We are the map.
We have all used MapQuest to give us a map or directions to a location. While MapQuest provides a good service, it really does not give us a true map of the journey. Only we can map out our path. Each of us sees and experiences a different path to a destination. In Walking in the City, it says that we can either be the observer or the participant of the City. The City is nothing without the people. We relate our walk to speech. Each step is a word. Each turn is a sentence. The walk is the story. Each of us puts our experiences together to create each chapter of the book or each piece of the story.
I relate to the idea that walking involves the experience of passing by or taking our time to see things that other people might never see. You can either be a planner or a walker. The walkers are the ones who really make the city come to life. Walkers take the time to experience the City.
However we really do need some type of plan for the map. In the Image of the City, it says, “complete chaos without a hint of connection is never pleasurable.” I do believe this is true. We seek the excitement of going without a plan or not knowing each step but really do want to know the ending. We need direction. We use all our senses when we are connected to the walk, although we do not often take the time to use them. If we are really on a walk for the reasons of exploring, is it more a physical or mental activity? I believe mental. As Kevin Lynch would say, it is a “mental map.”
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| My mental map of central chicago. |
In the Kevin Lynch reading, The Image of the City, he states, “every citizen has had long associations with part of the city, and his image is soaked in memories and meanings.” Our associations with physical elements in our environment help us identify the path. But I think we have an own associations and they are exclusively ours. In Chicago, there is the Sears (Willis) Tower or Soldier Field. These landmarks have a common meaning for many Chicagoans. But it really is the personal landmarks that mark our path. For example: I have particular places I like to go to think or hang out with my friends. These places are important to me but probably not to anyone else. They are on my mental map. They are places that mark the path for me.
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| People often use The Sears or Willis tower as mental map landmark |
Lynch divides the city into paths (the route I walk to school), landmarks (Buckingham Fountain, Wrigley Field), edges (Lake Michigan), nodes (Union Station), and districts (Lincoln Park, Boystown, and the Loop). We use these as basic elements to develop a mental map of the path.
Of the two readings, I preferred the Image of the City. I found it easier to read and understand. While Walking in the City is very visual, it was hard to follow a consistent idea throughout the reading. I related more to Image of the City.
