الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract This thesis discusses attempts to understand how we find our way through real world, depending on both of spatial configuration and visual form of the city. It presents two different theories: First, the concept of imageability / legibility by professor Kevin Lynch (1960) which claims that way-finding is related to the process of forming mental maps of our environmental surroundings based on sensation and memory. Second, the concept of intelligibility by professor Bill Hillier, the father of Space Syntax theory, which claim that urban environment can be better under tood through its spatial configuration. The thesis explores the relationship between the two concepts in a crucial trying to bridge the gap between them. Heliopolis, Maadi, and Cairo CBD were investigated in detail. Methodological procedures consisted of interviews, questionnaires, cognitive maps, researcher’s site observation of physical environment, and spatial configuration anaLyses measuring global and local integration values using UCL Depthmap software. The results showed that spatial configuration of an environment and spatial cognition are closely related, and there is a juxtaposition and positive relation between legibility and intelligibility. In other words, space syntax technique is a good predictor of wayfinding ability. But in special cases like Maadi when longer and shorter axiaL Lines have the same width, the results of spatial configuration analysis will be away from reality and therefore space syntax methodology will not be appropriate for analyzing this kind of axial maps. The findings also demonstrate that spatial configuration and visual form are closely linked. Hence, cities should be visually and structurally legible for better wayfinding abilities. |