5: Wayfinding in Urban Environments

Human wayfinding in urban environments is a common yet important and relatively complex activity that occurs when urban structure meets individual cognitive and behavioral capabilities. Accordingly, this review begins with a quick overview of city structure, delves into the cognitive realm of spatial knowledge, and concludes with an examination of wayfinding in urban settings, including a look at situations in which orientation does not work well. The point is that urban traffic patterns, pedestrian habits, and, above all, efforts to change these must be anchored to some extent in an understanding of the cognitive and behavioral bases for our movement.