Kevin Lynch was an American urban planner best known for his book "The Image of the City" which studied how people mentally map cities. Through research of Boston, Jersey City, and Los Angeles, Lynch identified 5 key elements that help form people's mental maps: pathways, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. These elements provide orientation and reference points to help residents and visitors navigate and understand a city.

1. K E V I N L Y N C H
P I O N E E R S O F T O W N
P L A N N I N G
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2. I N T R O D U C T I O N
• Kevin Andrew Lynch was born on 7th Jan 1918, died on 25th
April 1984.
• He was an American urban planner and author.
• He is best known for his work on mental mapping & on
perceptual form of urban environment
• His famous book The image of the city which he published in
1960 is very famous among his works.
• He was a disciple of FLW before he studied city planning &
spend his academic career at the Massachusetts institute of
technology, teaching there.
• He practice site planning and urban design.
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3. A B O U T T H E B O O K :
I M A G E O F T H E C I T Y :
• This book is about the look of cities, and whether this
look is of importance, and whether it can be changed.
• The book is the result of a five-year study of Boston,
Jersey city and Los Angeles on how observes take in
information of the city and use it to make mental maps.
• Lynch’s conclusion was that people formed mental maps
of their surroundings of five basic elements.
• The book looks at three American cities : Boston , jersey
city , and Los Angeles.
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4. T H E O R Y - F I V E
P O I N T S
Kevin lynch found that there are
five basic elements which people
use to construct the city:
• Pathways
• Districts
• Edges
• Landmarks
• Nodes
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5. 1 . PAT H W AY S
• These are the streets, sidewalks , trails , canals ,
railroads and other channels in which people
travel.
• They arrange space and movement between
space.
• Paths are the channels along which the observer
moves. They maybe streets walkways , transit
lines.
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6. 1 . PAT H W AY S
why paths are important elements in the city image?
1. containing significant buildings and facades.
2. Paths are the most important elements in people’s
images:
• Other elements are arranged and along them.
• Unclear paths = unclear city
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7. 2 . E D G E S
• Boundaries
• They can be either real or perceived
• These are walls ،buildings ،and shorelines,
curbstone , streets, overpasses , etc.
• Edges are linear elements that form boundaries
between areas or linear breaks in continuity ( e . g
. Shores , railway cuts , walls .)
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8. 2 . E D G E S

10. 3 . D I S T R I C T
S
Districts are large sections of the city pulled
together by a central, identifying character. These
two-dimensional elements are most apparent
when experienced from the inside (while still
recognizable when viewed from the outside) and
whose urban experience offers features,
atmosphere, or opportunities unique to itself.
Lynch explains that most people perceive their
cities as a series of districts and whose images
are greatly shaped by unique spatial identity.

12. 3 . D I S T R I C T S
Are the medium to large parts of the city
which share the same characteristics style
– spatial forms, topography – colors,
texture, urban fabric.

13. 3 . D I S T R I C T S
Districts may have clear edges, or soft
uncertain ones gradually fading away
into surrounding areas.

14. 4 . N O D E S
 Large areas you can enter, serve as the foci of the city, neighborhood, district, etc.
 Offers the person in them multiple perspectives of the other core elements.

15. 4 . N O D E S
Nodes are point, the strategic spots in a city into which an observer
can enter, and which are the intensive foci to and from which he is
travelling.

16. 4 . N O D E S
Strategic points in the city that:
• The user can enter it.
• Be directed to many
destinations.
• It can be gathering places.
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17. 5 . L A N D M A R K S
• Points of reference person can’t enter into.
• These are buildings, signs, stores, mountains, public art.
• Mobile points ( such as sun ) can be used as well.

18. 5 . L A N D M A R K S
Landmarks are another type of point – references, but in this case the observer doesn’t enter
within them, they are external. They are usually a rather simply defined physical object:
building, sign, store, or mountain.

19. 5 . L A N D M A R K S
A physical element with unique
and special visual features that
has a “ point – specific “ location
and can be identified from the
distance.
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20. C O N C L U S I O N & W H A T
P U R P O S E I T
S E R V E D
• Preventing feeling lost.
• Helping make the city feel like “ home “.
• So it’s important to understand how people think and form their mental impression about
the city and the common themes they share to help designers to design urban.