Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment

Abd Elbaseer A. Mohamed, CUAS

Outline

Overview

- Urban Legibility

- Ineligibility

- Related Works In Legibility and Intelligibility

Method and Findings

- Mapping Case Studies According to Lynchian Method

- Mapping Case Studies According To Space Syntax Technique

- The Juxtaposition Between Legibility And Intelligibility

Visual Form

Kevin Lynch in The Image of The City (1960, MIT Press) categorized urban Legibility into:

- Paths: highways, railroads, canals.

- Edges: rivers, shores, railroad cuts.

- Districts: commercial, residential, industrial.

- Nodes: squares, intersections.

- Landmarks: Pyramids, Empire state building.

Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

Legibility: “…the ease with which a city's parts can be recognized and organized into a coherent pattern ”

Urban Legibility

The visual form of Boston as seen in the field .)Lynch, 1960(

Figure 3.12.a. Intelligible spatial layout (source: Kim Y O, 1999)

Figure 3.12.b. Unintelligible spatial layout (source: Kim Y O, 1999)

Intelligibility

Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

The intelligibility is defined as “ the degree to which what can be seen and experienced locally in the system allows the large–scale system to be learnt without conscious efforts” ( Hillier, 1996: 171).

Intelligible spatial layout) Kim Y O, 1999(

Unintelligible spatial layout

) Kim Y O, 1999(

Related Works in Legibility and Intelligibility

Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

[Dalton and Bafna, 2003]

[kim and Penn, 2004]

[Long and Baran, 2006]

[Turner, 2007]

Case Studies

Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

Cairo CBD Maadi H eliopolis

CriterionHeliopolis Cairo CBD Maadi

Character It has a unique character of Islamic look in facades that were ornamented by arcades.

It has a unique western-style designed in a combination of art deco, art nouveau, baroque and, a little later, neo-Islamic styles. It looks as a part of Europe.

It was built in English countryside cottage style. Its unique villas reflects its distinct character.

Urban fabricIt has a western urban layout presented in radical urban fabric with rigid grid pattern

It has a French touch in its layout like Hussman planning of Paris. It has a radical urban fabric.

It has a radical urban fabric with rigid grid pattern.

Social aspects It is filled mostly with cosmopolitans and native aristocratic Egyptians.

It shows a variety of residential districts ranging from slum areas within which low or middle class live to distinct housing as upper class and collar bills live.

It is filled with Americans, plus an assortment of wealthy Egyptians, Gulf Arabs, and other nationalities that together comprise a distinct and broad international community.

Results of a questionnaire distributed amongst 70 subjects. They were asked at what area they had most difficulties in wayfinding.

Area Counts %

Heliopolis2130

Maadi 5781

Cairo CBD3448

Kevin Lynch’s mapping methods

Field Reconnaissance

Mental map

Interviews and questionnaires

Measuring Urban Legibility

physical form map

Legibility

Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

Mapping Case Studies according to Lynchian Method

Cairo CBD image as seen in the field Cairo CBD image as derived from sketch maps

Mapping Case Studies according to Lynchian Method

Cairo CBD problems

Mapping Case Studies according to Lynchian Method

Maadi image as seen in the field Maadi image as derived from sketch maps

Mapping Case Studies according to Lynchian Method

Maadi problems

Mapping Case Studies according to Lynchian Method

Heliopolis image as seen in the field Heliopolis image as derived from sketch maps

Mapping Case Studies according to Lynchian Method

Heliopolis problems

Mapping Case Studies according to Lynchian Method

Design elementCairo CBDMaadiHeliopolis

PathModerateLow Low

EdgeLow High Moderate

LandmarkHigh Low Moderate

NodeHigh Moderate Moderate

DistrictLow Low Low

Table 2. Overall Legibility Score for the case study areas. Legibility of the five elements for each area is derived form mental maps and interview responses using the following:High: 50or more respondents thought the element had high legibility. Moderate: 50or more respondents thought the element had moderate legibility. Low: 50or more respondents thought the element had low legibility.

Mapping Case Studies according to Lynchian Method

Mapping Case Studies according to Space Syntax Technique

Global & Local Integration Values

Cairo CBD

Connectivity Integration R-3Global Integration

Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

Mapping Case Studies according to Space Syntax Technique Cairo CBD

Map showing degree of appearance of axis in

mental maps. The map of the high-integrated axis.

Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

Mapping Case Studies according to Space Syntax Technique

Global & Local Integration Values

Maadi

Connectivity Integration R-3Global Integration

Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

Mapping Case Studies according to Space Syntax Technique

Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

Maadi

Map showing degree of appearance of axis in

mental maps. The map of the high-integrated axis.

Mapping Case Studies according to Space Syntax Technique

Global & Local Integration Values

Heliopolis

Connectivity Integration R-3Global Integration

Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

Mapping Case Studies according to Space Syntax Technique Heliopolis

Map showing degree of appearance of axis in

mental maps, Heliopolis. The map of the high-integrated axis, Heliopolis.

Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

0 2.25373

0

28 R² = 0.303849

Integration [HH]

Con

nect

ivity

0 2.81804

0

35 R² = 0.418085

Integration [HH]

Con

nect

ivity

0 2.25373

0

4.02504 R² = 0.813792

Integration [HH]

Inte

grat

ion

[HH

] R

3

Intelligibility scattergram, Maadi

0 2.81804

0

4.11941 R² = 0.859836

Integration [HH]

Inte

grat

ion

[HH

] R

3

Synergy scattergram, Maadi

0 3.88606

0

65 R² = 0.303577

Integration [HH]

Con

nect

ivity

0 3.88606

0

4.57272 R² = 0.881197

Integration [HH]

Inte

grat

ion

[HH

] R

3

Intelligibility scattergram, Cairo CBD Synergy scattergram, Cairo CBD

Intelligibility scattergram, Heliopolis Synergy scattergram, Heliopolis

Findings

The spatial configuration of an environment and spatial cognition are closely related.

There is a juxtaposition between legibility and intelligibility; and there is a positive relation between them.

In a special case like Maadi where longer and shorter axial lines have the same width, the results of spatial analysis using axial map won't be accurate and therefore space syntax methodology won't be appropriate for analyzing this kind of axial maps. This means that road hierarchy enhances wayfinding ability, and that Cities should be legible visually and structurally for better wayfinding ability.

Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

Special Thanks to DAAD and CNRD