The role of murals in urban space and their evaluation through cognitive mapping exampling of Kadiköy-Yeldeği̇rmeni̇

Abstract

From past to present, humans have established cyclical dynamics with urban spaces. These cyclical dynamics create various formations that strengthen the interaction between humans and urban spaces, reframe the urban environment, and convey different environmental behavior potentials. While urban spaces are designed by people, individuals also shape their environmental behaviors in response to the characteristics of urban environments. Each person's experience of urban space is unique. This is because, while experiencing an urban space, individuals filter it through their own perceptual lens and represent it mentally. The interaction between natural and built environmental factors and human behavior in urban space is ongoing. The totality of spatial relationships formed by natural and built environments constitutes the physical environment. In fact, when a person explores or experiences an urban space, they begin to define it in their perception through a connection with the physical environment and this process continues. The more intense the factors that make an urban space unique, the more strongly a person mentally retains and begins to make sense of that city. Built and natural environmental elements may hold varying degrees of significance and priority within an urban space. At the same time, the subcategories of physical environmental components may form different classifications in human perception. This concept is highly open to change and development. While experiencing the physical environment, humans employ all five senses in combination with their cognition and individual perception. In perceiving urban space, the synthesis of human perception and cognition drives the process. During this process, the physical environment may undergo transformation. Simultaneously, human perception may also shift depending on the frequency of experience. The perception of a constantly experienced urban space differs in intensity and cognitive positioning from that of a rarely visited or newly encountered environment. This leads to varying levels of salience in the human mind depending on the nature of the experience. The experience and perception of urban space by individuals constitute the starting point for a range of psycho-environmental behaviors. In this context, numerous syntactic and semantic methods have been employed in the literature. From past to present, these methods have been developed, sustained, and enriched through interdisciplinary efforts. Since both urban spaces and humans are dynamic concepts, the foundational elements that connect them will continue to evolve as long as urban environments and people exist. One of the primary methodological approaches that bring together urban space and human perception is the Cognitive Mapping method, originally introduced by Edward Tolman in 1948, rooted in the discipline of psychology. Today, cognitive mapping has become a widely used method in the fields xx of architecture and urban design. It plays a crucial role in enabling individuals to find their way within urban environments and to express the meanings and legibility of these spaces through the mental maps they construct. Through the data gathered, it is possible to perform syntactic and semantic analyses and interpretations of the factors influencing urban spatial perception. The subfields of psychology have consistently contributed to understanding the perception of urban space and continue to do so. Subdisciplines such as social psychology, human psychology, urban psychology, and environmental psychology all play a significant role in shaping discussions and practices in urban design and architecture. In light of all these concepts, murals an integral component of urban spaces play a significant role in the legibility of the city and their position within human perception. Murals, often located on building façades and executed on a large scale, can be defined as urban markers that emphasize specific areas in human cognition and contribute to making urban spaces more distinguishable. In the context of an individual's urban experience, murals may serve as supportive references that aid in better spatial perception and environmental understanding. Prior to and throughout the thesis study, an extensive interdisciplinary literature review was conducted. The evolution of interrelated concepts such as environmental psychology, place and space, wayfinding, environmental perception, and environmental cognition continues to develop in the literature today. Guided by past research and studies, the initial steps of this research aimed to establish a strong theoretical framework by defining key concepts and interpreting their historical development. Foundational studies in the fields of environmental cognition, perception, wayfinding, and spatial syntax have laid the groundwork for this study. Yeldeğirmeni Neighborhood in Kadıköy, Istanbul, to strengthen the theoretical basis. In addition, spatial syntax integration, axial mapping, and visibility graph analyses were carried out using spatial analysis software to evaluate the legibility of the urban space based on syntactic values. Finally, a cognitive mapping study, selected as the main methodological approach, was conducted with voluntary participants in the sample area. As the final stage of the study, the cognitive mapping exercise was conducted with participants selected according to the same criteria and profiles. In order to fully achieve the aim of the research, the mapping was carried out with voluntary participants who had either very limited prior experience or no experience at all with the area in question. The reason for selecting individuals with minimal or no prior experience was based on the idea that, when experiencing an urban space for the first time, the most prominent representations of the physical and natural environment in human perception could be more clearly identified thus making the study more robust. As a result of this research, it is suggested that in future efforts aimed at improving the legibility and perception of urban space, the role of murals as urban markers may hold greater potential and become even more influential in shaping the meanings of urban environments. As the study area, Kadıköy Yeldeğirmeni neighborhood, located in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul, was selected due to its relatively high number of murals, despite not being homogeneously distributed, and its medium-scale urban characteristics. The sample area is situated between regions of the city that experience intense circulation. It is within walking distance to key transportation hubs such as Ayrılıkçeşmesi Marmaray Station, Kadıköy Altıyol bus stop, Kadıköy coastal bus terminals, Kadıköy metro, and ferry pier. In general, circulation into the neighborhood predominantly occurs along the axes of Halitağa Street and Bahariye Street. In terms of topography, xxi although pedestrian access from the city's coastal area is technically possible, the steep slope of the terrain makes this route less favorable. Another heavily used access point has been observed to be Ayrılıkçeşmesi Marmaray Station. In summary, accessibility to the area tends to be preferred along east-west and south-north axes. From a typomorphological perspective, it is observed that most of the buildings consist of historically significant and protected structures built with wood and stone materials, often incorporating courtyard-based architectural systems. The neighborhood has preserved its unique cultural identity from the past to the present. In today's context, considering current socio-cultural profiles and conditions, the area maintains a more cult-like urban identity compared to central Kadıköy districts such as Moda and Caferağa. In addition to the interaction between building façades and the natural and built environment, the presence of murals significantly enriches the urban identity and offers a diverse experiential landscape. No start or end point instructions were given to the participants who contributed to the study. The general boundaries of the neighborhood were described, and they were asked to begin and end at any point they preferred. A total of 14 participants contributed to the study. After participants freely wandered around the area for 30 minutes without any directive, a two-stage cognitive mapping study was conducted. Each stage of the mapping process lasted 5 minutes, completing the entire activity in 10 minutes. In the first stage, participants were asked to draw on a blank A4 paper using a black pen. In the second stage, they were asked to switch to a red pen. The reason for conducting these two stages was to better identify the frequency values of prominence order in the mental representation of the urban space experienced by the participants. It was considered that a clearer identification could be achieved by categorizing all the representation products obtained. By examining the clearly identified streets, commercial buildings, schools, parks, and mural depictions, the main objective of the study was revealed through the question of which streets are more clearly defined in the human mind and whether there are murals along these street axes. In general, based on the results obtained, it was interpreted that the perception formed on a building facade by the natural and built environment, the facades of certain commercial buildings, murals, and wooden houses hold a prominent place in human perception. In another stage of the study, space syntax analysis was conducted in order to obtain numerical results from the data of the sample area. Emphasizing the relationship between the locations of murals and their intelligibility is important for the scope of the study. To fully capture the intelligibility values, integration, visual graph analysis (VGA), and axial map analyses were performed. These spatial syntax analyses were conducted using the DepthmapX software developed by Alasdair Turner. In the final stage of the study, a synthesis of these concepts and data was carried out through regression analysis using SPSS. Based on the threshold and frequency values generated, it is considered that the murals located in urban space not only contribute to the overall visibility values of the urban area but also cause significant changes in the visibility values of the specific locations in which they are situated. As a result of the study, the physical environment plays a significant role in how an urban space is cognitively defined in the human mind. It can be interpreted that the presence of murals considered urban indicators makes the surrounding environment more legible and defined. In summary, this study concludes that large-scale murals in urban areas have substantial influence not only in terms of urban aesthetics but also in the contexts of urban memory, wayfinding, and environmental behavior.