Wayfinding Citichat 16 March 2007

CITICHAT 10/2007 - 16 March 2007


Wayfinding

Ever been totally lost in a city? I certainly had that experience a number of times quite some years ago now in some far- and middle-eastern cities and towns where street signage, designed for locals only, was incomprehensible.

Then, also some years back I was greatly impressed by the downtown signage developed by the Philadelphia Centre City District (what we would call a City Improvement District (CID).The highly legible coloured signage fixed to street poles located the viewer of the sign in relation to the various precincts in the centre city. But what was really innovative was that the map of the centre city was always the right way up for the viewer. No struggling to check where north was or standing on your head to determine in which direction you should be going. Philadelphia seemed to have started quite a trend in city signage and over the years a variety of cities have developed some really innovative ‘wayfinding’ systems.

Calgary, for example, developed a series of symbols that are a reminder of their history as well as being a functional directional guide – their symbols combine the star constellation circles of the local Indian tribe (Blackfoot) with a white rodeo hat symbol. Circle patterns are then used to indicate walking paths on maps but also physically on the footways. The closest we have to this is the electric sowing machine patterns inlaid in the pavements designating the Fashion District. Lately, we have the ‘storyboards’ which provide a history of buildings (many no longer there) and events in Main Street.

“Wayfinding means knowing where you are, knowing your destination, following the best route, recognizing your destination, and finding your way back. When people cannot do these things, outside or inside, we say they are disoriented. Since disorientation has significant negative consequences, both for individuals and for the organizations that serve them, easy navigation benefits everyone.”

I gather that the term ‘wayfinding’ was first coined in a1960s book "Image of the City". written by researcher Kevin Lynch. Then In 1984 environmental psychologist Romedi Passini published "Wayfinding in Architecture" and expanded the concept to include signage and other graphic communication, clues inherent in buildings’ spatial grammar, logical space planning, audible communication, tactile elements, and provision for special-needs users.

“ A good pedestrian sign system will show us the way, providing enough

information for us to set off on foot – whilst leaving specific incidents and

exploratory details up to the walker’s own mood and imagination.”



I was reminded of all this twice yesterday – the first time through a discussion with one of the city’s planners whilst looking at a map of the inner city. We were talking about the need to determine the various precincts that have developed in the city by defining their edges.



The second was through an e-mail I received from the Central London Partnership entitled ‘Legible London’. It starts with the premise that, whilst London is one of the most fascinating cities in the world to explore on foot, it is also quite confusing to navigate around. Taking the opportunity of London’s host city status for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games ‘Legible London’ intends to implement a new wayfinding system in key areas of the city over the next five years. The objective of the initiative is to encourage more walking and to improve pedestrian navigation throughout the city. “Many Londoners are attracted by the idea of walking more: for their health, the environment and their quality of life. More people taking to the streets also benefits local businesses, creates safer places and reduces pressure on public transport. Improved signage and wayfinding for pedestrians is also a high priority for London’s business community.”



In an online survey that was carried out by the organization, 45% of respondents found that current London signage systems are unpredictable; 46% felt that they know less than 10% of London and 62% are willing to walk for up to an hour of every day. I would think that our comparative figure for the first statement would be 99%. Our pavements are cluttered with all sorts of confusing signage often with nothing that is really relevant. Then there are the broken signs, the graffiti covered signs and the many places that there are simply no signs.



So how is Legible London going about their new approach? Well first of all they organized a consultation workshop for public and private ‘implementation partners ’ in June last year. “A city-wide wayfinding system has to work for its users, but it also needs to be driven and supported by a variety of stakeholders, including local authotrities, developers and the wider business community, business improvement districts and city-wide organizations ” They then ran a Legible London exhibition over a 6 month period and encouraged all and sundry to air their views on how signage in London could be improved via an associated website. In parallel they developed a number of pilot schemes to test various concepts and are now having extensive briefing events with key organizations from all over London.



The basic goals of a wayfinding system should include communicating to a multilingual audience by creating images that are appropriate and legible. Strikes me that 2010 is a good reason to do something serious about this issue – hopefully there will be thousands of visitors in the inner city and we owe them a clearly wayfinding system. It should be considered a legacy project because it will be of great ultimate benefit to all city users. But please not what we did in Sandton for the World Summit some years back. Then all we did was put new street name signs up – boring! We need something innovative, clear, the right information at the right time and place (what they call ‘progressive disclosure’) not a regurgitation of the unimaginative and confusing systems of yesteryear.



Ciao, neil

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