Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment Abd Elbaseer A. Mohamed, CUAS

Outline Overview Method and Findings - 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

The visual form of Boston as seen in the field. Urban Legibility 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. The visual form of Boston as seen in the field. (Lynch, 1960) Legibility: “…the ease with which a city's parts can be recognized and organized into a coherent pattern” Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

Intelligibility 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). Figure 3.12.a. Intelligible spatial layout (source: Kim Y O, 1999) Figure 3.12.b. Unintelligible spatial layout (source: Kim Y O, 1999) Intelligible spatial layout (Kim Y O, 1999) Unintelligible spatial layout (Kim Y O, 1999) Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

Related Works in Legibility and Intelligibility [Dalton and Bafna, 2003] [kim and Penn, 2004] [Long and Baran, 2006] [Turner, 2007] Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

Case Studies Cairo CBD Maadi H eliopolis Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

Maadi Cairo CBD Heliopolis Criterion It was built in English countryside cottage style. Its unique villas reflects its distinct character. 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 has a unique character of Islamic look in facades that were ornamented by arcades. Character It has a 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 western urban layout presented in radical urban fabric with rigid grid pattern Urban fabric 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. 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 mostly with cosmopolitans and native aristocratic Egyptians. Social aspects % Counts Area 30 21 Heliopolis 81 57 Maadi 48 34 Cairo CBD Results of a questionnaire distributed amongst 70 subjects. They were asked at what area they had most difficulties in wayfinding.

Kevin Lynch’s mapping methods Mapping Case Studies according to Lynchian Method Measuring Urban Legibility Kevin Lynch’s mapping methods Field Reconnaissance Interviews and questionnaires physical form map Mental 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 Heliopolis Maadi Cairo CBD Design element Low Moderate Path High Edge Landmark Node District 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 Space Syntax Technique Cairo CBD Global & Local Integration Values Global Integration Integration R-3 Connectivity 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 Maadi Global & Local Integration Values Global Integration Integration R-3 Connectivity Evaluating Wayfinding Ability Within Urban Environment SSS8 2012

Mapping Case Studies according to Space Syntax Technique Maadi 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 Heliopolis Global & Local Integration Values Global Integration Integration R-3 Connectivity 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

Synergy scattergram, Cairo CBD Intelligibility scattergram, Cairo CBD Synergy scattergram, Maadi Intelligibility scattergram, Maadi Synergy scattergram, Heliopolis Intelligibility 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

THANK YOU Special Thanks to DAAD and CNRD