Objective:

This research study aims to examine the role of verbal instructions and non-vocal behavior, in order to explore the way people are oriented in urban space.

Method:

A descriptive and exploratory method was conducted. 75 adult people of different social strata, men and women, randomed selected were informaly interviewed about how to reach to a specific place, in different public places of Bogota. Research assistants who were in charge of data collecting, act as pedestrian recorded the conversation of the interviewee. Interviews were analyzed using Atlas.ti software.

Results:

Showed five categories of rules or instructions given by people whom were interviewed in relation with destinations, including the interpretation that could be made on non-vocal expressions.

Conclusions:

People structure their knowledge of urban space based on a system of verbal categories that have to do with the following of rules which are reflected in instructions and non-vocal or gestural communication in the form of corporal expressions. The implications of the study are discussed in the identification of rules that configure a spatial grammar, as opposed to cognitive models and neuroscience approaches, as well as the scope for urban planning and the teaching of special location.

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