Extending Kevin Lynch’s concept of imageability in third space reading; case study of Kampungs, Surabaya–Indonesia

Abstract

The aim of this article is to extend Kevin Lynch's theory in the 'Image of the City' (1960) by adding 'meaning' to the urban spaces observation because Lynch focused on the legibility factor only. The 'meaning' observation in this article is through the reading of space as 'third space' creation given by Lefebvre, Soja and Bhabha. The understanding of 'third space' (include the first-second spaces) gives a deeper understanding of the urban areas especially for urban areas that bear specific social condition of cultural hybridization. The understanding does not only read the physical layer, but also cultural and historical layers. This article is based on a study in kampungs (urban village) in Surabaya, Indonesia, with specific respondents of young adults aged 20-25 years old. This study shows that by adding 'meaning' to the urban elements identification of Lynch's especially in the view of third space reading, the result shows that elements related to the social construction within the place is the most crucial elements rather than elements with strong in legibility.

Explorations of Young People’s Sense of Place Using Urban Design Qualities in Surabaya, Indonesia

“…In local neighbourhoods, people perceived the built environment from its transparency related to the degree of perception to human activity, [60]. Looking at kampungs in Surabaya, it was shown that the social life or activity observation was more dominant than the imageability [61]. Kampungs, which serve as the hub for both social life as well as trade and economic activities, are lively and visually complex.…”

“…As mentioned in the previous study, people's engagement in activities can strengthen the sense of place [30]. In addition, activity and social life observation were the most prominent in the kampungs and Indonesian streets [59][60][61]. waste heap should be covered by vertical elements to manipulate or hide the view.…”

“…As mentioned in the previous study, people's engagement in activities can strengthen the sense of place [30]. In addition, activity and social life observation were the most prominent in the kampungs and Indonesian streets [59][60][61]. In terms of the sense of comfort and safety, pedestrian infrastructure, including the sidewalk and surrounding environment, must be well considered.…”

City at The Eyelevel The Visual Perception of The Plinth Case Study: Al-Moudiria St., Tanta, Egypt

“…All the users need to sense a good relationship and strong belonging to a space and the whole city, that is considered as a challenge nowadays which doesn't appear in the past because of the unique identities of old cities which retained to their significant culture, architecture, social, aesthetics and technology that achieved a distinguished sense of place [33]. Since creating a sense of place is the main goal of urban design, many studies dealt with, Lynch mentioned that the sense of place is depending on the physical properties and the sensory ones beside the function or the uses, making a relationship and good feeling of the place spirit [8,22]. While Relph argued that when designers ignored the meanings of places meanings to people's minds, they destroyed veritable places to inauthentic ones [35].…”

City of Kampung: risk and resilience in the urban communities of Surabaya, Indonesia

“…This paper employs a place-based approach to understand urban settlement and suggests six types of kampung in Surabaya based on locations and characteristics: inner city kampung , old town kampung , city fringe kampung , coastal kampung , riverbank kampung and railway kampung (Figure 2). David Canter, The Psychology of Place (1977 in Damayanti, 2015), explained the place-based approach as a method of understanding a place based on the analysis of physical environment, people’s behaviour and people’s conceptions. The rationale of using this approach is first that “place” is a powerful social concept that can be used to inform the study of natural resource politics (Cheng et al , 2003).…”