The Image of the City is a 1960 book by American urban theorist Kevin Lynch.

The book is the result of a five-year study of Boston, Jersey City and Los Angeles on how observers take in information of the city, and use it to make mental maps.

Lynch's conclusion was that people formed mental maps of their surroundings consisting of five basic elements.

Contributing to those images are five qualities which Lynch identifies as Paths, Edges, Districts, Nodes, and Landmarks.

Researchers that include Amos Rapoport, Claire Cooper Marcus, Oscar Newman, William H. Whyte, Kenneth Craik and Donald Appleyard.