The Spatial Information Fields of Urban Consumers

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8963236
AutoresGeoffrey C Smith (autor correspondente)
Ano1976
Volume1
Fascículo2
Páginas175-175
Data de publicação1976-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoTransactions of the Institute of British Geographers (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0020-2754 • E-ISSN: 1475-5661
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2307/621982
OpenAlexW2335699199
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas18

This paper investigates the mental information that individuals hold of the spatial distribution of a set of environmental elements. Such information, within a defined areal unit, is termed a 'spatial information field'. The selected set of elements is grocery outlets and the specified areal unit is Hamilton, Ontario. Hypotheses are formulated to determine whether the spatial properties of the fields are related to length of residence in Hamilton and social status. The hypotheses are tested within a stepwise multiple regression framework. The findings suggest that length of residence and social status are each salient inputs to the formation of the spatial information fields. A MAJOR objective of current behavioural research is to identify and investigate the mental information that individuals hold of the spatial environment. Human geographers and researchers in allied disciplines characterize such information as the (cognitive) image or cognitive structure. For example, Downs explicitly defines the image as 'stored information' which is presumed to be the product of the process of collecting and coding information about the environment. It is believed that a knowledge of the spatial structure of the cognitive image will provide greater insights into the nature of man's decision-making activities and, ultimately, his overt spatial behaviour patterns. A number of reports have attempted to identify the cognitive images that individuals hold within the city. The levels of spatial aggregation include the city street,2 the neighbourhood,3 the central business district,4 and the entire city.5 A fundamental objective of this work is to discover the salient inputs to the formation of urban cognitive structure. Horton and Reynolds conceptualize an urban cognitive image as the product of four basic inputs.6 Two of the inputs are environmental: the objective spatial structure of the urban environment and residential location; while the other two inputs are characteristics of the individual: length of residence and social status. The environmental inputs have been investigated by several authors. Appleyard attempted to determine the relative effectiveness of various physical attributes of buildings in the formation of urban cognitive structure.7 He discovered that visibility attributes and the form attributes of external movement, contour, size, shape, and surface are significant indicators of whether the buildings are remembered. Harrison and Howard's findings suggest that the imageability of a city building is also dependent upon its physical location and culturally determined meaning.8 Heinmeyer's work on Amsterdam indicates that the cognitive image of the spatial extent of a town-centre is related to the individual's residential location within the urban system.9 Specifically, the greater the distance of the place of residence from the central area of Amsterdam, the greater the reported extent of the area. Klein's findings concerning resident cognitions of the spatial extent of Karlsruhe town-centre'o appear to corroborate Heinmeyer's conclusions. Horton and Reynolds investigated the effects of environmental inputs upon

Business · Economic geography · Geography · Remote sensing · Spatial analysis · Geographic Information Systems Studies · Land Use and Ecosystem Services · Urban Design and Spatial Analysis