Multilayer Reading of the Urban Environment as a Method of Studying Space Transformation

Abstract: The urban environment is undergoing significant transformations driven by a multitude of factors, raising methodological questions about forecasting these changes within the context of sustainable development. This article delves into the multifaceted realm of urban science, exploring how it scrutinizes urban spaces, the tools it employs, and the aspects it often overlooks. Contemporary urban science confronts the intricate web of constituents that comprise a city system and their intricate interplay. This complexity underscores the fragmentary and non-comprehensive nature of modern urban studies. The questions of what urban science is, from what point of view and with what tools it examines the urban space, and which phenomena are ignored or incompletely studied in that process were studied. Based on the complexity level of the constituent elements of the city system and the interrelationship of these elements, the non-comprehensive and fragmentary character of studies of modern urban science has been formulated, and "Reading" the city becomes an essential endeavor, unveiling the city's narrative, culture, and identity. This article contemplates the principles and methodologies of reading the urban landscape, recognizing it as a dynamic, ever-evolving text that we must interpret and comprehend. Article states the need for "reading" the city and form the "language" of the city applying the concept of "textuality" as an interdisciplinary method to study the space, as well as the principles and methods of reading the urban landscape. The study employs a multidisciplinary approach, bringing together diverse methods to shed light on the multifaceted urban landscape. This holistic and interdisciplinary approach is vital in addressing the dynamic challenges and opportunities posed by modern urbanization. Keywords: urbanism, landscape, transformation, identity, textuality,