Explorando cognitivamente el espacio urbano. Un estudio empírico sobre la integración del conocimiento espacial.

Abstract

The dependence on cars for urban mobility and the exponential increase in traffic and urban infrastructure to sustain traffic have lead to an encapsulated way of life, where the connection with the natural environment is much more reduced and programmed. In a previous study, a process based on estimating distances showed that children who move around their city by automobile do not appreciate their environment as a spatial continuum, but rather as a series of independent spaces that are reached by automobile or bus, thereby evidencing a different way of conceptualizing urban space in the light of different cognitive structures (Goluboff et al., 2002). The present study is concerned with the process of understanding and knowledge of urban space, and contrasting the cognitive structure of different groups. The implications that this study may have for urban planning are discussed.