What does the city's form actually mean to the people who live there? What can the city planner do to make the city's image more vivid and memorable to the city dweller? To answer these questions, Mr. Lynch, supported by studies of Los Angeles, Boston, and Jersey City, formulates a new criterion--imageability--and shows its potential value as a guide for the building and rebuilding of cities.The wide scope of this study leads to an original and vital method for the evaluation of city form. The architect, the planner, and certainly the city dweller will all want to read this book.
 |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Save up to 70% when you rent your textbooks on Amazon. Keep your textbook rentals for a semester and rental return shipping is free. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
"...a readable, tautly organized, authoritative volume..." Architectural Forum
"This small and readable book makes one of the most important modern contributions to large-scale design theory. David A. Crane Journal of the American Institute of Planners
About the Author
Kevin Lynch (1918-1984) studied with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin and later obtained a Bachelor of City Planning degree from MIT. After a long and distinguished career on the faculty of the MIT School of Architecture and Urban Planning, he was named Professor Emeritus of City Planning.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
101 of 104 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book describes mental maps obtained from residents in several cities such as Boston, Los Angeles and Jersey City. The mental maps were materialized on paper through an interview process and combined with maps from many individuals. And the results are surprising. Each map is a composite image of the city (and hence, the book's title) that reveals not only the character of the place, but gives you a feeling for it. In Boston for example, the streets are very disorganized, so people give directions by using landmarks almost exclusively. On the other hand, in Jersey City, with extremely uniform architecture, directions are given by street number and points of the compass. An unusual discovery concerns very long streets in Boston. They appear on the map with missing sections - these sections are totally invisible to the people interviewed. In many cases individuals were unaware that Washington street in one neighborhood is a continuation of Washington Street in another neighborhood. These blind spots affect how people move around, it affects the directions they give to others and it contributes or reinforces fears they may have about certain neighborhoods. The book moves from these maps and observations and tries to develop rules of thumb for urban design. People feel more comfortable and perhaps more anchored if they know where they are in space and in relation to visible landmarks. Some cities provide this comfort level more effectively than others - this book tries to find root causes. It's no wonder this is a classic.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Given that this book was written in the 1950's, it is still relevent to current urban design thinking. It must have been very innovative in the 1950's.
Once the reader gets past the unusual layout of the book and the out of date language, there are many useful urban design concepts to be found in this little book.
Pathways, boundaries, disconnects and nodes are all discussed from varying points of view, using notable USA cities as examples.
One point of relevance is the statement that there is not one city in the USA that could be considered a great example of urban design (as stated in the 1950's). As an Australian, I could say the same of Australian cities. The Australian cities of Sydney and Brisbane are terrible examples of urban sprawl. The north-south spread of Greater Sydney now covers almost 200 kilometres.
The principles stated in this book are still relevant to urban designers today.
Once the reader gets past the unusual layout of the book and the out of date language, there are many useful urban design concepts to be found in this little book.
Pathways, boundaries, disconnects and nodes are all discussed from varying points of view, using notable USA cities as examples.
One point of relevance is the statement that there is not one city in the USA that could be considered a great example of urban design (as stated in the 1950's). As an Australian, I could say the same of Australian cities. The Australian cities of Sydney and Brisbane are terrible examples of urban sprawl. The north-south spread of Greater Sydney now covers almost 200 kilometres.
The principles stated in this book are still relevant to urban designers today.
28 of 31 people found the following review helpful
By Mert Cubukcu
Format:Paperback
The urban setting is a composition of nodes, landmarks, paths, edges and districts, accorsing to Lynch. This physical summary of urban landscape may not be satisfactory for some. However, for others, including me, this book is a great help in forming a design perspective at the city level. It does not matter at all if you have just started forming your perspective or working on the final details. The book should be in your library, and the design guidelines should be in your mind, not only when designing a peace of urban space, but also when you are just wondering around.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Only purchased because it was highly recommended by NCARB . . .
however, I did not find this book to be helpful at all. I had to put it down immediately.
It is a difficult book to get through. Read more
It is a difficult book to get through. Read more
Published 1 day ago by huerita
5.0 out of 5 stars
Please understand: THIS IS A CLASSIC
I can't believe many customers / readers rate: 3 stars because "it is outdated". We shouldn't even consider to update this masterpiece, they may also want to add some notes to... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Martin Murillo
4.0 out of 5 stars
Really interesting book
Lynch's methodology is really fascinating- he was basically the pioneer of mental mapping and this research method shows up quite well in his piece. Read more
Published 7 months ago by kate n.
4.0 out of 5 stars
the legible city
The Image of the City is © 1960 from the Harvard-MIT Joint Center for Urban Studies.
The Legible City--a city you can read! Read more
The Legible City--a city you can read! Read more
Published 12 months ago by Leah Chang
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent!
A historical masterpiece in the fields of Urban Planning and urban studies. You shouldn't miss this book if you want set foot on this field.
Published 18 months ago by Mingyu
3.0 out of 5 stars
I Wish I liked it More
I really did. I had high hopes for this one. My lack of enthusiasm may have spawned from the fact that I read "Death and Life of Great American Cities" first. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Henry De la Cruz
4.0 out of 5 stars
The life in a modern city.
Lynch talks about the life in the cities of the modernity, as they are really utilized by the persons. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Edoardo Angeloni
3.0 out of 5 stars
Inciteful
Great book full of information but a little too old as far as planning ideologies but still great book to read.
Published on August 11, 2010 by Darnell
4.0 out of 5 stars
Oldie but Goodie
I'm about a quarter of the way through this book now and it's a very interesting read. Though by now it's a bit dated (published in 1960), and it's not as well-known as Jacobs'... Read more
Published on July 13, 2010 by Kirktronic
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Urban Design Book.
My teacher suggested that we buy this book while I was in an Urban Planning class and I am very happy I listened to him. Read more
Published on June 16, 2010 by Brandon P. Deneault
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
