What does the city's form actually mean to the people who live there? What can the city planner do to make the city's image more vivid and memorable to the city dweller? To answer these questions, Mr. Lynch, supported by studies of Los Angeles, Boston, and Jersey City, formulates a new criterion--imageability--and shows its potential value as a guide for the building and rebuilding of cities.The wide scope of this study leads to an original and vital method for the evaluation of city form. The architect, the planner, and certainly the city dweller will all want to read this book.

Spanning the ages and the globe, Spiro Kostof explores the city as a repository of cultural meaning and an embodiment of the community it shelters. Widely used by both architects and students of architecture, The City Shaped won the AIAs prestigious book award in Architecture and Urbanism. Includes hundreds of photos and drawings that illustrate Professor Kostof.