Abstract
Rapid economic development in Korea caused functions of city functions such as concentration of population, deterioration of the quality of living environment and traffic congestion. Korean cities have lost their identity becausr they are merged functionally and physically with neighboring cities, forming one mesa-city. Unified shape and disorganized streets of cities often cause confusion among foreigners and visitors. It is very difficult for them to find their image in strange cities. It is, however, important to correctly analyze the image and meaning of cities for understanding its identity. The purpose of this study is to develop a method to analyze the city image by focusing on some of the main cities in Korea. For this purpose, the adjective questionnaire and multi-dimension scaling (MDS) are applied to the analysis of city image. Image analysis graph by MDS can visually present the general and integrate images. The results of this study are summarized as follows: The important factors for interpretation of city image are historical and industrial character. Seoul, Taegu and Pusan have industrial and complex city images. Kongju has historical city image, while Changwon has a modern image. Chuncheon belongs to a soft and small image. Each city has an alternative solution against a negative image, according to the image analysis graph.