Urban Imageability in Cinema
A Lynchian Reading of Paris
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17725758 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Zeynep Tarçın Turgay (0000-0001-8392-023X, Gebze Technical University, corresponding author), Mine Tunçok Sarıberberoğlu (0000-0002-6931-0539, Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-24 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Space and Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1206-3312 • E-ISSN: 1552-8308 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/12063312261427925 |
| OpenAlex | W7155502928 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 28 |
This article examines how urban imageability operates in cinema through Kevin Lynch’s approach, focusing on three Paris-set films. It investigates how cinematic representational strategies and narrative structures reorganize paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks to construct the on-screen urban image. The findings show that cinematic imageability is not a direct reflection of form but a product of how these elements function as representational agents with differing narrative weight. A comparative reading identifies two modes of cinematic imageability: a relational, movement-based mode in which elements are integrated into lived spatial experience, and a spectatorial, postcard-like mode in which isolated and aestheticized elements are visually consumed. Overall, the study argues that cinematic images depend less on which elements are present than on how distance, movement, bodily engagement, and framing are organized within narrative structures, extending Lynch’s framework into cinematic mediation and clarifying how cities are experienced or staged on screen
Construct (python library) · Framing (construction) · Function (biology) · Mode (computer interface) · Movie theater · Narrative · Reading (process) · Cinema and Media Studies · Spatial and Cultural Studies · Walter Benjamin Studies Compilation
| Highly cited | No |
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