identity - identification

Ingrid Järnefelt

w h i c h is defined b o t h by u n i q u e and c o m m o n features

Kevin Lynch is one of the most respected planning theorists in the world. i n the e n v i r o n m e n t . Relph also suggested that emotional
His theories are compulsory reading in architectural and planning schools attachment to the physical environment can be subdivided
and he is quoted by both academics and practitioners. i n t o several types o f i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h the environment
However, building areas classified as good according to his criterions i n question, thus influencing the identity o f the place.
for good environmental form have been heavily critizised which leads one Both Lynch's and Relph's theories about identity, people
to question the validity of his theory and its actual usefulness. and physical environment concern the inter-relation between
Edward Relph - although a critic of Lynch - is virtually unknown people and the b u i l t e n v i r o n m e n t , b u t there ate cettain

to planners and architects. He is advocating a more complex analysis

differences. L y n c h is more n o r m a t i v e i n that alteady i n
The Image of the City he wants to tell us how the physical
which includes a significant human element. In this article I will explore
environment should be ordered. He weaves his conclusions
1

some parts of their theories and consider merging some of Relph's

from The Image of the Cityinto his normative, general theory
aspects in Lynch's theory to create a synthesis.
i n Good City Porm (1981). Relph's approach i n Place and
placelessness o n the contrary, is reflection and questioning.
However, I have choosen n o t to consider these differences
further here.
n The Image of the City (i960) Lynch introduced a
Another difference is that Lynch is looking for the "public
concept o f identity based on the unique "qualities" o f
image" o f the city. I n Good City Form Lynch says that
2

the physical environment. These qualities can, accor-

ding to Lynch, be traced i n peoples images o f the physical the sense of a particular place will vary for different observers...
environment. Taking issue w i t h Lynch, Relph tesponded nevertheless, there are some significant and fundamental
in Place and Placelessness (1976) w i t h a more complex concept constancies in the experience of the same place by different
o f identity, based on the n o t i o n that a place has an i d e n t i t y people. 3

13
 Relph, in turn, questions this general picture by pointing tecture. More could be said about Lynch's influence but I
out that images o f different groups of individuals might do not intend to consider this further here.
contradict each other. This I will return to later. In the above mentioned Lynch-based Swedish study from
Both Lynch and Relph assume their respective works 1965, one of the housing area is described as good urban
can shed light on the understanding of places and identity, 4
form, that's to say in complete accordance with Lynch's listed
but as far as I can understand Lynch's ideas and understan- demands. Since built environments from this period have
ding have been considered to be useful in many situations, been much criticised (something I prefer not to discuss here,
while Relph's ideas are more rarely referred to. While not alrhough there is a resent shift in this attitude), Lynch should
claiming to give a complete picture, I will illustrate this with not be used as an example again without some reflection.
a few examples. Instead Relph's criticism should be seriously discussed in
Relph's literary work is made up of three volumes while relation to Lynch's theories.
5
Lynch has written some ten books. Apart from his consi- Thus there is a two-stepped point of departure for dis-
derable literary production, Lynch has also been a inspira- cussing Relph and Lynch: Firstly, Lynch has had more influ-
tion to town planners and planning analysts. Some examples ence, while Relph, who might be considered a critic of Lynch's
can be found in Northern Europe. In Germany, Michael ideas, is not referred as frequently neither in practical or theo-
Trieb has developed Lynch's ideas both in theory and in rerical town planning. Secondly, environments, built in a way
practice, in connection with the conservation of older, rare that it apparently can be classified as fulfilling Lynch's
6
urban environments. In Denmark, at the School of Archi- criterions for "good city form", has been heavily critizised.
tecture of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, the work Hence the purpose of this article is to show that Lynch's
of Trieb has in turn been developed, rhis time with less pre- notions of identity from i 9 6 0 as well as his theory about the
cious built environments in mind. In addition, the Urban Good City Form from 1981, need to be and can be developed
Planning Department of the Municipality of Copenhagen from a theoretical point of view. I also want to evince that
has used Lynch's notations as a starting point for a number such a development might be possible with the help of
of analyses of the urban environment. 8
Relph's theory. I therefore consider Lynch's conclusions in
In Sweden, Lynch was popular during the sixties and The Image of the City as a thesis. Relph's statement is in
seventies and has recently returned to vogue. In 1965 t w o contraposition to this, and consequentely it is considered
then newly built suburban areas in the Stockholm region, to be the antithesis. Then I return to Lynch's "answer" in
were analyzed in a critical study based on Lynch's ideas. ' 1
Good City Form, which can not be seen as a synthesis, but
And according to the Swedish researcher U l f Sandstrom the more of a repetition of the original thesis. In order to achieve
regional planning in Stockholm at the end of the sixties was a synthesis, I dissect Lynch's and Relph's theories with the
10
based on Lynch's ideas. The Image of the City was at the purpose of freeing valuable fragments which can be used in
time compulsory reading at the Royal Institute of Techno- a new pattern. This new pattern, the synthesis, is presented
16

logy in Stockholm." At the Chalmers Institute of Techno- as a hypothesis at the end of this article. The article ends
logy in Gothenburg, a technique for annotating spatial with a proposition for a development of one part of the
experience, based on Lynch, was developed in the seventies. 12 theory of Good City Form.
In 1991 Lynchs theories were said to be "very useful in prac-
13
tical traffic planning" and Lynch was used as a source of Lynch's motive for legibility
inspiration (although w i t h o u t reference) in t h e visionary In The Image of the City Kevin Lynch discusses "the appa-
planning 1 9 9 4 - 9 5 for t h e City of Malmo. In a preparitory
14
rent clarity or 'legibility' of the cityscape" as an aspect of the
document for t h e Comprehensive Development plan by visual quality of American cities. "With the book, Lynch
the Municipality of Lund, an analysis was used indirectly wanted to "assert that legibility is crucial in the city setting"
1
inspired by Lynch (again here without reference). In a 15
and attemped to "analyze it (legibility) in some detail..." "
similar fashion Lynch is included in the teaching at all the According to Lynch legibility is important for our "image
Swedish schools of Archirecture and Landscape Archi- of the ciry". The image in turn is the "strategic link" for our

14 Nordisk Arkitekturforskning 1999:3

 orientation i n time, space and culture. We use i t "to inter- This is a statement w h i c h leads the author to consider
pret i n f o r m a t i o n and to guide a c t i o n . " 18
the over explicit elements o f Post-Modetn architecture deve-
The image also w o r k as a starting p o i n t for development loped later. B u t i t is i m p o r t a n t also t o stress that Lynch
o f the individual's personal understanding o f the surroun- himself d i d n o t advocate a superficial clarity.
dings. Lynch says
Lynch: the components of the image
A good environmental image gives its possessor an impor-
O n the base o f pilot studies i n three American cities Lynch21

tant sense of emotional security. He can establish an harmo-

developed the idea o f "imageability". As a result he defined
nious relationship between himself and the outside wotld.
five, n o w classic, m a i n components i n The Image of the City:
This is the obverse o f the fear that comes with disorienta-
paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmarks.
tion; it means that the sweet sense of home is strongest when
Lynch also considered the division i n t o categories as the
home is not only familiar but distinctive as well. 19

beginning o f an analysis o f the image. I n his o w n words this

has t o be followed by "their reintegration i n t o the whole
Lynch's analysis of legibility
image." This inter-relationship between the physical objects
26

Lynch links the clatity o f the physical environment to the

he called the "structure". But he complains that his investi-
n o t i o n o f identity i n the following way:
gations d i d not provide h i m w i t h enough material for t h i s . 27

A workable image requires first the identification of an object, Finally he also attempted to show h o w his ideas could be
which implies its distinction from other things, its recogni- used i n the rebuilding and planning o f the cities, referring
tion as a separable entity. This is called identity, not the sense critically as I understand, to the situation i n the American
of equality with something else, but w i t h the meaning of cities o f the forties and fifties. I w i l l not explore this further
individuality or oneness. 20
here, but I w i l l get back to certain parts o f this w o r k later i n
the article.
Herein he stresses the uniqueness o f the object. Lynch also
claims that a telationship between the observer and the
Relph's notion of identity
object is required, as well as relation between the surroun-
and the ways of identifying with the environment
ding objects. These relationships he terms "structure".
While Lynch explicitly avoided "meaning" i n his early investi-
I n addition Lynch demands that the object has "meaning"
gations, Relph on the other hand stressed that
for the observer, but the meaning is i n Lynch's o w n words
"glossed over" i n The Image of the City. 21
Instead he says that What is required is an approach and attendant set of con-
"we may even be wise to concentrate on the physical clarity cepts that respond to the unity of'place, person, and act' and
o f the image..." 22
stress the links father than the division between specific and
Lynch is l o o k i n g for physical characteristics w h i c h relate general features of places. 28

to identity and structure i n the image; "...that quality i n a

H e puts this statement i n opposition to Lynch's definition
physical object w h i c h gives it a high probability o f evoking
o f identity i n the physical environment as the unique aspects
strong image i n any given observer", a quality w h i c h he
23

and says that Lynch's definiton "tells us only that each place
calls imageability, legibility or visibility. A t this p o i n t I t h i n k
has a unique address, that it is identifiable." Relph also claims
29

it is safe to state that Lynch has high demands on generality

that
and conformity to scientific law.
H e continues that as a consequence ...it is not just the identity of a. place that is important, but
also the identity that a petson or group has with that place, in
a highly imageable (apparent, legible, o t visible) city in this
particular whether they ate expetiencing it as an insider or as
peculiar sense would seem well formed, distinct, remarkable;
an outsider." 1

it would invite the eye and the ear to greater attention and
participation. 24
Starting w i t h the difference between inside and outside, and
w i t h the help o f an analogy from a study o f how cultural

Jarnefelt: identity - identification 15

anthropologists are assimilated into their empiri, Relph According to Relph the different identification perspectives
formulates a theory saying that there are three direct and affect the individual image of a given place in the following
immediate and four less immediare "modes" of experien- ways: for the "behavioural insider", rhe place is ambienr
cing or identifying with the physical environment." environment, whose landscape or townscape are the nucleus
The three direct perspectives are behavioural insideness, in public or common consensus knowledge of a place. The
empathetic insideness (which includes emotional and physical "empathetic insiders" are familar with a place through "soci-
participation in a place), and finally existential insideness or ality in community". The place is a document which expresses
complete and unselfconscious commitment to a place. the cultural values and experiences of those who created or
The four less immediate perspectives are: vicarious inside- live in that place. For the "existential insider", who has an
ness, which is the experience of a place from novels and other individual perspective and lives in "sociality in communion",
media, the incidental outsideness where the place is reduced places are living and dynamic. They express familiar mean-
to background for other activities e.g., objective outsideness ing and are experienced without reflection.
which includes the separarion of person and place, and in In the "vicarious insideness" the place has an identity,
which places are treated as ideas and locations, and at last which might be explained in two main ways. One is the
existential outsidenesswhich includes a deep alienation from public image, the other is an artificial mass identity. This
all places. consensus identity is peripheral to direct experience/percep-
Together with emotional commitment, Relph also intro- tion and is communicated in ready-made form by the mass
duces self-conciousness/deliberate attention and unselfcon- media. Mass idenity is artificial and can be changed and mani-
ciousness as important factors. The choice of terms can be pulated. It mixes with and changes individual experiences
discussed, but I have chosen Relph's own terms for descri- and is influential as it gives the identity of a place new
bing the different states of mind. For the person physically symbolic values.
present, the behavioural insider, "deliberate attending" to In "incidental outsideness" it is the functions of a place
the physical environment is of primary importance. The which are of importance and the identity of the place is
difference between physical and emotional insideness Relph reduced to little more than a background to the chosen
describes as functions. In "objective outsideness" the place is reduced
either to the dimension of loacation or to a space with loca-
...a fading from the concern with the qualities of appearance
lised objects and activities. In "existential outsideness" finally,
to emotional and empathetic involvement in a place.
commitment for the place has been lost and cannot be
He claims that emotional insideness requires "...some deli- regained. Places are experienced as incidental "for existence
33
berate effort of perception." The existential insideness implies itself is incidental."
that As additional complications Relph says that the different
types of identity are dynamic and constantly changing in
...a place is experienced without deliberate and selfconscious
interaction with the appearance of the place and the activi-
reflection yet is full with significances.
ties, with our observations and our preconceptions. He also
Conciousness of a place through vicarious insideness is under- points out that they are "not discrete", and that apart of
lined by similarities with the selfconciousness of places that "existential outsideness" they do not exclude each other.
we already are familiar with. The objective outsideness is a On the contrary he claims that we can carry several modes
"deliberate adoption" of an attidude where places are decribed at the same time. As an example he takes the emotional
as geographical points with different physical attributes, attachment to ones home town:
while the incidental outsideness is described as "...a largely
we may know our home town as dynamic and full of meaning,
unselfconscious attitude..." to the physical environment.
yet be quite capable of also viewing it as professional planners
Finally the existential outsider is not only "aware of" meaning
or geographers from the perspective of objective outsideness,
in rhe physical environment, but is also "self-conscious and
32
and also participate in its mass identity.
reflective" in his alienation from a particular environment.

16 Nordisk Arkitekturforskning 1999:3

 Relph stresses that " T h e identity o f place is not a simple tag petsons and cultures. Ideally, the dimensions should also
that can be summarised and presented i n a brief factual include all the qualities which any people value in a physical
description." and he states that a place can not be said to place. (Of course, this last is an unbearably severe criterion.) 36

have a "a real or true identity" connected to i.e. "existential

Here Lynch safeguards himself, first stating a highly general
insideness". B u t he notes one t h i n g that gives reason to
validity and then immediately w i t h d r a w i n g .
question his firm denial o f "descreteness". He says that
H e then singles out five fundamental dimensions i n the
Indeed an outsider can in some senses see more of a place good city: vitality, sense,fit,access and control, as well as two
than an insider - just as an observer of argument gains a per- metacriteria: efficiency una justice. He describes the meta-
spective not available to those arguing, even though he misses criterias as "repetitive subdimensions o f each o f the five
the intensity of beeing involved in that argument. 34
(dimensions)". H e is also careful to p o i n t out that these
dimensions are groups o f qualities/characteristics, rather
Relph is thus critical to Lynch's narrow definition o f identity.
than one-dimensional criterias. 37

Fitstly he reminds the reader o f the characteristics o f the

different objects i n the physical environment w h i c h both Vitality measures
connect and divide those objects. Secondly he stresses that
the degree to which the form of the settlement supports the
there are far more complicated mechanisms w h i c h affect
vital functions, the biological requirements and capabilities
identity, t h a n the visual perception w h i c h L y n c h draws
of human beings.
attention to. This is where emotional involvement to and
conciousness o f the physical environment belongs. Relph Sense, which is the dimension that I will examine more closely
puts this directly i n contradiction to Lynch's statement that here, measures
identity i n the physical environment is based on clarity and the degree to which the settlement can be clearly percieved
uniqueness. Relph's formulation o f the types of identification and mentally differentiated and structured in time and space
w i t h the environment can therefore be considered as an anti- by its residents and the degree to which that mental strucrure
thesis to Lynch's theory. connects with their values and concepts.

Fit is
Lynch's normative theory about good city form
In Good City Form Kevin Lynch formulates a normative theory the degree to which the form and capacity of spaces, channels,
which elaborates the qualities o f good urban form. As a point and equipment in a settlement match the pattern and quantity
o f departure he suggests that "good" cities can be measured of actions that people customarily engage in, or want to engage
w i t h the help o f in...

performance dimensions, that is, certain identifiable characteris- Access measures

tics of the performance of cities which are due primarily to their the ability to reach other persons, acrivities, resources, servicies,
spacial qualities and which are measurable scales, along which information, or places, including the quantity and diversity
different groups will prefer to achieve different positions. 31

of the elements which can be reached.

Hete one m i g h t concur that Lynch has taken Relph's c r i t i - T h e fifth dimension, control, measures
cism ad notam i n saying that different groups o f people can
the degree to which the use and access to spaces and activities,
group themselves i n different places along his scales. He says
and their creation, tepair, modification, and management ate
however nothing about how these groupings might be made.
controlled by those who use, wotk, ot reside in them.
Instead he continues w i t h
T h e metacriteria efficiency is
It should then be possible to analyze any city fotm or pro-
posal, and to indicate its location on the dimension, whether the cost, in terms of othet valued things, of creating and main-
by a number or just by 'more or less'. To be general, the taining the settlement, for any given level of attainment of
dimensions should be important qualities for most, i f not all, the environmental dimensions listed above.

Jarnefelt: identity - identification 17

Justice things on "the current purpose of the observer", but again he
claims high generality: "there are some significant and fun-
balances the gains among persons, while efficiency balances
damental constancies...", just as he does when he continues:
the gains among different values.
These constancies arise from the common biological basis of
In the descriptions of the validity of these dimensions the
our perception and cognition, certain common experiences
reader can see that Lynch's generalisations vary between
of the real world (gravity, inertia, shelter, fire, and sharpness,
"human beings" in general for vitality, while sense and fit are
to name a few) and the common cultural norms that may be
limited to "residents" and respectively "actions that people
found among those who habitually use any particular place.
customarily engage in". Access measures the "ability" (again
in general), while finally control includes "those who use" Here Lynch contradicts himself when he immediately limits
without restriction, as those who "work, or reside". Meta- himself to a few o f Relphs' identity perspectives; Relph
criteria are valid for "persons" and "values" with restriction. makes a distinction, as noted above, between those who can
The varying levels can be compared wirh those of Lynch's be considered as more regular users of a place (the partici-
listed restrictions for "useful" performance dimensions. pants and the committed) and incidental or second hand
Requirement no. 7 states "The characteristics should be at visitors.
38
the same level of generality". The question is shouldn't one
demand that the applicability then also should have the same Identity
level? With the dimension sense Lynch returns to his conception
of identity from i 9 6 0 , now somewhat adjusted. He says that
Sense
The simplest form of sense is identity, in the narrow meaning
Lynch defines the dimension sense as
of that common term: 'a sense of place'. Identity is the extent
the clarity with which it (a settlement) can be perceived and to which a petson can recognize or recall a place as being distinct
identified, and the ease with which its elements can be linked from other places - as having a vivid, or unique, or at least a
40
with other events and places in a coherent mental represen- particular, character of its own.
tation of time and space and that representation can be con-
39
Later he continues that
nected with nonspatial concepts and values.
most people have had the experience of beeing in a very special
He continues:
place, and they price it and lament their common lack. There
This is the join berween the form of the environment and is a sheer delight in sensing the world: the play of light, the
the human processes of perception and cognition. Too often feel and smell of the wind, touches, sounds, colours, forms.
ill-defined and so passed over with a few pious regrets, this A good place is accessible to all the senses, makes visible the
quality lies at the root of personal feelings about cities. It currents of the air, engages the perceptions of its inhabitants.
cannot be analyzed except as an interaction between person The direct enjoyment of vivid perception is further enlarged
and place. Perception is a creative act, not a passive reception. because sensible, identifiable places are convenient pegs on
Sense depends on spatial form and quality, but also on the which to hang personal memories, feelings, and values. Place
culture, temperament, status, experience, and current purpose identity is closely linked to personal identity. ' I am here'
of the observer. Thus the sense of a particular place will vary supports ' I am'.
for different observers, just as the ability of a particular person
Lynch also has a line which one might understand as being
to percieve form varies for different people. Nevertheless, there
aimed directly at Relph, whose name is referred to in the mar-
are some significant and fundamental constancies in the expe-
gin beside the following text: "Intense familiarity" says Lynch
rience of the same place by different people.
will create a sense of place, just as will special form. One's
Here we should pause for a moment and consider what Lynch
home or one's childhood landscape are usually very identifi-
is saying. He admits that "sense" depends on among other

18 Nordisk Arkitekturforskning 1999:3

 able settings. When fotm and familiarity work together, the T h e consequence o f the formulation o f the theory is that
emotional result is powerful: ' I am the citizen o f no mean either the theory is valid only for inhabitants and workers
city.' Tourism is based on a superficial exploitation of this same w h o have a long relation to their place o f w o r k (not family
sense o f place. N o t many o f us, however, experience that visitors, new residents, the newly employed or salesmen
abiding pleasure (and occasional irritation, but at least heigh- temporarily visiting a city), or the theory must be modified
tened sensibility) of daily life in a disrinctive environment - to allow different perspectives to be explained w i t h i n it's frame.
a Venice, a mountain intervale, an island town. T h e former implies that cities are o n l y there for their
inhabitants and regular users, w h i c h the author has some
Here it is not clear though i f Lynch actually has lived i n Venice
difficulty i n accepting. A n d the theory cannot be generally
or investigated the image o f the Venetians, or i f he is refer-
valid for the good city for everyone, as has been demonstrated
ring ro pleasant turist experiences from places alike.
above that i t claims i n its present form.

Lynch and Relph A modification o f the generality o f the theory, seems more
interesting for two reasons. Firstly that the city then is con-
As far as the author can understand, i n the above Lynch admits
sidered as a meeting place for inhabitants and strangers. This
that Relph may have a p o i n t w i t h his criticism. But despite
means that all o f Relphs' modes o f identification kan be
this the text do not demonstrate a more complete synthesis,
included. Even the vicarious insideness (identity mediated
only a slight adjustment o f Lynch's theories towards those
i.e. i n guides for the visitor) can be considered here.
o f Relph. This is strange, because apart from the reserva-
Secondly because Lynch himself sorts his interviewees into
tions made above, even more o f Lynch's o w n data and com-
sub-gioups similar to Relph's identification modes. This is
ments actually point to Relph.
found where he describes and comments u p o n his studies.
Lynch's interviewees i n the pilot studies were selected i n
The subgropus are connected w i t h different parts and levels
a such way that they can be compared to Relph's later defined
o f the physical environment. T h e extremely familiar people
identification groups, at least w i t h respect t o familiarity.
i n the quotation above i.e. had difficulties i n seeing districts
Lynch's selection criteria say however n o t h i n g about the
i n the city. Instead they were aware o f small differences i n
emotional involvement ( c o m m i t m e n t ) to the the environ-
parts throughout the city. I n the same place Lynch also con-
ment i n question, nothing about identification w i t h the place.
cludes that increasing "aquaintance w i t h the city" affects the
T h e persons that wete intetviewed i n the first studies "were
"recognition o f distinct districts". According to h i m "people
long resident or employed i n the area" and they still were
most familiar w i t h Boston" could recognize districts, b u t
when the interviews t o o k place. T h e selection excludes all
41

when they organized their images and for orientation, they

incidental visitors, but includes for example a few people
had a tendency to "rely more heavily for organization and
which, i n Lynch's o w n words were "extremely familiar" w i t h orientation o n smaller elements". 43
T h e text offers more
the environment examined. I n Good City Form almost the
42

examples:
same d e f i n i t i o n is used. Lynch refers to
People with least knowledge o f Boston tended to think o f
...the common cultutal norms that may be found among
the city in terms of topogtaphy, large regions, generalized
those who habitually use any particulat place.
characteristics, and broad directional telationships.
The term habitually implies an exclusion o f all incidental
People w h o were more familiar w i t h the city
visitors, those who ate newcomers i n a certain environment as
well as the writers and attists who resides temporarily (but had usually masteted part o f the path sttucture: ...thought
sometimes a little longer) i n a place and communicate their more in terms of specific paths and theit interrelationships.
images from these places. O n the contrary, habitually includes
People w i t h best knowledge o f the city tended "to rely more
those turists as well as the artists and authors that tegularly and
upon small landmarks and less upon eithet regions or paths." 44

during many years returns as guests to the same place. But i n

Lynch describes i n another place how the image could depend
the expression the common cultural norms, a sliding towards
both o n the actual appearance i n the environment and the
Relphs criterion for the emotional engagement can be traced.

Jarnefelt: identity - identification

19
familiarity of the interviewed person. In this case "unfamiliar The left column shows Lynch's division of the interviewees
subjects usually mentioned only a few landmarks in office into subgroups of familiarity. They are listed with famili-
interviews" but when they were interviewed during a walk in arity increasing from top down. The terms used for the sub-
45
the same environment, they were able to "find many moore" . groups are Lynch's own words. The right column shows
Lynch is here introducing familiarity which also might Relph's types of identification. Here the different types are
be called intimacy. Synonomous with familiarity, he also uses also ordered with increasing degree of identification (but
"knowledge" and "acquaintance". Lynch's sub-groups clearly ending with termination of identification). Like as before
resemble Relph's different identification groups, but Lynch Relph's own terms are used. The column also shows Relph's
describes his subdivision almost exclusively in terms of how suggestion that persons with different degree of attachment
familiar or acquainted the interviewees are with the environ- also demonstrate differences in selfconsciousness and uncon-
ment examined. Lynch's clearly stated departing point was sciousness. Two of Relph's types fall completely outside the
to exclude "meaning", but in his definitions of paths, land- context of Lynch's: The "vicarious insidenes", which included
marks etc. he discusses social meaning and even mentions persons who never visited a certain place, is one of them.
outsideness: "Most of the Jersey City regions were class or Here it is considered as a potential precondition for at least
ethnic areas, discernible only with difficulty for the outsider."46 one visit to the place in question. Therefore it is included in
At another point he wrires on the subject of a district in Los the first row of the table. It coinsides parrly with the image
Angeles that the area "lacks any visual strenght or impact" of a certain place that architects and planners form when
but that it nevertheless was "recognizable by its population we study maps and descriptions when starting a new projecr.
and the lettering on its signs" even i f it besides this was The vicarious identity might also be the only image a person
"indistinguishable from rhe general matrix." 47 ever gets of a certain place, which for whatever reasons is
In Place andplacelessness it is unclear whether Relph has never visited. The other type of identification, "the existetial
noted or used Lynch's groupings when Relph's own identi- outsideness", might be considered as a possible alternarive
to the existential insideness. It is therefore placed at the bot-
fication modes were defined. But interesting enough, after
tom of the table.
Lynch's combination of physical elelments and his subdivi-
sion of people with different levels of familiarity, it is possible Finally, the middle column shows both Lynch's aspects of
to make a direct comparison between the physical elements the urban environment and the parts of the environment that
of Lynch and the identification perspectives of Relph. Relph is referring to. The content is ordered with each authors
description of the environment in the same row as their res-
Hypothetical model with physical elements pective degree of familiarity or identification with the environ-
and identification groups ment, Lynch's to the left and Relph's at the right. Two pheno-
Relph expressly warned against seeing identity as one single mena can be observed in this column: firstly, the increasing
true identity, tied to a specific perspective. He pointed out degree of complexity in the structur of the image; secondly the
that a person can even have several positions or modes of decreasing size of the landmarks. Lynch mentions this fixed
48

identification at the same time. But instead of this, and order in The Image of the City. His explanation is that peoples
instead of the very general validity of the theory of good dependence of different parrs of the environment changes with
city form, I suggest a synthesis of both. This will give a increasing familiarity. Instead this might be combined with
hypothetical dynamic model, osccilating between the dif- Relph's assumptions of selfconsciousness and unselfconscious-
ferenr perspectives. The synthesis is based on both Relph's ness. In such a way this fixed order can be connected to a shift
development of the different levels of assimilation into a of attention to or awareness of the environment; from promi-
culture, and Lynch's statement that increasing familiarity nent landmarks to smaller ones, from simple structures to the
with a certain environment influence the content of the more complex and detailed. Additionally I propose a wide-
ning/extension of Relph's suggestion that the emotional
image. The process emerges clearly when Lynch's subgrouping
insideness or commitment requires "... some deliberate effort
of the interviewed people are arranged rogerher with Relph's
of perception". The proposal is that all modes of identification
types of identification as shown in table x.

20 Nordisk Arkitekturforskning 1999:3

 Familiarity Lynch: The physical environment, To identify oneself with the physical enviironment
The Image of the City its structure and parts Relph: Place and Placelessness

Consensus dentity: 1 public or 2 mass identity. The public id Vicarious insideness, insider 1 conscious?,
comprises the more or less agreed on physical features and other insider 2 unconscious? (pp 52-53,58-59).
verifiable components of place (symbols, significances and values).
The mass id is provided ready-made by massmedia: glib and
contrived stereotypes (pp 58,61). The pictures of painters and poets,
travel accounts or motion pictures, depiction that correspond with
our own experiences of familiar places (pp 52-53).

Selected functions of a place, the identity is little more than that of a Incidental outsider, largely unselfconscious
background for the functions (p 50,52,61). attitude: researchers, businessmen attending
conferences and meetings, flight crew and truck
drivers (p 52).

Least knowledge of the environ- Topography, large regions, generalized characteristics, and broad
ment Unfamiliar, the novice directional relatlonchips (p 49). Use of distant landmarks, prominent
points visible from many positions in organizing the city and choice
of routes for trips (p 81). A few landmarks (p 83).

Concepts (p 50). Describable objective geography (p 51). Places are Objective outsider, deliberately dispassionate,
reduced either to the single dimension of location or to a space of selfconscious observer (p 51).
located objects (p 61).

Better knowledge of the city Part of the path structure, specific paths and their interrelationships
(p 49). Continuity (p 105).

Familiar observers A vast quantity of point Images in familiar sequences, although

recognition may break down when the sequence is reversed or
scrambled (p 83).

Patterns (especially visual), structures and content of the inside that Behavioural insider, deliberately attending to the
tells us that we are here and not there. Sourrounding walls, enclaves appearance of a place, the place is experienced
and enclosures, or other physically defined boundaries (p 53). (P 53).
Colour, texture, scale, style, and character (p 54). Ambient environ-
ment possessing qualities of landscape and townscape that consti-
tute a primary basis for public or consensus knowledge of that place
(P61).

Same as for the beh. i. but with fading from concern with the quali- Empathetic insider, some awareness of the
ties of appearance to emotional and empathetic involvement, deeper environment, to identify with a place, demands a
and richer identity (p 54). Places are records and expressions of the willingness to be open to significances of a place,
cultural values and experiences of those who live in them (p 61). deliberate effort of perception, Intimate
association (pp 54-55).

More familiar Rely increasingly on systems of landmarks for their guide - to enjoy
uniqueness and specialization Instead of the continuities used earlier
(p 78) Contrast and uniquness (p 105).

Best knowledge Rely on small landmarks and less on regions or paths (p 49). Recog-
Most familiar nize regions but rely more heavily for organization and orientation
on smallerelements(p67).

Extremely familiar Unable to generalize detailed perceptions into districts: conscious of

minor differences in all parts of the city, do not form regional groups
of elements (p 67).

Places are lived and dynamic, full with meaning (p 61). Existential insider, knowing and experiencing
without reflection (p 61).

Meaningless identity (p 51). Existential outsider,, profound alienation from all

places (p 50). Selfconscious and reflective
unlnvolvement (p 51). Lost and now unattainable
involvement (p 62).

Figure 1. Lynch's familiarity, Relph's modes of identification and physical elements as a connection between them.
requires deliberate effort in order to move rhe focus of used as a design tool for The Good City Form, which it aspired
conciousness "backward" and "sideways" in the process, if this to. Relph, a critic whose work is directly linked to Lynch's,
shift is not brought about by drastic circumstances such as considers human factors as well and a complexity lacking in
noise, light or obtrusive forms. Lynch. He is therefore a clear canditate for academic notion
Structured like this I suggest they show a hypotetical and of merging rhe two authors theories, in order to produce a
dynamic model for an individual and simultaneaous process more useful and reliable theory. As a consequence of the
of gradually growing familiarity with the physical environ- hypothetical model above, the theory of good city form
ment, increasing knowledge of the environment, a gradually would have to be developed. The development concerns
increasing emotional commitment (or termination of com- the dimension "sense". The changes would be needed in
mitment) and finally a gradual distortion of focus of the rhe definition, and the words in question are marked in
conciousness/awareness/attention about aspects of the phy- italics. Instead of defining sense as
sical environment and their interrelation. I also suggest a
the clarity with which it (a settlement) can be perceived and
specific order in the displacement of attention/conciousness
identified, and the ease with which its elements can be linked
of different aspects of the whole structure in the physical
with other events and places in a coherent mental represen-
environment, from major ro less noticeable landmarks, from
tation of time and space and that representation can be con-
simple to more complicated and detailed structures.
nected with nonspatial concepts and values
The development of the image and the identification with
a certain environment takes place in an interplay between I suggest that sense should be defined as
those factors and the differenr aspects of the physical environ-
the different ways in which it (a settlement) can be perceived
m e n t total structure. The different parts of the physical
and identified by individuals with different knowledge and
environment and their interrelationship, structure, are
emotional commitment to the settlement,znd how its different
organised in hierarchic levels and still described in Lynch's
elements can be linked with other events and places in a
terms, but the content and the meaning in the image changes
coherent mental representation of time and space and that
according to the individuals identification mode.
representation can be connected with nonspatial concepts
and values.
Development of the theory of good city form
It can not be denied that Kevin Lynch and Edward Relph This is a suggested development which I expect to be
with their respective works contribute to the understanding critizised and elaborated further. Whether this new compund
of the built environment. However it has also been estab- theory can be put into practice remains to be seen and is the
lished that Lynch's theory, on irs own is insufficient to be next task of the author.
IngridJärnefelt, tekn. l i e , doktorand
Lunds tekniska högskola

22 Nordisk Arkitekturforskning 1999:3

 Notes
1. The Image of the City, p 14. 16. I use hypthesis in the meaning of a tentative explanation of
2. The Image of the City, p v, 46 o 140. certain facts, some mechanism whose existens is inferred but for
3. Good City Form, p 131. which unambigous, objective evidens is not available, a provi-
4. andplacelessness, p 44 and 77^ Image of the City, p 3. sorical idea. Filosofilexikonet, Termer i sociologi, Penguin's
5. Relphs 3 books: Place and placelessness (1976), Rational Land- Dictionary of Psychology.
scapes and Humanistic Geography (1981) and The Modern Urban 17. The Image of the City, p 3.
Landscape (1987). Lynch has published at least 10 books or 18. The Image of the City, p 4.
reports: The Image of the City (i960, 1965 på tyska, 1971 på 19. The Image of the City, p 4-5.
franska), Site Planning (1962), A View from the Road (Donald 20. The Image of the City, p 8.
Appleyardi9Ö4), Visualanalysis (1965), What Time is This Place? 21. The Image of the City, p 46.
(1972), Growing up in Cities (1975), Managingthe sense of a Region 22. The Image of the City, p 8.
(1976), Good City Form (1981) and Wasting Away (1990?). 23. The Image of the City, p 9.
6. Margrete Bech "Fra plan plan til rumlig plan" Byplan 2/95, p 24. The Image of the City, p 10.
67. (Trieb also refers to among others Donald Appleyard, Gor- 25. Boston, Jersey City and Los Angeles, TheImageoftheCity, pi^.
don Cullen, Christian Norberg-Schulz, Camillo Sitte) Stadt- 26. The Image of the City, s 49.
gestaltung — Theorie und Praxis (1974) and Mensch undErhal- 27. The Image of the City, s 83.
tung und Gestaltung des Ortbiides — Denkmalpflege, Ortsbild- 28. Place and placelessness, p 44, see p 47.
planungundBaurecht 1988 (1985). 29. Quoted from The Image of the City (edition i 9 6 0 , p 6) in Place
7. Holmgten & Svensson Byarkitektur i kommunens planlagning and placelessness, p 45.
SBI-Byplanlasgning 62 (1991), "Urban Architectute and Identity 30. Place andplacelessness, p 45.
- a Danish Approach" Scandinavian Housing and Planning 31. Place andplacelessness, p 49.
Research 11:129-144 (1994) and "Urban Architecture - Taking 32. Place and placelessness, p 51-55.
Care rathet than Preserving" Making them meet, p 131-147, 33. Place and placelessness, p 61-62.
SBI/CIB.DK, (1995). 34. Place andplacelessness, p 62.
8. Margrethe Bech "Fra plan plan til rumlig plan" Byplan 2/95. 35. Good City Form, p i l l .
9. Claes Göran Guinchard "Bilden av förorten" att bo 1965:4, p 36. Good City Form, p 111-112.
184-196. 37. Good City Form, p 118-119.
10. U l f Sandström Arkitektur and social ingenjörskonst, p 222. 38. Good City Form, p 113.
11. Kursprogram KTH? 39. Good City Form, p 131.
12. Arne Branzell Något om O and Att notera rumsupplevelse, BFR 40. Good City Form, p 131.
T1U976. 41. The Image oj the City, p 15.
13. Kapitlet Stadsomsorg, skönhet and trevnad Remissupplaga 42. The Image of the City, p 67.
TRÅD -92 - Fölslag till råd för planering av stadens trafiknät 43. The Image of the City, p 67.
and trafik i sammanhållen bebyggelse, Boverket oktober 1991, 44. The Image of the City, p 49.
P40. 45. The Image of the City, p 8 3.
14. Hur ser Malmö ut egentligen? Koncept till stadsbyggnadsanalys, 46. The Image of the City, p 68.
atbetsmaterial för Malmö Stadsbyggnadsvision 1995?. 47. The Image of the City, p 68.
15. Stadsbyggnadsfrågor Diskussionsunderlag, PM nr 8b, Stads- 48. The Image of the City, p 109.
arkitektkontoret i Lund 1997-01-07, 6-10.

Jarnefelt: identity - identification

23
Figur 1: Arkitekt Poul Frashr Hansen, der har stået bag renoveringen af denne bebyggelse, har tydellgvis fundet inspiration i den tldllge funktionalisme.
(Varbergparken, Haderslev).

Nordisk Arkitekturforskning 1999:3