A phenomenological understanding of an image of a city: touching water in waterfront cities

Abstract

This thesis attempts to grasp the creation of an image of a city, taking the case of waterfront cities where the presence of water becomes a sense of place. A phenomenological method was employed for investigating actual waterfront cities: Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco. Although a single method has yet to be established for studying a sense of place, phenomenology was adopted because it deals with the relationship between an environment and the experience of that environment. This thesis found some common qualities between these cities in their forms. These qualities seem to have a certain relationship to the creation of the images of these waterfront cities. This study also brought up the question of how to evaluate personal experiences phenomenologically. They are related to the basis of this thesis. This shows us the difficulty of practicing the phenomenology and the profundity of studying an image of a city. At the same time, it is a step for further study.