What Makes a Successful Urban Street Sign?

Keywords: cultural landscape, urban geography, geographic names
Session Type: Virtual Poster Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 57

Abstract

Street signs were devised to provide wayfinding information for those trying to navigate geographic space. Over the past fifty years, however, that role has been eclipsed by aesthetic, cultural, and economic services. Street signs are ubiquitous elements of the urban landscape, but each city now seeks to make its own street signs special, often by adding unique design elements and information. An original model of street sign form and function is structured around the themes of cultural convergence and cultural divergence. It is accompanied by over 20 site documents (i.e., photographs) which are presented and analyzed under the following dyads: place making/branding, memorability/meaning, cultural change/cultural preservation. The site documents are drawn from 11 countries (Thailand, Mexico, Cuba, U.S., Canada, Spain, France, England, Slovenia, Georgia) and 7 U.S. states (Colorado, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia). Included is one of the most recent street re-namings: U.S. Highway 1 running through Fredericksburg, Virginia, officially re-branded itself as Patriot Highway on January 1, 2022. Its former name? Jefferson Davis Highway. An answer to the research question (poster title) is formulated on the basis of several decades of observation of the cultural landscape: Successful urban street names have the ability to assist wayfinding, enhance community aesthetics, orient visitors and newcomers, segment space into districts, highlight pride of place, build public memory, serve as aides memoires, accentuate unique narratives, validate unheard voices, preserve cultural traditions, reflect societal values, affirm linguistic preferences, brand urbanism as a way of life, accommodate digital technologies, and sustain revisions.