The interpretation of an urban environment incorporates several perspectives that co-exist and interact to create an ultimate experience of an area. Contradictory views of a single region certainly exist however; together they create a single neighborhood because each district integrates different perceptions to generate a single experience. Although the appearance and performance of the city are the traditional focus of urban planning, the city's population and economic resources are an important concern which creates entirely different observation viewpoints. Thus, contemporary city planning continues to focus on physical design, but also attempts to address the many long-range social and economic decisions that must be made. As a result, there are several thoughts and ideas portrayed in a single urban environment.

There are three forms of the city and therefore, three perspectives of the same urban environment. First, the diagrammatic view of the city which is simply a map of...