Learning the CityEarly Experiences with Travel and the Development of the Cognitive Map

Andrew Mondschein, Ph.D., AICP

Department of Urban and Environmental Planning

School of Architecture

University of Virginia

Image: Franky Levy

Learning to Travel, Traveling to Learn

• Travel and exploration are developmental processes• How we travel and experience of the environment shapes what

we know• Adolescence is likely a critical stage in gaining urban-scaled

knowledge and experience• Early experiences will have long term effects

The Challenge and the Opportunity• Linking transportation/

urban planning and education/youth development

• Finding the right questions from both fields

• Tackling shared goals of individual and social welfare

Transportation Planning

• Transportation planning and engineering has been predicated for 100 years on increasing mobility.

Transportation Planning

• Redesigning the city to accommodate the automobile has been fundamental.

Transportation Planning

• Travel behavior is viewed from a microeconomic framework: minimizing costs, maximizing immediate benefits.

Transportation Planning

• Long-term effects have only relatively recently been incorporated into the framework:o Environment and sustainabilityoHealth

Recent Findings on Long-Term Travel Behavior• Habit

oRecent findings that “rational” choices skewed by habitual behavior.

oWalking and biking become more reliable after habituation.

Recent Findings on Long-Term Travel Behavior• Immigrant travel behavior

Youth Travel Behavior Research• Safe Routes to School• Fostering independent mobility

o To encourage walking and bikingoPotential effects on sense of community, safety, well-

being

• Emphasis on learning long-term sustainable travel behaviors.o Teen attitudes to cyclingoUnderstanding recent trends in youth mobility

Decline in Walking to School

Source: National Center for Safe Routes to School. 2011. How Children Get to School.

• Space as experienced by individuals

• Incomplete and error-prone, but error not random

• Within-group commonalities in cognitive maps

• Some youth research

“Cognitive mapping is a construct which encompasses those cognitive processes which enable people to acquire, code, store, recall, and manipulate information about the nature of their spatial environment. This information… is an essential component in the adaptive process of spatial decision making.” (Downs and Stea, 1974)

Cognitive Mapping

from Image of the City, Lynch (1960)

Cognitive Mapping and Travel

• Travel experiences are the primary source of spatial knowledge.

• Path-based conceptualization (Golledge and Stimson).

• Wayfinding – search, exploration, and path selection – facilitates spatial learning.

• “Choice points” are locations where travel decisions are made.

• Individuals retain greater knowledge of opportunities located at choice points.

Spatial Learning and Development

SurveyRoute

1 32Landmark

In this Study:Passive: Transit users and auto passengersActive: Auto drivers and walkers

“Cognitively” Active and Passive Travel

ActivePassive

• Survey of 196 adults in South Los Angeles

• In-person surveys in English and Spanish

• $10 Starbucks card incentive (Starbucks at shopping center)

• 15 verbal questions and 2 sketch maps

• Multiple and varied measures to capture information on:Travel modeSpatial knowledge / cognitive mappingSocio-economic status, spatial location

Methods and Design

Landmarks, Choice Points, and Mode of Travel

Rather than asking participants to draw a “static” cognitive map of the neighborhood or region, they were asked to draw the routes from one place to another.

Sketch Map:Home toSurvey Site

Sketch Map: Home to Survey Site

Sketch Map:Home toSurvey Site

“Sketch” Map

?

Mapping Methodology

How to analyze such diverse sketch maps?

Mapping Methodology

How to analyze such diverse sketch maps?

Break them in to their component parts.

Sketch Map Metrics

• Landmarks• Labels• Icons

• Routes• Segments• Choice Points

Sketch Map Metrics

• Landmarks• Labels• Icons

• Routes• Segments• Choice Points

Sketch Map Metrics

• Landmarks• Labels• Icons

• Routes• Segments• Choice Points

Sketch Map Metrics

• Landmarks• Labels• Icons

• Routes• Segments• Choice Points

Sketch Map Metrics

Landmark Icons and Labels

Choice Points=

• Comparable across varying distances• Tied to stages of spatial learning

Ratio of Landmark Elements to Choice Points

Home to Survey Site Survey Site to Los Angeles City Hall

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

PassiveMixedActive

34

Robust OLS:Combined Landmark/Choice Point Ratio

Model 1 Model 2Independent Variables Beta Sig. Beta Sig.Mixed Travel Style (vs. Passive) -0.453 0.038 -0.402 0.036Active Travel Style (vs. Passive) -0.569 0.012 -0.513 0.009Years in Neighborhood 0.195 0.122 0.201 0.090Education in Years 0.015 0.902Female -0.101 0.365African American 0.010 0.947Employment Status -0.072 0.579Student Status -0.078 0.596Age -0.165 0.149 -0.147 0.187Constant . 0.027 . 0.000

N 65 67F 1.90 2.95Prob > F 0.0709 0.0271R-squared 0.2511 0.2171

Describing: Home

Passive/Active

Street 0.96

Cross Street 0.98

Landmark 2.51

Describing: Work

Passive/Active

Street 0.79

Cross Street 0.77

Landmark 1.01

RelativeDistance

Which is closer? X or Y?

Passive travelers guessed wrong 16% more often than active travelers.

Variability in Distance Estimates to Los Angeles City Hall

Standard Deviation0

5

10

15

20

25

PassiveMixedActive

Controlling for Other Factors

Accuracy of the Distance Estimate Increases with:

Variable Sign of Effect on Deviation from Mean Distance

Active Travel Style (relative to Passive) ++

Mixed Travel Style (relative to Passive) +

Years in Neighborhood +

Currently Employed -

Currently Student -

Female Respondent --

African American Respondent -

Activity Spaces

• Torsten Hägerstrand (time-space geography)

• A measure of the experience of cities

• Higher correlation with long-term outcomes than traditional travel measures

• Content of an activity space matters as much as extent!

6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 26-300.0%

2.0%

4.0%

6.0%

8.0%

10.0%

12.0%

14.0%

16.0%

18.0%

20.0%

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

140.0

160.0

180.0

Changes in Travel during Childhood:Non-School Days, Southern California

Walking Rates Activity Space (sqkm)

Wal

king

Trip

s as

% o

f All

Trip

s

Activ

ity S

pace

Size

(sq.

km

.)

Data: Southern California Association of GovernmentsRegional Travel Survey

Findings and Implications• How we understand cities changes over the

lifespan, including knowledge of opportunities.• Reliance on landmarks is particularly important for

young adults.• Active (independent?) travel engages spatial

learning.• Urban “legibility” is different depending on travel

mode.• Planners need to treat travel as an integral part of

the broader urban experience, including for youth.

Future Directions• Transportation planning and youth development:

oPromoting more sustainable travel behavior through urban legibility

oRole of information technologies in youth traveloMeasuring the affective dimensions of the cognitive map

– safety, security, attachment, engagementoMeasuring youth activity spaces

Future Directions• Learning and travel:

oHow is spatial learning tied to overall development?

o Learning outside school?oHow can planners foster

independent mobility?oWhat are the effects of

different built environments?o Old suburbano New Urbanisto Transit-oriented development

o Linkages to social and psychological health

Thank You!