Laura Šakaja održala je izlaganje na znanstvenom skupu Geographic information: for a better world, koji je organizirao EUROGEO – Društvo europskih geografa u suradnji sa Španjolskim geografskim društvom i Geografskim odsjekom Sveučilišta u Malagi. Skup je održan u Malagi 29.-30. rujna 2016. g. Naslov izlaganja je bio Non-Visual Conceptualization of Space: Elements of the Physical Form of the City in the Conception of the Blind Persons.
Sažetak izlaganja:
The paper aims to investigate the elements of the physical form of the city in the conception of the blind. It is based on 20 interviews carried out in Zagreb. Although the blind primarily rely on information on the area closest to their bodies, the general concept of space is extremely important to them. Their conceptual image of the area provides movement that is more successful and helps to avoid disorientation. Research indicates that the perception of blind persons of city space is made up of the same elements that Kevin Lynch singled out, analysing perceptual forms of urban environments in his influential book (1960). The paper argues that a blind persons’ conceptual image of urban space, just as the image of the city which people with sight have, consists of certain spatial elements: landmarks, routs, edges, nodes and districts. These elements, however, are conceptualised in a different way.
