The Evaluative Image of the City

Abstract

To improve community appearance, planners need to know how the public evaluates the cityscape: their evaluative image of the city. This article presents research aimed at uncovering this information. In two U.S. cities, Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee, we interviewed 220 residents by phone and 180 visitors face-to-face, asking them to specify areas they liked and areas they disliked visually and to describe the physical features accounting for their evaluations. From each interview we prepared an evaluative map of the city. We then overlaid these maps to produce for each city and for residents and visitors separately a composite map—the evaluative image of the city. The evaluative maps suggest effects of city structure and experience, and they indicate five desirable features—naturalness, upkeep, openness, order, and historical significance. By showing the identity, location, and likability of visual features, evaluative maps provide a basis for a visual plan.