Legibility of historic district in Kuala Lumpur City Centre, Malaysia
Legibility emphasizes on visibility of physical elements as interpreted by observers. Legible elements comprised of paths, edges, nodes, landmarks and district are found to influence how people identify the structure of a city. These elements are important to create city image and coherent envir...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85577/1/FRSB%202013%2024%20ir.pdf |
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| Summary: | Legibility emphasizes on visibility of physical elements as interpreted by
observers. Legible elements comprised of paths, edges, nodes, landmarks
and district are found to influence how people identify the structure of a city.
These elements are important to create city image and coherent
environmental setting. However, historical districts particularly in the centre of
the city are threatened by new and unfit development. This affects the unity
and harmony of the physical forms and appearance which can be resulted in
the weakening of image and identity of urban places. This study intends to
examine Lynch's concept of legibility in the context of historical district in
Kuala Lumpur city centre. The objectives of the study are to identify legible
elements within demarcated district from the people's identification and to
understand the influencing factors. Analysis of documentations and archival
records together with direct observation of the historical district were done to
examine the characteristics of the historical district and the constituting
elements. Interviews with mental mapping and questionnaire survey were
conducted to elicit the people's identification of the elements considered as
legible. The research found that paths and landmarks are among the most
recognizable elements identified by the respondents while, edges and nodes
are less identifiable. Besides, it is evident that spaces, activities and historical
factors influence the people's identification of physical features. The research
suggests further study on the role of spaces, activities and historical elements in influencing the legibility of the city of Kuala Lumpur. The findings
support the need to preserve identifiable elements such as landmarks and
nodes in historical areas and therefore making urban spaces more
recognisable as attraction areas for tourism. |
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