Kyiv metro and urban imageability: a student youth vision

Abstract

This paper aims to reveal and explain the role of metro stations in a post-socialist metropolis as nodes that determine the perception of the city. By means of Lynch-type mental maps, we sought to find whether metro stations really function as perceptual nodes concentrating urban functions and traffic, and how recent changes of urban built environment and functions induced by neoliberal policy are reflected in the public perception. The results are discussed in relation to transit-oriented development that considers public transport stations and spaces around them as community hubs. The study has confirmed the expectation that the metro system constitutes an important part of the urban image and often functions as a skeleton that is used to arrange and frame the mental map of the city. Most of the metro stations function as perceptual nodes concentrating a particular urban function (monofunctional nodes) or combination of different functions (multifunctional nodes). The current perception of nodal areas around the metro stations reflects the recent transformation of urban built environment and functions, including intense and sometimes aggressive commercialization, as well as deindustrialization, although the role of open green public spaces and waterfronts continues to be important. To promote economic development and produce a more comfortable living environment, the metro-related nodal areas need to balance different functions, resisting abusive commercialization and promoting, keeping, and creating open public spaces, green areas and heritage protections.