Author(s)

Havva Alkan Bala

Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture, Konya, Turkey.

A signal or a symbol has been sent with conscious. Urban space has signified elements like landmark. Landmarks as references signs orient the people. Landmarks are defined as an external point of reference that helps orienting in a familiar or an unfamiliar environment. This study is about to clear out the meaning of landmark for the city users who have perceived reference point with their memory and perception. In other words, this study is about discovering how the city affects the people who experience the urban space within semiotic of landmarks in Konya, Turkey. The method of this study is photo-elicitation to understand how people orient themselves in moving within urban space considering landmarks. Analysis of interview texts, there were six different type of landmarks as; city memory-historical, city landscape/ square, high rise/skyscraper, daily life/city usage, personal memory/personal perception, circulation pattern. In this study the semiology of communication studies codes established by society to produce messages consciously sent and received as signals, signs and symbols.

Landmark, Signs, Urban Space, Konya

Bala, H. (2016) Landmarks in Urban Space as Signs. Current Urban Studies, 4, 409-429. doi: 10.4236/cus.2016.44027.