewed as a temporal art, it is very different from other temporal arts like music or drama. Music makes use of somewhat restrained and hampered sequences. Cities go farther than that. The sequences in question can be overturned, discontinued, dropped out, or merged with other sequences. The residents are psychologically shaped with such sequences, with the result of deep memories about the origins of the city.

The concept of Legibility

Kevin Lynch focuses on one visual quality that can be used to describe the image of the city. He dubs this ‘Legibility’. By this, he refers to the indisputable precision of the landscape. Every city has unique features that can easily be recognized and that differentiates them from another city. A legible city is one with landscapes, pathways, and roads that can be easily identified and even categorized into a distinct pattern. Legibility is a very important aspect of building and rebuilding cities. At the time of writing the book, most cites in America lacked legibility. In fact, many Americans did not have an idea of what it feels like to live in a legible city. They involuntarily found themselves in chaotic cities with lots of dirt, uncomfortable temperatures, smoke, name it. The dwellers, therefore, complain of such squalid conditions, with little or no hope sometimes of remedy. This is because the environment is naturally of great importance to all animals, humans included. Important aspects of the environment include color, shape, motion, the polarization of light, smell, sounds, touch, kinesthesia, sense of gravity, electric fields, and magnetic fields. All these should be carefully thought out if the inhabitant is to live a satisfactory life in the city.

Benefits of Legibility

No human ever wants to be lost. From time immemorial, humans greatly uphold cities with easily recognizable patterns that make their way-finding around the city easy. As such, cities were originally designed in a manner that creates a distinct mental picture to the dweller or any visitor. With such an image, the actions of the city dwellers can be adequately guided without unnecessary anxiety. A memorable physical setting not only helps in way-finding - it has a positive social effect too. Socially meaningful myths among communities have been built around the landscapes of the city. A clear environmental image gives the city dwellers some degree of emotional security. Subconsciously, the inhabitants are able to build an amicable connection with the outside world. A legible environment also enhances the human experience in the city. Over the years, the art of legibility has slowly been lost. The newer generations continuously lack the pleasures of a legible city. However, it is still tolerable to the city dwellers, but it comes with quite a degree of strain.

Key Image Elements

According to Lynch, the world can be organized around a set of focal points. In regards to cities, important image elements to consider while planning cities are paths, landmarks, edges, nodes, and districts.

The case of Leicester

In light of the image-ability standards expressed by Lynch, Leicester can be given a pass. It has all the major image elements outlined by Lynch. Some of the most common paths in Leicester include New Walk, London Road, High Street, Narborough Road, and Welford Road. Of all these, New Walk stands out as the main path. Other paths stem out from New Walk. New Walk can be used to access the main residential district, the Universities, the Railway, Victoria park, bars, offices, and historical centers. The City planners made sure to include regular green areas along New Walk to make it more memorable to the pedestrian. New Walk is also used to access the famous Clock Tower from the CBD. This landmark adds to its usefulness as regards forming an image. Other landmarks in Leicester are the University of Leicester, De Montfort University, the Cathedral Church, and the New Walk Museum. Aside from paths and landmarks, Leicester boasts of a well defined edge - i.e. the River Soar, which splits the city into 2 distinct parts. Coming to nodes, there are quite a number in Leicester. The 3 most notable nodes are the end point of New Walk, the Clock Tower, and the Market Place.

Rebuilding the image

Further, every image created by the architect or planner must have a meaning for the dweller. For instance, if the planner wishes to paint the image of an exit from the city, he should pattern it to something like a door, which the common man unmistakenly interprets as an exit. However, the planner should not overly concentrate on painting the exact image of a door. As cities should be designed for enjoyment, the dwellers should be given room to develop the meaning of different images without guidance. The key thing is to provide the dwellers with a symbolic image of how the world fits together. As long as the dweller can attach some meaning to the symbol, the objective has been well achieved.

Conclusion

On a conclusive note, it is the duty of the modern-day planner to consciously remold the physical environmental image of cities. Years of neglect have resulted in the destruction of previously created environmental images. Even so, this should be counteracted by ingenious designs that rebuild the once vivid environmental images.

Continue your journey with our comprehensive guide to Unraveling the Mystery of Free Will.