ABSTRACT
This chapter presents Kevin Lynch's best-known concepts on how people perceive cities. The contents of the city images which are referable to physical forms, can conveniently be classified into five types of elements: paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. Paths were the predominant city elements, although their importance varied according to the degree of familiarity with the city. Edges are the linear elements: they are usually the boundaries between two kinds of areas. In Jersey City, the waterfront was also a strong edge, but a rather forbidding one. The districts were the basic elements of the city image. Major railroad stations are almost always important city nodes, although their importance may be declining. The junction, or place of a break in transportation, has compelling importance for the city observer. The number of local elements that become landmarks appears to depend as much upon how familiar the observer is with his surroundings as upon the elements themselves.
