Image of the City

The cultural attributes of architecture in touristic cities are vital to city image building, city branding, and rebranding, as well as generating more economic profits for sustainable urban development, and protecting cultural sustainability. However, many studies on this theme focus on the singularity of architecture referring to its stylistic or morphological definitions, lacking attention to visitors' cultural experiences in the architectures. Considering the importance of personal experience involved in cultural activities as a process of spatial narration through which architecture makes sense to visitors and generates cultural values, the aim of this paper is to reveal the respective correlations between different types of architecture regarding the cultural experience it imparts and the non-positive dimensions of the city image. This research builds a categorization system of three cultural types of architecture, and designs a questionnaire to collect tourists' personal opinions concerning architectures and the city image of Amsterdam's waterfront in order to calculate such correlations statistically. The results associate architectures with 'tourism-oriented', 'present/process-based', and 'mass' cultural types with non-positive dimensions of city image, which leads to further discussions of 'authenticity', 'identity', and 'mass culture', suggesting the significance of urban cultural policies and local communities in terms of city rebranding.

Being visual narratives, cognitive maps reveal important aspects of the life worlds of city residents with migrant backgrounds. The urban images of Turkish migrants in Aachen (Germany) and The Hague (The Netherlands) have been explored in a comparative study. 52 participants from Aachen and 49 from The Hague drew maps of their city on a white A3-sized blank piece of paper. Participants were asked to show as many details as they were able to. The analysis of the maps con-tained quantitative as well as qualitative aspects. The maps were explored accor-ding to the type, number, and geographical distribution of the components. Each component on the cognitive maps was counted and categorized and the findings were mapped. The results confirm the significance of the city center in urban image formation, but display differences in the importance of one's own migrant neighborhood. Furthermore, living in a migrant neighborhood in most cases corre-lates with a more limited urban image, compared to living in a neighborhood with fewer migrants. Finally, gender differences in the urban images occur in both ci-ties.

This paper addresses problems concerning
public space in the contemporary city, focusing
on issues of privatisation, internalisation,
disconnection and new forms of integration.
Looking at the emerging nodes of public engagement
in our cities, post-consumerist shopping enclosures,
and the contribution of digital media, it discusses
conception, representation and production of urban
space in the expanding mixed reality. Through
theoretical speculation supported by evidence, it
highlights new recombinant factors emerging in
the conception, perception and experience of urban
public space. These factors counteract the increasing
fragmentation and disjunction of urban places and
the progressive commodification of the commons.
The study uses social network data documenting
public experiences, perceptions and conceptions
of public space in relation to mental constructs,
social lives and shared spatial interpretations. These
sources offer invaluable empirical evidence to the
complex discourse on public space condition in the
digital age, complementing the wide critical and
theoretical elaborations of the aspects concerning
control, displacement, spectacle and illusion. The
use of Instagram allows access to spatially rooted
communication, including presence (space and time
attributes) and/or reference (place tagging). This kind
of communication intimately connects the public
realm to the public sphere, potentially contributing
to “remember” the political dimension of the social
“multitude.” The paper presents the preliminary
findings of an investigation on a selected sample of
Auckland town centres, involving researchers in a
hermeneutic process that embeds them within the
widest range of stakeholders of local and transient
communities. It experimentally uses new analytical
tools to evaluate iconographic-based data on social
life in key spaces of consumption, ultimately
confirming the hypothesis that there are multiple
correlations between those everyday practic

The article is devoted to the subject of introduction identity theory into the context of architecture research. For that purpose, it is suggested to introduce a new term-" architectural and artistic identity of a city " , which is basically a system of city area projections that are called " layers ". The article consequently considers seven layers forming the system of architectural and artistic identity of any city, and reveals distinguishing characteristics of every layer as well as its composition. The following is the list of layers forming city architectural and artistic identity: structural-framed layer – one of projections of urban environment identity, shaped by city roads; primary elements of such projection are odd-shaped land plots;  oronymic layer – one of projections of urban environment identity, built upon the system of city highlands; primary element of such projection is town-planning location of an object in relation to city landscape structure;  city landmarks layer – one of projections of urban environment identity, formed by volumetric-spatial structure of a city; primary elements of such projection are architectural dominants;  toponymic layer – one of projections of urban environment identity, realized through volumetric-planning features of a city; primary elements of such projection are common names of different objects and components of urban environment;  non-administrative zoning layer – one of projections of urban environment identity, formed by borders of city non-administrative residential areas; primary elements of such projection are the area's symbolism and its community center;  artistic-aesthetic layer – one of projections of urban environment identity, externalized by artistic creations, devoted to a city; primary elements of such projection are different " city " themes;  sociocultural layer – one of projections of urban environment identity, modeled by citizens' attitude towards the city; primary elements of such projection are city landmarks.

(Художественная идентичность Екатеринбурга)
The article is devoted to the term of city artistic identity that is examined through the example of Ekaterinburg, as well as to description of basic elements of Ekaterinburg city structure, which can be used for uncovering city artistic identity.
The author separates these elements into separate layers. Structural-framed layer is a street and road network of the city; relief layer is devoted to mountains; city landmarks layer consists of landmarks and dominants; toponymic layer contains information on city toponymy; non-administrative zoning layer contains information on conventional borders of conceptual units of city planning structure; artistic-aesthetic layer contains information about how aristocracy of talent regards the city; sociocultural layer rests on opinion of citizens and guests of the city only, it describes their perception of what is beautiful in the city.
The author leaves the list of layers open, and suggests the reader to engage itself in the search of artistic identity.
The article is intended for architects or anyone interested in the matters of city image.

ABSTRACT: Cities in Turkey have turned into identical localities in terms of social, economic, cultural, political and architectural since the 1980s, when the phenomenon of urbanization took place quickly and intensely. This created a new competition among the cities. Especially since the beginning of the 2000s, positioning studies on urban perception in metropolitan cities have been among the priority agendas of the local administrators. Today, this process has turned into the competition of many large and small cities. Therefore, the city image consisting of many sub-dimensions and the general perception about the city constitute one of the main subjects of this competition.
This study reveals the definitions of university students from outside the city about the image of Gümüşhane and accordingly their general perceptions about Gümüşhane. Almost half of Gümüşhane's population is students. In this respect, students have an important place in the social, cultural, economic and political structure of Gümüşhane. Therefore, students' impressions about the Gümüşhane are important in terms of the brand value of the Gümüşhane which aims to be a university town. A multiple scale was used in the study. This scale contains the tangible and intangible image values of Gümüşhane in the minds of students who are not Gümüşhane and impression of students about the people of Gümüşhane, and the general perceptions of the students about Gümüşhane. The number of students to be interviewed from faculties
and vocational schools was determined by quota sampling method. Students in faculties and vocational colleges were interviewed by convenience sampling method. A total of 440 participants were interviewed and some of these interviews were cancelled for reliability reasons and a total of 424 interviews were analysed. The research findings show that image dimensions of Gümüşhane positively affect the general perceptions of university students to Gümüşhane and that the tangible image generally has a higher effect on these perceptions.
Key words: image, reputation, perception, Gümüşhane, university,

ÖZET: Şehirleşme olgusunun hızlı ve yoğun bir şekilde yaşanmaya başladığı 1980’li yıllardan itibaren  Türkiye’deki şehirler sosyal, ekonomik, kültürel, siyasal ve mimari açıdan birbirinin aynısı olan mekanlara dönüşmüştür. Bu durum, şehirler arasında zamanla yaşanmaya başlayan ve gelişen yeni bir rekabete neden olmuştur. Özellikle 2000’li yılların başından itibaren büyükşehirlerde şehir algısı üzerine yapılan  onumlandırma
çalışmaları, yerel yöneticilerin öncelikli gündemleri arasına girmiştir. Bu yaklaşım genişleyerek günümüzde büyüklü-küçüklü çok sayıda şehrin rekabetine dönüşmüştür. Dolayısıyla birçok alt boyuttan oluşan şehir imajı ve şehir hakkındaki genel algı bu rekabetin ana konularından birini oluşturmaktadır.
Bu çalışmada, şehir dışından gelen üniversite öğrencilerinin Gümüşhane İlinin imajıyla ilgili tanımlamaları ve buna bağlı olarak Gümüşhane hakkındaki genel algıları ele alınmaktadır. Şehir nüfusunun yaklaşık olarak yarısının öğrenci olduğu Gümüşhane’nin sosyal, kültürel, ekonomik ve siyasal yapısında öğrencilerin önemli bir yeri vardır. Dolayısıyla öğrenci kenti olmayı hedefleyen Gümüşhane için öğrencilerin şehir hakkındaki izlenimleri şehrin taşıyacağı marka değeri açısından önem taşımaktadır. Çalışmada Gümüşhaneli olmayan öğrencilerin zihninde Gümüşhane İlinin somut ve soyut imaj değerlerini, Gümüşhane halkının bıraktığı izlenimi ve öğrencilerin Gümüşhane’yle ilgili genel algılarını içeren çoklu bir ölçek kullanılmıştır. Araştırmada kota örnekleme yöntemiyle fakülte ve meslek yüksekokullarında görüşülecek öğrenci
sayıları belirlenmiştir. Fakülte ve meslek yüksekokullarındaki öğrencilere ise kolayda örnekleme yöntemiyle ulaşılmıştır. Toplam 440 katılımcıyla gerçekleştirilen araştırmada güvenilirlik gerekçesiyle bir kısım görüşmeler iptal edilmiş ve toplam 424 görüşmeden elde edilen verilerin analizi yapılmıştır. Araştırma bulguları, Gümüşhane imaj boyutlarının üniversite öğrencilerinin Gümüşhane’ye olan genel algılarını pozitif yönlü olarak etkilediğini ve genellikle somut imaj değerinin bu algılar üzerinde daha yüksek bir etkiye sahip olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: imaj, itibar, algı, Gümüşhane, üniversite,

The article discusses the possibility of using urban toponyms for the
rational formation of the city's image. Basing on examples of  Yekaterinburg toponymy the authors focus on specific urban names and show the potential approaches to analyzing the actual image of the city, and the possibility of its correction and development. In particular, it is discussed how the key characteristics important for positioning the city and rational formation of its image are refracted in the city toponymy. Reasons for the backlog of toponymic practices from the modern requests of urban development are being noted.