are easily identifiable and are easily grouped into
an over-all pattern” (p. 3). A distinctive and ordered
environment helps the resident orient himself, place
parts of the city into coherent categories, and
acquire a sense of security that he can relate to the
surrounding urban world. Hence, the city should be
made “imageable,” both in the sense that it projects
distinctions and relationships that the observer
can comprehend and in the sense that it complies
with the observer’s “mental picture” of the city (p. 6).
Compared to Sitte, who favors spatial effects
(such as obliquely related streets entering a plaza)
whose explanation escapes the naive viewer, Lynch
suggests clearly comprehensible interrelationships,
even recommending perpendicular or other rectilinear
relationships that users can remember and
identify with.