Extended Abstract
Introduction
Urban graphic design is one of the fundamental components of the visual identity of contemporary cities and plays a significant role in shaping citizens’ perception, understanding, and emotional experience of urban spaces. Through signs, symbols, advertisements, information boards, public art, colors, and wayfinding systems, urban graphics establish a visual communication network that influences both the physical appearance and social experience of cities. Consequently, urban graphic design has become an important instrument for creating attractive, meaningful, and human-centered urban environments. This role is closely associated with the concept of sense of place, which reflects the cognitive, emotional, and functional relationship individuals establish with their surrounding environment. Rasht, with its distinctive cultural identity, historical background, and environmental characteristics, provides an appropriate context for examining this relationship. Although the city possesses considerable cultural potential, challenges such as visual inconsistency, environmental disorder, and insufficient integration of graphic elements with local identity reduce the effectiveness of its urban visual environment. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship between the dimensions of urban graphic design and the enhancement of sense of place among the citizens of Rasht while identifying the dimensions that contribute most strongly to place attachment.
Methodology
This applied research employed a descriptive-analytical survey approach. The statistical population consisted of citizens of Rasht aged 18 years and older. Using Cochran’s sampling formula, a sample of 383 respondents was selected through stratified random sampling. Data were collected using a researcher-developed questionnaire designed to evaluate both the six dimensions of urban graphic design and the three dimensions of sense of place. Responses were measured on a five-point Likert scale ranging from very low to very high. Content validity was confirmed through expert evaluation by specialists in urban planning and urban design, while reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The overall alpha value of 0.706 indicated acceptable internal consistency. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics summarized the collected data, while Spearman correlation analysis examined the relationships between urban graphic dimensions and sense of place. The Friedman test was subsequently applied to rank the six dimensions according to their relative importance and perceived effectiveness.
Discussion and result
The findings reveal that all six dimensions of urban graphic design have positive and statistically significant relationships with sense of place among the citizens of Rasht, confirming the main hypothesis of the research. Among these dimensions, the economic dimension demonstrated the strongest relationship with sense of place, with a Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.571, indicating that graphic elements supporting tourism, commercial visibility, and economic activity substantially strengthen citizens’ attachment to urban environments. The Friedman test also identified significant differences among the six dimensions. The functional dimension achieved the highest mean score (3.86), followed by the semantic (3.09), economic (2.76), social (2.71), psychological (2.49), and environmental (2.07) dimensions. These findings indicate that urban graphics in Rasht perform effectively in practical functions such as navigation, orientation, and information delivery, enabling citizens to recognize important urban locations and move efficiently throughout the city. However, lower scores for the social, psychological, and environmental dimensions indicate that urban graphics have not yet fully succeeded in strengthening social cohesion, promoting emotional attachment, improving psychological comfort, or enhancing environmental quality. In particular, the environmental dimension received the lowest evaluation, suggesting that visual clutter, inconsistent signage, and inadequate harmony between graphic elements and the urban landscape continue to reduce environmental quality and visual coherence. Overall, the results indicate that although urban graphics effectively fulfill functional communication purposes, they have not fully developed into a comprehensive instrument capable of promoting cultural identity, emotional attachment, social interaction, and environmental sustainability.
Coclusion
The findings confirm that urban graphic design has a significant and positive influence on enhancing the sense of place among the citizens of Rasht, although the strength of this influence differs across dimensions. Functional aspects—particularly those related to wayfinding, navigation, and information systems—make the greatest contribution, whereas the environmental and psychological dimensions remain comparatively weak. These results demonstrate that urban graphics should no longer be regarded merely as decorative features or technical communication tools. Instead, they should be incorporated into urban planning and design as a comprehensive and multidimensional strategy capable of strengthening local identity, improving environmental quality, reducing visual pollution, promoting social interaction, supporting economic vitality, and reinforcing citizens’ emotional attachment to place. By adopting an integrated and context-sensitive approach to urban graphic design, municipalities can improve not only the visual organization and readability of urban environments but also the quality of citizens’ everyday experiences. Ultimately, effective urban graphics can serve as an important planning instrument for creating more coherent, attractive, sustainable, and human-centered cities while strengthening place identity, urban livability, and long-term sustainable urban development.