Rethinking Image of the City in the Information Age

Mental image is an essential topic and it serves various fields in urban studies including behavioral geography, urban design, city branding and tourists destination management. The emergence of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) and the corresponding socio-physical changes have affected almost every aspect of contemporary urban life together and the perception of the city. Legibility, mapping, meaning and experience of the space are all significant issues that need to be readdressed in order to understand how the new image of the city is forming. This paper discuss Image of the City in light of new technology evolution. It uses Lynch's (1960) model and tracks impact of technology on both the observer and the observed. Descriptive analytical review of literature on legibility and environmental image, and impact of ICT is carried out. Followed by an enquiry of how these issues affect our perception of space. Finally, a framework to study Image of the city in the information age is developed.