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Wayfinding, Landmarks

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Encyclopedia of GIS

Synonyms

Anchor points; Cognitive mapping; Navigation aid; Organizing concept; Trichotomous theory of landmarks; Survey knowledge; Typology of landmarks

Definition

A landmark is a prominent element or location in an environment that serves to define the location of other elements or locations. A landmark can serve as an organizing feature or as a navigational aid and can be characterized by its visual, structural and semantic features [1]. Landmarks, or anchor points, are used in two fundamentally different ways [2]. First, a landmark can be used as an organizing concept for an environment. In this way, a landmark can be used in part to define a neighborhood. Second, landmarks can serve as navigational aids by providing choice points along a route of travel, confirmation of the correct route of travel, verification of arrival at the destination, or evidence of the present orientation in the case of distal landmarks.

Landmarks are set apart from non-landmarks by a number of...

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Recommended Reading

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Stephen C. Hirtle

Authors
  1. Stephen C. Hirtle
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Shashi Shekhar (McKnight Distinguished University Professor) (McKnight Distinguished University Professor)

  2. Management Science and Information Systems Department, Rutgers Business School Newark and New Brunswick Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA

    Hui Xiong (Assistant Professor) (Assistant Professor)

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© 2008 Springer-Verlag

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Hirtle, S. (2008). Wayfinding, Landmarks. In: Shekhar, S., Xiong, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of GIS. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35973-1_1471

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