Urban Form and Wayfinding: Review of Cognitive and Spatial Knowledge for Individuals' Navigation

Abstract

This paper provides a systematic review of recent progress in spatial cognition and wayfinding behaviour research. The aim is to provide an up-to-date understanding of how theory drawn from different fields of research may explain how people perceive the urban environment and find their way in and through it. Google Scholar, TRID, Scopus and other datasets were searched using prescribed terms, identifying studies of human spatial cognition and wayfinding from 1960 till the present. Wayfinding is today an essential part of the transport system, both on- and increasingly off-road. In addition, urban legibility plays a crucial role in encouraging people to use active transport like navigation on foot rather than using a motor vehicle. In this regard, set of key relationships between wayfinding, navigation behaviour and urban form are identified. In order, a set of theoretical and conceptual issues are outlined, including Lynchian theory, Semiotics theory, the flanêur in urban navigation, and the theory of space syntax and its role in prediction of people’s route choice and wayfinding behaviour. The role of new technologies and its implications for human navigation provides additional concerns. Numerous research gaps are identified including how visitors make sense of an urban environment, create mental imagery and then use that image to navigate through the city. There remains little research on how ubiquitous smart phone technology and global positioning systems (GPS) are complementing or disrupting those processes. The paper concludes with suggestions of new research methods that may help fill these gaps in knowledge and in turn help planners assist visitors in their urban navigation and wayfinding.