Regular geometry towards effective visitors wayfinding: a case study of KLCC vicinity

Abstract

In developed cities, large office buildings occupy the city centre thereby destroying the legibility of these areas. These areas confront with a lack of visibility and difficult cognitive map. As a regular spatial configuration, Squares have had an effect on the characteristics of urban space such as intelligibility, synergy and accessibility. The goal of this study is to identify the importance of geometry of space on legibility, cognitive map of visitors and wayfinding. Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) was chosen as a case study because of its historical and cultural significance. Importance should be placed on its preservation for the future especially for tourists. A model of KLCC has been developed within the square that combines streets and KLCC area. It has been used as proof of the concept for a Space Syntax model network analysis using axial analysis and observations. Meanwhile, this study investigates the views of visitors including 86 respondents using surveys and interviews. Results show that there is a negative correlation between cognitive map and urban stress. Furthermore, all quantitative and qualitative data suggest viable cognitive map due to applying regular geometry may strongly improve legibility. The results show that there was a moderate positive correlation between legibility and regular geometry in general. On the other hand, existing geometry had a negligible effect on legibility. The role of the square suggestion is more immediate in high integration in the vicinity of KLCC. Moreover, the square can provide context for PETRONAS Twin Tower as landmark and symbolic building. Square as regular geometry is a good way to increase viable cognitive map. It affects the legibility of urban space where wayfinding will more strongly confirm that visitors display sociability and accessibility interaction. An implication for architects, tourism managers and urban designers is that square as a regular geometry associated with landmarks increases legibility. As a result, viable cognitive map by regular geometry is associated with easy wayfinding which decreases stress.