Emotion maps are a kind of thematic maps used to represent emotions. They depict the spatial distribution of complex emotions of a large group of people. The purpose of an emotion map is to represent and depict the relationships between emotions and geographical locations. Such maps can help to answer various questions about how people feel in different places. Emotion mapping in urban environments is particularly important as such environments are typically densely populated and heavily used, and present complex emotional interconnections with specific places. Three Šančiai emotion maps were created as the result of content analysis of text entries in the interactive online maps by the residents and visitors of Šančiai. The maps demonstrate both type and polarity (positive or negative) of emotions and allow making the conclusions about: diversity of experienced emotions in the area, predominant emotions, the proportions between emotions that can be considered as negative and positive, the locations that are the most and the least related with emotional experiences, the emotional responses to different aspects of place, such like heritage, public spaces, nature etc. Paragraphing famous American sustainability and environment activist and actress Daryl Hannah, it's not necessary to go far and wide, you can really find exciting and inspiring things within your neighbourhood. Šančiai emotion maps is a scientific quantitative and qualitative proof of this statement. The maps of Šančiai are the result of the project "Genius loci: urbanization and civil community".

The maps were created by the KTU Faculty of Construction and Architecture and the community of Šančiai.

* Website developers: Carolina Pailhe, Barbara Ackermann and Naglis Jonaitis*

The theory of Space Syntax examines how the network of urban spaces and places works by using mathematical models and the analysis of people's behavior in the city. "The Syntax of Space consists of two parts: on the one hand, (it is) a theory of how the spatial form of cities is shaped by spatial laws that link the emergence of characteristic patterns of urban space to cognitive, as well as social and economic factors; on the other hand, (it is) a theory of how emergent patterns of space shape movement, and through that shape patterns of land use…” (Bill Hillier). According to the architect and theoretician Bill Hillier, urban space is a container of social content. This theory, which has been tested in many scientific researches and projects, is also used to understand Šančiai. Two types of data were used in the study: open (street and path network, buildings, allocation of shops and public facilities, building heights, etc.) and information provided by the residents and guests of Šančiai - it allowed to supplement the common models of Space Syntax with "local knowledge" and thus to better understand Features of the spatial structure of the territory. Five maps examine how Šančiai are functioning when people travel to shops, to public facilities and to important for them places of memory, current activities and nature. Each of the maps shows: • The largest concentration of the investigated objects (shops, memory sites, etc.); • The highest gravity field created by the investigated objects; • Streets which are usually chosen for trips on foot when traveling to the objects considered on the map; • The so-called "legibility" of buildings when moving towards the investigated objects, which is higher the more people pass by the building, the more often it is seen at the end of a straight street section and the higher it is. Juxtaposing the five maps with each other reveals the heterogeneity of the Šančiai area, which reflects the rich local history and should not be reduced to a homogenic urban fabric; the fact that the shops located on Juozapavičius Avenue are easily accessible from the entire territory of Žemieji Šančiai; that the Nemunas bank is very important not only as a natural oasis, which is easily accessible on foot from Juozapavičius Avenue, but also as an area for common activities of residents; that the history of Šančiai which is of high importance for people and the heritage representing it, are hidden not so much in the XIX century buildings military heritage, but in narrow streets of historical residential zone, etc. Five maps show how allocation of public and commercial objects, memory places, activities in public spaces and nature places affect structure of Šančiai.

The maps were created by the KTU Faculty of Construction and Architecture and the community of Šančiai.

* Website developers: Carolina Pailhe, Barbara Ackermann and Naglis Jonaitis*