In psychology, memory is defined as the process of taking, storing, then recalling information. The human memory is divided into three categories: sensory, short-term, and long-term memories. Since the beginning of civilizations – buildings and structures, human memory started to store information related to the built environment. According to the University of Windsor, “the built environment refers to surroundings created for humans, by humans, and to be used by humans”. In 1948, cognitive mapping was first introduced by Edward Tolman as a mental representation. For example, individuals can go on a track from home to work based on a learned path without any external interventions.
After a 5-years study, Kevin Lynch published “The Image of The City” – a book detailing the mental mapping related to the five elements of a city: Paths, Nodes, Edges, Landmarks, and Districts (MIT Libraries).
Paths, Districts, and Nodes In Cognitive Mapping
Paths are an important element in cognitive mapping, as individuals not only use them for circulation. Either as main and secondary roads, walkways, cross lines, or even dead ends, paths are the web that frames all city components – elements. Paths are what shape the users’ experience in a city, and greatly influence the way a city is perceived (Urban Design Lab, 2022).
Whenever a web of paths is applied in a city, several districts can be defined. These districts are divided into zones. In cities, people can see a wide diversity of typologies reflecting certain types of activities: Commercial, residential, industrial, and mixed-use zones for example, reflecting the activities occurring within their buildings – this is one factor that helps in building cognitive mapping.
The fusion of both districts and paths leads to the presence of nodes. This element is experienced from the inside while they are still perceived from the outside (Urban Design Lab, 2022). Moreover, in his book – “The Image of The City”, Kevin Lynch referred to districts as series characterized by a unique spatial identity.
Edges and Landmarks In Cognitive Mapping
Each built environment has its proper natural and/or manmade edges. For example, coastal cities have their natural edge as seashores and built environments on hills and mountains use steep slopes and valleys to be their edges. On the counterpart, some cities hold manmade edges: The Great Wall of China is a good example. These edges are considered as the frame of a unique image. On the cognitive level of analysis, edges are a core element to define the territory of a city: In ancient Islamic cities, for instance, the circular fence around cities not only protected the inner environment but rather identified the city itself. The number of circular fences reflected the number of cities that used to be present at that time.
Finally, landmarks are the last city element to be used in cognitive mapping. Differing in scale, colour, shape, function, and character, these external features are considered reference points to its surroundings. Urban structures, trees, facades, and even some buildings are well-addressed examples of landmarks.
Destinations and Cognitive Mapping
The diagram above is a good example of a simple cognitive mapping for an individual moving from point A to point B in a city. To move from A to B, and through the combination of the five elements of a city, the process will be as follows: Moving from A, taking the secondary road SR1 on Node 1, reaching Node 2 on the main road MR1, continuing straight to reach Node 2 on the same MR1, then taking secondary road SR2 to reach a landmark LM1, then finally going straight to reach the point B.
This pattern of circulation is not unique: When identifying a specific mental mapping, individuals treat the city elements based on several criteria. If two persons are asked to draw a mental map, receivers might have two different maps. This difference may be due to the following: A city element could be linked to a fact that touches the drawer on a personal level, or even a drawer might be used to take a specific pattern based on a routine process. By this, cognitive mapping is not only related to the city elements by themselves only, it might be affected by personal approaches that occurred in, around, or on these elements.
You Will Never Get Lost in A City
As mentioned by Mindmanager, “The process of building the mental map is divided into several steps: Area Decision, followed by setting up the boundaries or limits, then starting by adding one feature (could be a house, landmark, or building…), to reach the phase of adding additional elements to reach finally the end goal”.
In conclusion, cognitive mapping represents the city through the five elements: Paths, Nodes, Districts, Edges, and Landmarks that affect the users’ experience in a city. This experience is creating several approaches for mental maps especially when affected by personal inputs related to memories or routine activities that occurred in the same city.
References
The University of Windsor. What Does The Term Built Environment Mean. Visual Arts and The Built Environment. [Online]. Available at: https://www.uwindsor.ca/vabe/25/what-does-term-%E2%80%9Cbuilt-environment%E2%80%9D-mean
Golledge, R.G. (2001). Spatial Cognition and Cognitive Maps. Behavioral Geography. [Online]. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/cognitive-map#:~:text=The%20cognitive%20(or%20mental)%20map,cartographic%20’map%20in%20the%20head
Schiffer, M. (2023). How Does Cognitive Mapping Work. Cognitive Map. [Online]. Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/cognitive-map-definition-and-examples.html#:~:text=What%20is%20an%20example%20of,learned%20path%20without%20a%20GPS.
MIT Libraries. (1960). The Image of The City By Kevin Lynch. Cambridge, Mass. [Online]. Available at: https://libraries.mit.edu/150books/2011/04/16/1960/#:~:text=The%20five%2Dyear%20study%20led,strong%20image%20in%20an%20observer.
Urban Design Lab. (2022). Book Review: The Image of The City. [Online]. Available at: https://urbandesignlab.in/the-image-of-the-city-by-kevin-lynch/
Mindmanager. Guide To Mental Mapping. [Online]. Available at: https://www.mindmanager.com/en/features/mental-map/
List of Images
1_McKenna’s Map_ https://mckennamapcatalog.blogspot.com/2012/07/cognitive-map.html
2_Paths_ https://www.charlessturt.sa.gov.au/development-and-infrastructure/infrastructure/paths
3_Edges_ https://lookingatcities.info/2019/03/27/the-urban-genome-edges/
4_Destination_Illustration Done By The Author
5_What Is A Street_ https://globaldesigningcities.org/publication/global-street-design-guide/defining-streets/what-is-a-street/
