The three cognitive maps created by Judy, Bernard, and Chloe of an intersection in Pudu, Kuala Lumpur show both similarities and differences in their perceptions. All three maps identify Pudu Sentral bus station and the nearby LRT station as important landmarks. They also depict the intersection in front of Pudu Sentral as busy and noisy using the color red. However, the maps differ in that Judy highlights hotels and markets important to her as a tourist, Bernard includes landmarks relevant to him as a local student, and Chloe emphasizes the urban design elements she notices as an architecture student. The differences reveal how personal experiences and backgrounds shape individual cognitive maps.

1. Theories Of Architecture and Urbanism
[ARC61303] [ARC2224]
The Image of The City Part II
Cognitive Mapping
Name: Tan Wen Yee
Student ID: 0315155
Tutor: Mr. Nicholas Ng

2. Introduction of Site
Pudoh, ‘Half Jungle’, or ‘the other side of Bukit Bintang’ and the locals call Pudu Poon San
Pah in Cantonese, which means semi-developed forest, Pudu has had many different
names in the past. It is a charismatic little city that located along the Pudu Road (Jalan
Pudu) in Kuala Lumpur. The often-ignored older brother of Bukit Bintang, Pudu is a self-
sustaining fortress where the citizens live, eat, work and trade according to their rule of law,
bounded by an invisible wall. The core of Pudu is an intricate maze of curious back alleys
and dense open spaces filled with hawkers, iceboxes, speeding motorcycles, delicious
roast pork, garbage dumps, plump pigeons, old medicine men, hot curry noodles, idle
buses, rogue traders and all the odd, wonderful bits and pieces KL has to offer and it gives
us a glimpse into the shadowy past of Kuala Lumpur.
A century ago the district was under-developed and remote. Today, Pudu in Kuala Lumpur
is no longer the remote area that people used to know. Over time, it has grown to become a
vibrant and colourful place with character. It is home to temples, shop houses historical
buildings,also the most familiar building for all the frequent travellers, Pudu Sentral. Pudu
Sentral is the oldest and previously known as the main bus station terminus in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia. At the year of 2012,Pudu Sentral became the Urban Transformation
Centre for Kuala Lumpur which houses government agencies, scores of private
businesses.
Development is slowly taking shape and weaving into the lives of Pudu community thus
making Pudu an historical yet modern city. There are many interesting things and facts
about Pudu but I have decided to focus my study on the intersection point in front of Pudu
Sentral that intersects three main roads in Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Pudu, Jalan Tun Perak
from northwest and Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock from southwest. This intersection acts as a
focal point for this site as it houses the busiest traffic and high density of different classes of
people such as the locals, students, tourists and also foreign workers in Pudu area. Other
than Pudu Sentral, there are many buildings located in this area that serve different
purposes such as Menara Maybank,Hotel Ancasa, Kompleks Kotaraya, Mydin and more.
This intersection point is constantly full of vehicles and human movement as it is located
closely to Pudu Sentral and there are a lot of budget hotels around this area, therefore
bringing in more tourists to this site. This site has provided me a chance to study and
explore the engagement of different people and also the richness and uniquity of this place.

3. Introduction of Cognitive Mapping
Cognitive maps are mental representations of physical locations. Humans and animals
use them to find their way and to help recall important features of the environment. The
term was introduced by psychologist E.C.Tolman to explain how rats learned the locations
of rewards in a maze. A cognitive map provided the rat with a useful model of the
environment. Irrelevant or unimportant information was excluded from the mental map.
Thus, cognitive maps can be very different from an actual place. The differences between
the mental representation and the physical characteristics of a location may reveal what
humans and animals consider important. The cognitive map is likely to show where they go
and the routes used.
Asking people to sketch a map of a location is a way to find out what its salient features are
for them. A cognitive map can show what is important, and by omission, reveal what is less
important. Sometimes a standardized outline showing major feature of an area is used,
asking respondents to fill in the details.
Cognitive maps have been studied in various fields, such as psychology, education,
archaeology, planning, geography, cartography, architecture, landscape architecture, urban
planning, management and history. As a consequence, these mental models are often
referred to, variously, as cognitive maps, mental maps, scripts, schemata, and frames of
reference, this procedure could be used by city planners or landscape architects who want
to know more about how a space is seen or used.
Cognitive maps can provide insight into the worlds of those with sensory deficits and
physical handicaps. The maps of blind people make more use of sound and touch cues
than do those of sighted people. People in wheelchairs emphasize physical barriers in their
maps, obstacles that are missing from the maps of those able to move more freely.
Cognitive maps also serve the construction and accumulation of spatial knowledge,
allowing the "mind's eye" to visualize images in order to reduce cognitive load, enhance
recall and learning of information. This type of spatial thinking can also be used as a
metaphor for non-spatial tasks, where people performing non-spatial tasks involving
memory and imaging use spatial knowledge to aid in processing the task.

4. Requirements for Cognitive Mapping
This project requires us, students to create cognitive mapping of selected significant urban
spaces in the city of KL to understand peoples’ perception and spatial behaviour in cities
today. We have to use the cognitive maps method to present a critical understanding of
emerging contemporary urbanism in KL city spaces (in relations to Kevin Lynch notions of
imageability and how it influences people’s perception of the city.) The mapping should
contain three different version of cognitive mapping from three individual based on their
understanding towards the site, and they have to record the mapping based on human
facets, spatial and temporal dynamics, architecture, last but not least, microstructures.
Description of Participants
There are total three cognitive maps at the study area according to individual perception.
First participant is one of the tourists at the site whose name is Judy, at age of 26,currently
working as kindergarten teacher in United States. Second, Chloe Tan,22,architecture
student from Perak, and also last but not least one local student, Bernard Tan at the age of
16,currently studying at Confucian Private Secondary School. Judy, Chloe and Bernard
came from different countries and from different background, therefore they are most likely
to develop different thinking and perception even they are on the same site.
Site Photos

5. Comparative Essay
Metal
map
drawn
by
Judy,26,Kindergarten
Teacher
from
USA.
Mental
map
drawn
by
Bernard
Tan,16,Student
from
Cheras.

6. Similarities
Based on the different version of cognitive mapping from different people, surprisingly they
do have some similarities. The first similarity among these three maps is that they included
Pudu Sentral as one of the landmark and it is the most significant building from that area.
Pudu Sentral is one of the main spot with high human density as it houses transportation
from different places, especially buses from the north and it is where all the businessmen,
travellers and foreign workers go when they want to travel around Kuala Lumpur and to
other places. However, starting from November 2015,it will officially become the urban
business center for the locals, and also houses the buses for short trip to places near Kuala
Lumpur. The reason why Pudu Sentral is significant to three different individuals is that this
building is very prominent and functional to them in that area. Judy is a backpacker from
United States, therefore Pudu is only one of the cities that she stopped by. Pudu Sentral is
the place where she first arrived from Melaka and soon she will depart from there too. As
for Bernard Tan, student from Cheras, Pudu Sentral is important because it is located near
his school and beside the LRT station that he takes everyday. For the outstation people like
Chloe, Pudu Sentral is significant because this is where buses from north side usually
stopped at. Other than that, the architectural style of this building is different from the
adjacent building, showing the contrast between traditional style and modern style of the
buildings. Plaza Rakyat LRT station is also one of the significant spot at that area according
to three different cognitive mapping. It is the place where Judy will head to when she wants
to go other areas in Kuala Lumpur, whereas for Bernard, he takes LRT from Cheras to
Pudu everyday as his high school is located near the station and it is very convenient for
him to take LRT. For the people without vehicle like Chloe, LRT is the best public transport
to travel around Kuala Lumpur. Therefore, Plaza Rakyat LRT station is very notable to
Chloe as it is the only way that make me access to Pudu easily.
Mental
map
drawn
by
Chloe
Tan,22,Architecture
Student
from
Perak.

7. Besides, MCD is also one of the similarities that being found from the mapping. MCD is the
only fast food chain that operates 24 hours on site and it is located at the roadside thus
easy to be noticed. To Judy, MCD is the most familiar and convenient food for tourists like
her and she can access to internet because they provides wifi to public. Whereas, to
students like Bernard, MCD is a place to gather with friends after school. On the other hand,
to Chloe, MCD is significant because of its fame and the big M signage on a black modern
building. It shows the distinctive architectural style with the surrounding building, bringing
out the modernity of the site, especially when it is being placed beside Kompleks Kotaraya,
the old shopping mall at that area.
Other than that, the colour code that used by three different cognitive mapping for the busy
and noisy area is also the same that is red colour. Red colour shows the impatience and
anger of individual towards a typical area, which disturbs and messes their mind and also
the vibrant and lively feeling of the area. The junction in front of Pudu Sentral is the busiest
road and area in Pudu, it is always crowded with buses, taxis, cars and people. Sometimes,
the bus operators and drivers will park their buses at roadside and sell the bus tickets to
passerby. This is the reason why the traffic is always congested. The dynamic in front of
Pudu Sentral is constantly the same throughout the day, there is a perpetual movement
and it is also a gathering spot for different people, such as bus operators, foreign workers,
students and taxi drivers.
Dissimilarities
There are a lot of difference among these 3 maps and first of them is To Judy, the tourist,
row of hotels especially Hotel Ancasa that located beside Pudu Sentral is actually very
significant to her because Hotel Ancasa is where she’s been staying for the past 4days and
she is going to stay here until next week, before she proceed her journey to other places.
Other than that, Petaling Street appears to be vitel to Judy because it is one of the reason
why she choose to stay at Pudu and she went to the flea and night market for Malaysian
local food, souvenirs and the cultural attributes. The pedestrian bridge and food stalls that
located beside Petaling Street are being highlighted in Judy’s map. She always uses it to
go across the busy road and the malay food stall is one of her favourite throughout her stay
due to the cheap and delicious food. The colour code that used by Judy is different as
yellow means her favourite spot and purple means the place she visits the most while
brown means the area she doesn’t really wants to approach as they look a bit dodgy for
her.
As for Bernard Tan, student from Confucian Private Secondary School, his school will
automatically become one of the landmarks in his map. Other than his own school,
Starbucks which located near his high school is one of his after school hangout spot with
friends, therefore it appears only in Bernard’s version of map. Apart from that, Mydin is also
one of the renowned spot for students as they can spend their time there while waiting for
extra classes at afternoon. Mydin has air-conditioner therefore giving the students a
comfortable and cooling environment. There are few comic book shops located next to
each other in Bernard’s map. Bernard is a comic lover and according to the interview, he
goes there almost every week to check on the new comic books. The colour code used by
Bernard is simple, he uses light blue to represent the places that he loves to hangout and
dark blue as the place he doesn’t really like as shown in the map.

8. Aside from the differences that being found on previous maps, there are some differences
on chloe’s version of map too. All the paths are being pointed out with blue colour line.
Maybank tower is found on chloe’s cognitive map due to its height and shape, and it stands
out from the surrounding buildings. Other than that, Hotel 99 retained in chloe’s mind as it
has extensive glass façade and the signage loomed from the rest of the hotels. There are a
lot of pedestrian bridges found at site and they are essential to everyone and also LRT
railway on the map. Even though the site is slowly emerging into a modern city, there are a
lot of trees can be seen on site. It is being planted beside almost every roadside and
building, to incorporate nature into this modern city and it is being highlighted in green
colour. There is this one and only graffiti wall by Nando’s, giving the site energetic and
vivacious feeling. As a person that loves to explore new café, Merchant Lane café that
located at the end of Petaling Street and the vivid entrance of Petaling Street are the
reason why Petaling Street appears on the map.
Discussion
Kevin Lynch's theory of urban form is set out in his book The Image of the City. City image
is important because the ability to recognize objects in our environment is critical to our
ability to act and function in places effectively ( Lynch, 1981). A central notion in this book is
that of legibility (also called imageability and visibility). Legibility means the extend to which
the cityscape can be 'read'. People who move through the city engage in way-finding. They
need to be able to recognize and organize urban elements into a coherent pattern. "In the
process of way-finding, the strategic link is the environmental image, the generalized
mental picture of the exterior physical world that is held by an individual. This image is the
product both of immediate sensation and of the memory of past experience, and it is used
to interpret information and to guide action"
Lynch describes observer as a citizen who “ has had long associations with some part of
his city, and his image is soaked in memories and meanings” (Lynch, 1960: 1). Way-finding
in his theory is related to two things: physical elements and a map drawn in peoples mind,
this map is what Lynch named mental map or cognitive map, and it is the method that was
being used in this assignment.
Figure above shows that the interaction between observer, and environment leads to cognitive map.

9. Lynch proposes that these mental maps consist of five elements: (1) paths: routes along
which people move throughout the city; (2) edges: boundaries and breaks in continuity; (3)
districts: areas characterized by common characteristics; (4) nodes: strategic focus points
for orientation like squares and junctions; and (5) landmarks: external points of orientation,
usually a easily identifiable physical object in the urban landscape. Of these five elements,
path is especially important according Lynch, since it organizes urban mobility.
From the three different maps above, it shows that the path are being identified and it is
obvious that the path in front of Pudu Central which is the main road has high concentration
and variation of activities along it, which is why people will be oriented by following the main
stream of traffic. There are other special features that increase the importance of the path
such as planting and pavement textures which we can see along the roadside at our study
area. Spatial qualities of width or narrowness can attract attention and strengthen the image
of particular paths, such as the wide road in front of Pudu Sentral and the narrow, branching
road in front of MCD. “When we consider more than one path, then the path intersection
becomes vital, since it is the point of decision” (Lynch, 1960: 57). This theory is being
proven at the intersection point in front of Pudu Sentral which determined our site, and it is
being point out in 3 different version of maps.
Districts are character areas perceived to have common characteristics, a separate visual
identity from the rest of environment. These areas can be recognized as a thematic unit.
Good physical characteristics of districts are determined by continuities and homogeneities
of facades materials, textures, spaces, forms, details, symbols, building type, uses,
Activities, inhabitants, colors, skyline topography, ...etc.(Lynch,1960). All these features give
a district its identity, create intimacy between its parts, and identify the basic clues of the
city.In this case, there are only few districts being found in the study area, there are
buildings with heavy materials such as concrete and also buildings with glasses. Districts
may be in relation with each other, well-connected together, then they are in an extrovert
character. On the contrary, they may stand alone to their zone, in other words they are not
linked together, then they are in an introvert character (Lynch, 1960). Kompleks Kotaraya
and the shop houses at the study area are build mostly with concrete while Pudu Sentral,
Hotel 99 and others are build with glass façade, showing distinctive building materials in one
area.
According to Lynch “Nodes are the strategic foci into which the observer can enter, typically
either junctions of paths, or concentrations of some characteristic” (Lynch, 1960: 72). At my
study area, the gathering points for foreign workers, drivers, tourists and pedestrian are in
front of Pudu Sentral and Kompleks Kotaraya while for vehicles, it is the intersection point
for three roads which is Jalan Pudu,Jalan Tun Perak and Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock. All
these nodes are located beside the main road, and as mentioned by Lynch, location
determines nodes utilization, as locating nodes on main routes make movement economy
more efficient than those located away from.
In contrast to nodes, which can be entered, landmarks are external features to the individual
that act as reference points (Lynch, 1960). Landmarks vary with an individual's personal
experience. Based on the findings, with different individuals, they have different
identification of landmarks according to its visibility, functionality, and colour. For example,
Pudu Sentral and Maybank Tower is located at the prominent position and it has high
visibility as it can be seen from near and far by day and night. Other than that, all
participants had also sketched out the places that they visit the most throughout their visit at
the site, such as comic bookshops, MCD, Confucian Secondary School, Petaling Street and
also Hotel. The graffiti wall at Nando’s and the entrance at Petaling Street show that colour
may single out it as an unmistakable landmark.

10. Conclusion
The study site (Intersection in front of Pudu Sentral) is a good example of recognizable and
unique site as it provides the observer a strong and vivid image once you reach the site.
This site is considered well formed as it is highly dependent upon the elements as it makes
the site imageable to other people. It also has no orientation difficulties as it provides good
sense of direction as analysed from the 3 different maps. All these elements are placed in
good form and position, increasing the human ability to see and remember patterns and
these patterns make it easier to be learnt. According to 3 different maps, the 5 elements
have clearly brought out the imageability of the study site, leaving a strong impression and
memory to the participants and other people.
Reference
1. Lynch, K. (n.d.). The Image of the City.
Retrieved from http://www.zzpudnz.hr/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=TcHDzHuLw7s=&tabid=506
2. Tolman, E. C. (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men. Psychological review, 55(4), 189.
3. McLeod, S. A. (2013). Tolman - Latent Learning.
Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/tolman.html