Linking the Spatial Syntax of Cognitive Maps to the Spatial Syntax of the Environment

Abstract

This article investigates the effects of the spatial configuration of the local environment on residents’ spatial cognitions of their built environment by examining the relationship between the spatial syntax of sketch maps and the spatial syntax of the environment. Hampstead Garden Suburb in London was investigated in detail. Structured interview surveys were carried out to elicit residents’ sketch maps of their local area. Analysis of the spatial characteristics of the area and of the sketch maps using space-syntax methods provided a common basis for analyses of these data. Strong correlations were identified between residents’ sketch maps and the spatial configuration of the area. The degree of local integration of spatial configuration is the most significant factor in relations with the two variables of sketch maps, the frequency of appearance of configurational elements, and the global syntactic characteristics of spatial configuration in sketch maps. Findings suggest that spatial syntax of configuration in real environments and spatial syntax of cognitive maps in spatial cognition are closely related.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Appleyard, D. (1970). Styles and methods of structuring a city. Environment & Behavior, 2, 100-124.

Choi, Y. K. (1991). The spatial structure of exploration and encounter in museum layouts. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta.

Conroy, R. A. (2001). Spatial navigation in immersive virtual environments. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of London, London.

Downs, M., & Stea, D. (1973). Cognitive maps and spatial behavior: Process and products. In R. M. Downs & D. Stea (Eds.), Image and environment (pp. 8-26). London: Arnold.

Evans, G. W., & Pezdek, K. (1980). Cognitive mapping: Knowledge of real-world distance and location information. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 6, 13-24.

Garling, T., Lindberg, C. M., Book, A. (1986). Reference systems in cognitive maps. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 6, 1-18.

Golledge, R. G., & Stimson, R. (1997). Spatial behavior: A geographic perspective. New York Guilford.

Hart, R. A., & Moore, G. T. (1973). The development of spatial cognition: A review. In R. M. Downs & D. Stea (Eds.), Image and environment (pp. 246-288). London: Arnold.

Hillier, B. (1996). Space is the machine. UK: Cambridge University Press.

10.

Hillier, B., & Hanson, J. (1984). The social logic of space. UK: Cambridge University Press.

11.

Lynch, K. (1960). The image of the city. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

12.

O’Keefe, J., & Nadel, L. (1978). The hippocampus as a cognitive map. UK: Oxford Universit Press.

13.

O’Neill, M. J. (1991). Effects of signage and floor plan configuration on wayfinding accuracy. Environment & Behavior, 23, 553-574.

14.

Penn, A. (2001, May). Space syntax and spatial cognition: Or why the axial line? Paper presented at the Third International Space Syntax Symposium, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA.

15.

Peponis, J., Zimring, C., & Choi, Y. K. (1990). Finding the building in wayfinding. Environment & Behavior, 22, 555-590.

16.

Pipkin, J. S. (1981). Cognitive behavioural geography and repetitive. In K. R. Cox & R. G. Golledge (Eds.), Behavioral problems in geography revisited (pp. 145-181). New York: Methuen.

17.

Sadalla, E. K. & Magel, S. G. (1980). The perception of traversed distance. Environment and Behavior, 12, 65-79.

18.

Sadalla, E. K. & Montello, D. (1989). Remembering changes in direction. Environment and Behavior, 21, 346-363.

19.

Sadalla, E. K., & Staplin, L. G. (1980). The perception of traversed distance: Intersections. Environment and Behavior, 12, 167-182.

20.

Shemyakin, F. N. (1962). General problems of orientation in space and space representations. In B. G. Anan’yev (Ed.), Psychological science in the USSR (NTIS Report No. TT62-11083; Vol. 1, pp. 184-225). Washington, DC: Office of Technical Services.

21.

Weisman, G. (1981). Evaluating architectural legibility: Wayfinding in the built environment. Environment & Behavior, 13, 189-204.

22.

Zimring, C. M. (1981). Stress and the designed environment. Journal of Social Science, 37, 145-171.