Urbanity in the Educational Process. The Mental Maps of the City

Abstract

There are a lot of interdisciplinary subjects which combined theory and practice in the modern system of education. Urban studies are clearly one of the fruitful areas from this perspective as it helps students to analyze the retrospective aspects of the theory of the city as well as to study a modern metropolis in which they live. In order to ensure the analytical phase of learning, it is important to teach students how to employ the comparative method for comparing two extremes in the words of urban studies classics: the idealization of the city or its demonization.  As a result, students develop a balanced view on urban problems and are able to monitor them. An effective way to simultaneously study and mastering urban space is drawing mental maps. Youth mapping of the city presents a number of features: an attention to the communicative clusters (get--together), existential associations, the usage of solar principles, ignoring personalized locations. The findings help to understand the specifics of how modern people are embedded in urban space and represent apromising material for urban branding and rebranding.