The Cartographic Journal

Vol. 42 No. 1
The British Cartographic Society 2005

pp. 112

June 2005

REFEREED PAPER

Virtual City Design Based on Urban Image Theory

Itzhak Omer, Ran Goldblatt and Udi Or
Department of Geography and The Human Environment, The Environmental Simulation Laboratory, Tel-Aviv
University, Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv, 69978, Israel
Email: omery@post.tau.ac.il; ran@eslab.tau.ac.il; udi@eslab.tau.ac.il

This paper aims to evaluate what effect applying residents urban image to virtual city design (a real time virtual model of
an actual city) has on wayfinding performance during flying-based navigation mode. Two experiments were conducted to
compare two virtual city designs using the virtual model of Tel Aviv city. One design included highlighted urban elements
from the residents urban image, while in the second design no highlighted elements were included.
The experiments proved that using the elements of the residents urban image in a virtual city design enhances the
performance of all participants in the wayfinding tasks, and especially those with a low level of spatial knowledge.
Analysis of the trajectory patterns and the verbal reports of the participants during navigation showed that the urban
image design facilitates a more intensive use of a position-based strategy, in addition to the path-integration wayfinding
strategy, which was found to be dominant in the virtual model without the highlighted urban image elements. On the basis
of these findings we propose principles for designing virtual cities from a perspective of wayfinding.
Keywords: geovisualization, virtual cities, urban image theory, wayfinding strategies, Virtual Environment design

1. INTRODUCTION

A virtual city is a real-time model of an actual city that enables

the user to walk through or fly over a certain area. Such
models have been constructed recently for many cities, e.g.
Los Angeles, Philadelphia, London, Barcelona, Glasgow,
Tokyo and Tel Aviv, thanks to improvements in geovisualization tools (computer graphics, GIS etc). Currently, the
research in this field tends to concentrate on the models
technological dimensions and their implementations for
supporting urban planning and various decision-making
processes (Fisher and Unwin, 2001; Laurini, 2001; Jiang
et al., 2003). However, with a few exceptions, which include
a conceptual discussion on cognitive issues for virtual
environment design (Slocum et al., 2001) and a consideration of wayfinding aspects in a virtual cities design
(Bourdakis, 1998; Omer et al., forthcoming), little attention
has been paid to the wayfinding difficulties that characterize
these models and their design implications.
Virtual cities are unique when compared to other
geographical representations of the city, such as maps, aerial
photographs or static 3D models, due to the real-time
movement within them, which is characterized by high speed
of locomotion, different 3D viewing perspectives and varying geographical scales. These characteristics of virtual cities
could entail non-intuitive and unfamiliar user behavior,
resulting in wayfinding difficulties for the users i.e. difficulties
in locating their current position and finding their way to a
desired location. In addition, users may experience difficulties
DOI:

of orientation just as users of any desktop virtual environment

(VE). These difficulties are related to the lack of presence,
i.e. the participants sense of being there in the virtual
environment (Slater et al., 1994), perspective distortions
and the use of standard input devices that might affect
performance during navigation (Darken and Sibert, 1996;
Ruddle et al., 1997; Harris and Jenkin et al., 2000; Whitelock
et al., 2000; Jansen et al., 2001).
Enhancing wayfinding performance in a virtual city
design aims to help city residents transfer their image and
spatial knowledge from the real city to its virtual model.
Lynchs urban image theory (Lynch, 1960) could be an
appropriate tool to attain this goal since it enables us to see
how city residents perceive their city. The urban image, or
city image, is actually the overlap of many individual
images, Lynch claims which are the result of a two-way
process between the observer and his environment. The
environment suggests distinctions and relations, and the
observer [] selects, organizes and endows with meaning
what he sees (Lynch, 1960, p. 6). The underlying
assumption is that the city image, which is obtained from
sketch maps or interviews, provides information on the
imageability of the city elements. Lynch defined imageability as a quality in a physical object which gives it a high
probability of evoking a strong image in any given observer
(Lynch, 1960, p. 9). In discussing real city design by these
elements, Lynch suggests they can be classified conveniently
into five types of elements: paths, edges, districts, nodes and

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landmarks, which should be patterned together to provide
an imageable environment.
Though Lynchs urban image theory has not been
applied to the design of a virtual city, its efficiency for
enhancing wayfinding has been proved in many other VE
studies. It was found that route-finding performance of the
VE userimproved improved when familiar objects were
placed within the VE than when no landmarks were used
(Ruddle et al., 1997). In addition, the importance of the
relations between Lynchs element types for navigation
enhancement is emphasized in VE studies. These relations
have been found to help users structure their spatial
representation in differing scales (Vinson, 1999; Darken
and Sibert, 1996). While these studies do not involve real
large-scale VE, Al-Kodmany (2001) used Lynchs theory as
a framework when combining Web-based multimedia
technology to assist residents and planners in visualizing a
community in Chicago by visualizing selected areas that
were selected as most imageable by the residents themselves (Al-Kodmany, 2001, p. 811).
The aim of this paper is to study the effect that a virtual city
design based on residents urban image has on wayfinding
performance. To that end, two virtual city designs of Tel Aviv
city were compared. (The virtual model of Tel Aviv city will
be referred to in this paper as virtual Tel Aviv.) The first
design did not include highlighted urban elements selected
from the residents urban image, while in the second design
highlighted elements were incorporated.
The conclusions of this study also have operative
implications on the construction of virtual cities. One of
the important decisions in this process is the selection of the
urban objects to be presented by 3D models within the
virtual environment. This decision also has an economic
aspect since constructing 3D models, mostly with the
photos of the facade textures, involves vast amounts of
money and time. In cases where the urban image design is
found to enhance wayfinding performance, the urban
image framework can serve as an appropriate tool for this
selection. For example, the current virtual Tel Aviv model
does not yet include 3D models of buildings, and,
therefore, this study can clarify whether these buildings
could be selected based on the urban image elements.
In the next section, we describe virtual Tel Aviv and the
experiments and the methods used for their documentation
and analysis. We go on to report the findings of these
experiments. On the basis of these findings, in the fourth
section we suggest principles of using residents urban image
in the design of virtual cities. In the last section, we summarize
the results of the study and note some further work.

2. METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK

2.1 Virtual Tel Aviv

Virtual Tel Aviv offers the user a real-time flying-based

navigation mode over Tel Aviv city, an area of about 50
square km. The model was built in the Environmental
Simulation Laboratory at Tel Aviv University with SkylineH
4.5 software. Using this software, we interpolated a CDTM
point layer (in a resolution of 50 m) Cof Tel Aviv into a

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raster layer of the citys altitudes. Then we added an

orthophoto of Tel Aviv (in a resolution of 25 cm), and
using these altitudes, we established a 3D visualization of
the city terrain. Afterwards (in experiment 2) we added GIS
layers of the Tel Aviv urban image objects (paths,
landmarks, nodes, edges and districts) as shown in
Figure 1. These objects were highlighted by colour
C(different colours for linear and non-linear objects) and
labels (as text next to the object).
In order to construct the urban image of Tel Aviv, C32
residents of the city were asked to draw a map of Tel Aviv
and to draw the dominant elements in it (no more than
C15 elements). We decided to limit the number of the
elements to 15 so that only the most imageable elements
would emerge, as well as to create a common understanding of the assignment for all participants. We then
gathered the data from the individual sketch maps into one
aggregate map representing the residents urban image of
Tel Aviv. In order to create a representative urban image,
only those elements that appeared in more than two sketch
maps were included in this aggregate map.
2.2 The experiments

Twenty-four participants (15 male and 9 female), 26 to 58

years of age, took part in the experiments. None of these
participants had taken part in drawing the sketch maps from
which we evaluated the urban image for use in the
experiments. All participants declared they knew the city
of Tel Aviv well. To make sure they were familiar with the
city, a list of nine well-known locations in Tel Aviv was read
to them, and they were asked whether they knew their exact
locations.
Two experiments were conducted by dividing the
participants into two groups of 12. In experiment 1, the
design of the virtual model did not include any highlighted
landmarks, while in experiment 2 the design of the virtual
model included highlighted urban elements from the
residents urban image. (In this experiment we added the
residents` urban image as a GIS layer.) The participants of
both experiments had to complete the following steps:
Phase 1: Each subject was provided with an A4 sheet of
paper, on which the municipal borders of Tel Aviv were
marked. In order to give the respondents reference points,
we also marked two very familiar landmarks along the
coastline of Tel Aviv the new Tel Aviv port and the old
Jaffa port. The main national highway (Ayalon Highway)
was also marked (Figure 2).
All participants were given the same instruction: Please
mark each of the above sites Con the map, as accurately as
you can. The nine sites were those which were read to
them at the beginning of the experiment, and they include
six locations in the wayfinding tasks (the clock tower in
Jaffa, the Israel Museum, Habimah National Theater, City
Hall, Yehuda-Maccabi Street and the central bus station)
and three other central locations (the Tel Aviv Museum of
Art, the Azrieli mall and the railway station). The locations
of the nine elements for each map given by the participants
were compared to their real locations providing a mean
distance error value for each participant. Such information
allows us to define the spatial knowledge quality of the
participants, a factor that might influence their behavior.

Virtual City Design Based on Urban Image Theory

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Figure 1. (a) The components and (b) the interface of virtual Tel Aviv

Phase 2: Participants were introduced to the virtual

model of Tel Aviv on a 19" desktop monitor at the
Environmental Simulation Laboratory. We explained to
them how to use the flight simulator (using the keyboard as
an interaction device): moving forwards, backwards, controlling the speed, stopping, moving up scale and down

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Figure 2. The municipal borders of Tel Aviv and the reference

points which were marked

scale and Cmanipulating the viewed screen. To prevent the

participants from seeing the orthophoto of the examined
area (Tel Aviv), they practiced using the simulator on
another area of Tel Aviv for C5 minutes, or longer if they
felt (or we felt) they needed extra practice. We explained to
them that they could fly at any speed and at any height they
wanted.
Phase 3: This phase comprised two wayfinding tasks. In
the first task, participants were asked to fly to three
different locations in Tel Aviv: from the clock tower in Jaffa
to Habimah Theater; from the theater to Yehuda-Maccabi
Street, and from there to the Israel Museum. In the second
task, participants were asked to fly from the new central bus
station to the city hall building (see Figure 3). In both
experiments, the initial viewing angle was 90u and the
viewing height was 315 meters above sea level. This setting
allowed the user to clearly identify the object and its
immediate surroundings.
It should be noted that the two tasks differed in area
covered and in initial viewing conditions: The first task
included the coastline as a dominant reference object in the
area where the participants began the wayfinding task. In
the second task no reference object was visible in the
immediate environment of the starting point (Figure 4). In
addition, the areas covered by the tasks were urban areas of
varying density and complexity. In each assignment, the
participants were asked to tell us once they had identified
the target location and to receive confirmation that it was
indeed the one requested.

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geographical elements mentioned, wayfinding strategies

and difficulties during wayfinding tasks.

3. RESULTS: HOW DOES THE URBAN IMAGE DESIGN

INFLUENCE WAYFINDING IN A VIRTUAL CITY?

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Figure 3. The two tasks given to the participants and the task
locations. Arrows represent the shortest flying path from each location to the next

2.3 Methods of documentation and analysis

a. Tracking movement: In order to investigate individual

wayfinding performance, we recorded all the participants
real-time-log data of movement (coordinates, speed, height
etc.) while using the model (including the area on the
interface as it was seen by the user). Such tracking enabled
us to perform quantitative analysis of the trajectory patterns
of participants during navigation. In order to obtain these
trajectory patterns, the recorded real-time-log data was
converted to GIS layers and then visualized as polylines in
GIS layers in ArcGIS 8.2 environment. The statistical
analysis was performed using SPSS 11.0 software.
b. Think-aloud method: A think-aloud or self-report
method (Golledge, 1976; Darken and Sibert, 1996; Murray
et al., 2000) was implemented to reveal and understand the
strategies and thoughts of the participants during the
assignments. The participants were asked to verbally explain
to us everything that came into their minds during
navigation (strategies, thoughts, questions, internal conflict, decisions etc.). When we felt they were not descriptive
enough we encouraged them to elaborate and asked them
what they were thinking about. Everything they said was
recorded and later analysed. Each participants documentation was examined according to three categories: the

Using the data analysis of the documentation in experiment

1 (navigation in the virtual model without the highlighted
elements) and in experiment 2 (navigation in the virtual
model with the highlighted urban image elements), we are
able draw conclusion regarding the influence of highlighted
elements on the participants performance during wayfinding tasks with respect to strategies and difficulties.
Although each participant used different methods for
arriving at the destination objects, we can classify these
techniques into two basic wayfinding strategies, common in
human navigation in real environments: path-integration
and position-based strategies (Loomis et al., 1999; Peruch
et al., 2000). Navigation by position-based, or piloting
strategy relies on recognizable landscape elements.
Navigators use landmarks as cues for information on their
position and how to arrive at a desired location during
flying-based navigation mode. Path-integration, or dead
reckoning strategy, means continued integration of largescale and angular components, allowing estimation of
direction and distance. In other words, during flying
based navigation mode to locations that are beyond the
visual field, navigators will coincidently see single reference
objects and from that object calculate the position of the
target location.
In general terms, in experiment 2, using the urban image
design model that provided a network of locations in the
observed simulated environment, participants tended to use
the position-based strategy. In experiment 1, however,
where the model did not include the urban image elements,
participants seemed to rely mainly on the path-integration
strategy.
The dominance of the path-integration strategy in
experiment 1 is illustrated by the fact that many participants
relied on global reference elements of the city. Three main
linear elements were found to be helpful while navigating:
the coastline (to the west), the Ayalon Highway (to the
east) and the Hayarkon River (to the north). The coastline
was found to be a dominant reference line in the first task,
while the Ayalon Highway dominated in the second task.
This can be verified both by the verbal report (Table 1) and
the trajectory patterns of the participants, which tended to
run close and parallel to these reference lines (Figure 5). As
can be learned from the verbal reports, these elements fill
three main functions in the path-integration strategy: as
anchors for indicating the general direction towards the
desired location, until another strong element is found; as
cues for relating their position within the frame of
reference (north, west ...) and as transitional cues that
provide a basis for interpreting mobility and relative scale
during navigation.
However, since adopting such a strategy requires a high
level of configurational knowledge i.e. a level of spatial
knowledge that incorporates information concerning directions and the relative positions of places (Golledge, 1992;

Virtual City Design Based on Urban Image Theory

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Figure 4. (a) The initial viewing point of a. the clock tower in Jaffa, (b) the central bus station

Kitchin and Blades, 2002, pp. 5867), it is often not

sufficient for all the participants to fulfill the wayfinding
tasks. Therefore, it seems that the participants need
recognizable elements to find their way by using the
position-based strategy, mainly in the later stages of the
tasks when they need to leave these anchors. As a result, in
cases where the recognizable elements are not available, the

participants, particularly those with a low level of configurational knowledge and who use mainly a procedural
knowledge, experience problems that result in poor
Cwayfinding performance. Analysis of the relation between
the level of spatial knowledge and the wayfinding performance in the model without the urban image elements
proves this. To reach this conclusion, we assume that the

Table 1. Verbal documentation of the function of the geographical objects during wayfinding tasks
Function of objects

Experiment 1

Experiment 2

Positional location

I know the general direction from Milano Square

to the Israel Museum I am not following any
specific streets, just flying in a certain general direction.
Im trying to find some landmark that I know for
sure like a street that will get me fully oriented .
Heres the David Intercontinental Hotel Ill take
a right there.
Judging by these towers, this must be Pinkas Street.

Here is Rotschild Blvd so it should be

somewhere in this area.
I can see the label of the Shalom building.
Ill take a left turn here and this will take me to
the area I want ... .
O.K! Here is the label Azrieli so Ill
turn on Kaplan St and continue straight till
I reach Ibn Gvirol St.

Frame of reference

I dont want to get too far away from the beach,

because otherwise I wouldnt know where west is!
If thats the beach, then thats west and this is north.
Once I know where Ayalon Highway is, Ill know
which way is north.

Here is the label of Ayalon Highway.

Ill turn left so Ill be heading north.
If this is Weizman St. and this is Dizingoff St,
so this is north.
O.K. lets leave the coastline and head east.
I recognize Rabin Square and the city hall.
So it should be much more to the east.

Transitional

I can identify the Ayalon Highway and Im going

parallel to it rather than over it .
I want to fly over Ayalon Highway till Ill identify
Azrieli mall.
I want to drive north to the Opera Building and then
veer to the east this is what I do when I drive there.

Im flying in a general direction following main

streets that I dont really recognize ... .
I can see the label of Alenbi st you know
what? I will follow this street.
I feel like Im driving a car ... Ill just follow
this road.

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Figure 5. The influence of urban image design on track patterns of the participants: (a) without design, (b) with design; (I) the coastline as
reference line, (II) Ayalon Highway as reference line

accuracy of the sketch maps (measured according to the

distances between the locations drawn on the sketch maps
and their real locations) serves as an indicator for estimating
the quality of knowledge, while the length of the flying path
serves as an indictor for wayfinding performance, as a longer
path may indicate that the participant didnt know the
targets exact location. A significant positive correlation was
found between the distortions in the sketch maps and the
length of the flying path (a Pearson correlation of 0.615,
p50.033). This correlation shows that participants who
had a more accurate representation of the city were able to
navigate more efficiently in the virtual model.
This fact can be related to the difficulty participants had in
recognizing familiar objects from a birds-eye view, a view
that characterizes a flying-based navigation mode, making it

hard for them to evaluate spatial relations needed for

orientation. In addition, it is clear from the experiment that
the users not only are unaccustomed to seeing the shape of
city objects from above (without its 3D familiar shape), but
they also have difficulty getting used to their proportions
(Table 2). Because of this, when an object or an area has a
familiar shape, a city square for example, it is extremely
difficult for the user to identify it without seeing its
surroundings (or a label with its name). For example, many
participants experienced problems distinguishing between
CHamedina Square and Dizingoff Square (well-known
squares in Tel Aviv) despite the fact that the ratio between
these two areas is about 2 : 1 (approximately 850 sqm and
450 sqm, respectively). Participants also experienced problems estimating speed of movement, which caused them to

Virtual City Design Based on Urban Image Theory

misjudge the location of objects, as they thought they had

already gone past them, or not yet approached them.
Wayfinding strategies changed significantly in experiment
2. Adding the imageable objects to the model provided a
more legible and recognizable environment. This environment provided the conditions for adopting a position-based
strategy, i.e. the labeled objects served as positional
information for a location, or a network of locations, for
evaluating the relative distances between locations, as we
may expect from a flying-based navigation mode.
Therefore, in addition to, and in several cases even instead
of, relying on dominant spatial features that are easily
identified from a birds-eye view, the participants in
experiment 2 continuously updated their position using
the highlighted elements, usually elements with which they
were familiar from their everyday experience in the city.
The transformation from the path-integration strategy to
the position-based strategy in the second experiment can be
verified when comparing the documentations of the
experiments: the verbal reports (Table 1) and the trajectory
patterns of the participants (Figure 5). The verbal terminology used in each strategy is also different. While in the
first experiment (without the urban image design), the
terminology used was based mainly on descriptions of the
reference points/lines, the participants in experiment 2,
who used the position-based strategy, relied mainly on the
relations between the observed elements. As illustrated in
table 1, the urban image elements function as aids for
updating or calibrating the users position (e.g. If Im at
location X, I can go on from here towards the target
location), as well as for confirmation (i.e., This element
should be X [] yes, here is the label telling me it is X).
The trajectory patterns also illustrate this transformation:
When the urban image labels were available for the users, they
felt confident enough to leave the reference lines much
sooner than participants in the first experiment, where no
highlighted elements were available (see Figure 5). Thus, the
availability of recognizable urban features enables a continuous update of the current position during navigation, when
the identified locations function as a network of locations or
as positional information for confirming location.

The urban image elements available improved wayfinding

performance because with them the participants had fewer
difficulties in recognizing familiar objects and in evaluating
spatial relations between them (which is needed for orientation). When comparing the two experiments, in the test where
the design of the virtual model used urban image elements,
wayfinding performance was significantly improved. The total
length of the flying paths in experiment 1 was 52,043 mC (std.
30,774 m) while in experiment 2 it was 15,136 m. (std.
9,467 m). A T-test confirmed these difference (t53.976,
df5(22), p5 0.001C). However, an examination of the
relation between the level of spatial knowledge and the
wayfinding performance in experiment 2 shows an uncorrelated
relation (a Pearson correlation of 0.043, p50.895). Notice that
this relation was significantly correlated in experiment 1. This
means that the urban image design of the virtual city improved
the performance of all participants, especially those with a low
level of spatial knowledge. This finding is an additional
indication that those with low level of configurational knowledge depend heavily on covering the area in which they are
navigating with recognizable geographical objects.
To summarize, the urban image design enables a more
intensive use of the position-based strategy, in addition to,
and in several cases even instead of, the path-integration
wayfinding strategy, which was found to be a dominant
strategy when the model design did not include the
highlighted elements.
Based on these findings, we can conclude that Lynchs
urban image theory can be applied in the design of virtual
cities due to its capabilities to enhance wayfinding
performance. In suggesting principles for such design, in
the next section we present a comparison between real city
and the virtual city concerning the imageability of the urban
elements.

4. THE RELATION BETWEEN THE REAL CITY URBAN

IMAGE AND THE VIRTUAL CITY IMAGE: IMPLICATIONS
FOR DESIGN

Figure 6a presents the imageable elements of the urban

image of real Tel Aviv city, namely, the objects that

Table 2. Verbal documentation of difficulties during wayfinding tasks

Verbal report of experiment 2

Verbal report of experiment 1

difficulties

I feel that Im getting lost!

Which way is north?? If I can find the north,

itll be much easier.

Lack of orientation

I couldnt identify Dizingoff square without

the label!
I know the cinema should be here, but I cant
identify it!
Its difficult when its not three- dimensional!
In Tel-Aviv all the roads look the same ...
this is why Im looking for the labels.
I can see a junction, but which one is it?

Is this what Tel Aviv looks like from above???

What is this big building?

Identification

I decided to follow Ayalon Highway, as its a

major road, and its much easier to identify it
on the air- photography.
I understood the area I thought is the
square is actually Habima Theater.

This is Hamedina Square? ... No, no

this is Dizengoff Square.
But wait a minute! Which square is this??
It takes me time get used to the proportions ...
the city seems so big suddenly!

Space-time scale

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Figure 6. (a) The urban image drawn by Tel Aviv residents

appeared in the individual sketch maps. Figure 6b presents

the urban image of virtual Tel Aviv established by gathering
the objects verbally mentioned (while looking for an object

or viewing one) by the participants in experiment 1, who

performed the wayfinding tasks in the model without the
highlighted urban image elements.

Virtual City Design Based on Urban Image Theory

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Figure 6. (b) The urban image of the objects mentioned during wayfinding tasks

As one can gather from the visual comparison of the two

images, both are essentially similar. A positive correlation
between the appearance frequency of the urban-image
elements in the cognitive maps and the appearance

frequency of these elements when mentioned in the

wayfinding tasks, verified this conclusion (a Pearson
correlation of 0.75, p50.000). The elements that are
characterized by a relatively high imageability during the

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Figure 7. Classification of the imageable elements of real and virtual Tel Aviv, according to Lynchs element types

wayfinding tasks are mainly those with high physical

identification; that is, they can be easily identified from a
birds-eye view.
The elements which were found to be very useful during
navigation include large continuous elements, in particular
the coastline, the Ayalon Highway and the Hayarkon River,
as well as elements with distinctive landscapes and
boundaries such as Hayarkon Park. Other elements that
are easy to identify from a birds eye view are those with
unique morphology, especially city squares, which stand
out in the image that emerges during navigation.
Hamedina Square, Rabin Square and Dizingoff Square
were found to be main nodes of that image. The elements
that are characterized with a lower imageability in the
virtual city are those with a low possibility of physical
identification small-size landmarks that have a unique
morphology from a side-view (rather then from a birds-eye
view) and districts such as the Neveh Zedek neighborhood,
which has no recognizable boundaries.
As a result of these differences, the image that emerges
during navigation in the virtual city is more a common one
that is one formed by elements mentioned by most of
the participants, a fact to which the high frequency of the
appearance of elements testifies (Figure 6). In addition, as
illustrated in Figure 7, the paths and nodes are relatively
more imageable during navigation from a birds-eye view,
while the landmarks, districts and edges are relatively less
imageable than in the real city image.
The close similarity between the real and the virtual
urban images strengthens the hypothesis that Lynchs
urban image theory enables users to transform their spatial
representation of the real city to its virtual counterpart.
Moreover, it may also confirm that a preconceived real
urban image can be integrated into, or participate in, the
users representation that emerges during navigation i.e.
they call on information they have from the real urban
image to help them navigate in the virtual environment (see
Figure 8). Thus, the integration of the real citys urban
image into the virtual model enables users to identify
imageable elements which are seen in the real city, even if
they have a low physical identification level from the birdseye-view, and also to use elements that are particularly
imageable from the birds-eye-view during flying based
navigation mode.

Figure 8. Distinction and integration between real and virtual city

representations

Comparing the real and the virtual city images provides

information as to which elements should be highlighted. As
mentioned in the introduction, this selection is one of the
decisions that has to be made when creating virtual cities
with the aim of enhancing wayfinding, and economical
aspect must also be taken into account. Selecting only part
of the buildings to be constructed is advisable, especially
when dealing with large cities with an enormous number of
objects. Therefore, the distinction between three groups of
objects those imageable particularly in the real city, those
imageable particularly in the virtual city and those that are
common for both could be used for selecting the most
appropriate objects for emphasis in order to enhance
wayfinding performance. One possible use of this distinction is to give priority to the group of particularly imageable
elements of the real city, which will help the virtual citys
user identify them. Another possible use is to focus on the
integration between these three groups, where the common imageable elements can serve as a link between the
particular groups.
Once the selection of the objects has been made, a
generalization process can be implemented for selecting
which geographic objects will be presented when a new
scale or perspective emerges during flying-based navigation
i.e. the level of detail (LOD) in a design of a virtual model.
The generalization process can be constructed taking into
account the imageability of the urban elements as a source
of knowledge that can be applied by generalization
methods, especially those developed for GIS and 3D
visualization, which are mainly driven by communication
requirements, such as legibility, graphical clarity and
understandability (Muller et al., 1995; Frery et al., 2004).
One of the basic assumptions of Lynchs urban image
theory is that the more imageable the element, the more

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Virtual City Design Based on Urban Image Theory

useful it is in wayfinding in larger-scale areas of the city,

while the less imageable elements are used in local-scale
areas of the city (1960, pp. 8687). Working on this
assumption, the scale in which the objects should be
displayed can be determined according to their degree of
imageablity, which is represented by their frequency in the
aggregative map.
As Bourdakis (1998) points out, it is essential to refer to
the context in flying-based navigation mode over urban
environment, due to its varied density and complexity. For
that purpose, the designer may be able to refer to the
interrelations between the urban elements and their
classification into Lynchs element types in the representation of contextual relations that are suggested for cartographic generalization, such as being part of a significant
group, being in a particular area and being in relation with
same level surrounding objects (Mustiere and Moulin,
2002).

5. CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER STUDY

The impetus behind the study presented in this paper was

the need for virtual city design to deal with wayfinding
difficulties experienced by the users, as well as to locate a
framework by which the designer can decide which urban
objects should be highlighted over the city orthophoto.
The assumption of the study was that Lynchs urban
image theory can serve as an appropriate framework due to
its potential in facilitating the transferal of images and
spatial knowledge from the real city to its virtual
representation.
Experiments conducted using virtual Tel Aviv proved
that a design based on urban image elements improves the
performance of all participants, especially those with a low
level of spatial knowledge. Moreover, the urban image
design facilitates more intensive use of a position-based
strategy, in addition, or even instead of, the pathintegration wayfinding strategy, which was found to be a
dominant strategy when the virtual model did not include
the highlighted urban image elements. Furthermore, a vast
similarity was found between the imageable elements
mentioned during the wayfinding tasks in the virtual model
(which did not include the highlighted elements) and the
imageable elements of the real city that were revealed by the
drawn sketch maps.
Based on these findings, this paper proposes that
designers of virtual cities use the similarities and differences
between the imageable elements of the real city and of the
virtual city as a source for generalization knowledge. This
comparison provides a useful tool in the selection of
elements to be highlighted, and for constructing a generalization process with respect to scale and context. To this
end we are currently working at the ESLab of Tel
University on building a wayfinding support system for
the virtual model of Tel Aviv, based on the presented
methodology. Accordingly, 3D models of selected buildings are being constructed and inserted into the virtual
model. The generalization process in the developed system
is based on the residents urban image of the real city, as
well as on the imageable elements of the virtual one.

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