ABSTRACT
Interest is when something not only draws our attention but generates a desire in us to engage with that thing, event, or situation. In the urban environment, interest starts with the awareness of an individual to the presence of events and physical elements that surround them. This might be through an area prioritised by an ordering principle, such as the point where two axes cross or the centre of a circle. Interest can also be generated by mystery as found in degrees of complexity, difference, and legibility. Mystery generates interest through the possibility of unexpected or new experiences or implying future satisfaction by resolving incomplete information. In an urban environment, this can be achieved through combining an easily sensible location with intentional gaps in information or forms that are suggested by other elements but are not immediately perceivable. Interest in urban design is situational and focused around a particular situation, condition, or subject.
