Urban Agenda | Beyond Google Maps: How a signage system shapes our cities
Effective signage is essential for wayfinding, it also plays an important part in a city's branding. There is no standardisation of road signage across cities
Navigating Indian cities is often like embarking on a journey through a perplexing maze where the destination seems ever elusive. In the car-choked streets and on crowded footpaths, amidst the constant blaring of horns, one recurring challenge stands out: the deficiency in the clear directional cues for both motorists and pedestrians, making Indian cities what urban experts call highly ‘illegible’.

So, what is a legible city? Well, it is one where residents and visitors easily find their way around. This concept of a legible city, coined in 1960 by Kevin Lynch, an American urban planner, includes various aspects of urban design, including clear signage and intuitive layout.
Over the past decade, Indian cities have undertaken numerous urban rejuvenation programmes, including initiatives like place-making and street remodelling. However, there has been little focus on improving signage systems, which continue to face challenges such as inconsistency in sign sizes and placements, illegibility due to poor maintenance, and design disparities across various areas of a city.
“The signage system constitutes the image of a city and plays an important part in its branding," says Akash Hingorani, a Delhi-based urban designer. “A good signage system integrates both art and science, taking into account road design, speed limits, and distances. But unfortunately, there is no standardization of road signage across cities in India, which is essential for effective wayfinding.”
Indeed, cities like Bengaluru are characterised by a multitude of signs from different eras, varying in colours, often installed by multiple agencies. In Delhi, it's not uncommon to find signs placed on foot over bridges or obscured behind trees. A 2017 study by the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) revealed that over 75 per cent of road signs across the National Capital Region (NCR) were "nonstandard and wrongfully installed."
"In Delhi, road signs, which look like highway signs, are not in tune with the character of the city. Besides, I feel that if a city like Chennai suffers from a lack of them, Delhi has a problem of plenty, which is also problematic," says Manish Sharma, a graphic designer. "Too many signs only add to visual pollution."
Then, there's the issue of language on road signs.
Unlike in many cities New Delhi’s road signs offer information in multiple languages, including English, Hindi, Urdu, and Gurmukhi, but last year the city’s signage system hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. HT broke a story about several misspelled words in Gurmukhi (the Punjabi script) on green signage that dot parts of New Delhi.
Most of the current road signs in Delhi were put up in 2010 in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games by NDMC and PWD. NDMC officials say their signage conforms to the norms set by Indian Road Congress (IRC), an apex body of highway engineers in the country.
NDMC vice-chairman Satish Upadhyay said that the colour combinations on the road signage in the New Delhi region are based on the recommendations of the International Road Sign Guide according to which the signage indicating road names are in green colour and the identity of a place is marked in blue. "The maintenance, replacement, and upgradation of these signs is an ongoing process," he added
Experts say the role of an effective signage system go beyond facilitating wayfinding and smooth traffic flow. “ A well-designed signage system plays an important role in promoting walkability of a city and encourage the use of public transport," said Naresh Narasimhan, an architect and urban designer based in Bengaluru.
Hingorani says that the Metro and airports in the country boast some of the finest signage systems. "Most of them adhere to international standards and are scientifically designed. I believe that cities can learn from London in terms of developing and implementing an effective wayfinding programme,” he says.
Bristol, London, and Rio de Janeiro are among the cities that have developed some of the most efficient wayfinding systems.
London’s wayfinding system, called Legible London, was launched on a trial basis in Bond Street and implemented across the city just before the Olympic games in 2012. It was developed in response to a study that identified 32 separate pedestrian sign systems in central London, resulting in visual noise rather than reliable and coordinated information. The idea behind Legible London was to provide coordination across neighbourhoods and boroughs and integrate it with other transport modes.
In 2015, Rio also implemented a similar program—Walk Rio—with over 500 signs and map kiosks across the city to cater to the city’s 12 million residents and 6 million tourists."
Kevin Lynch, during his meticulous five-year study titled, The Image of the City, in 1960, on how individuals absorb information within urban environments, coined the term "wayfinding" and developed the idea of city legibility.
But do we need a signage system at all to make the city legible in this age of Google Maps? Experts argue that despite digital interventions, a city's signage system remains crucial for reliability, accessibility, local knowledge, road safety, aesthetics, and navigation in complex local environments.
“A city’s signage system is a scientific method of providing directions to a location without digital intervention. A good signage system offers tacit information and helps create a mental map of the city," says Yogesh Dandekar, a Pune-based information designer. Dandekar, known for designing signage systems for the Delhi Metro and Bengaluru Metro, is currently involved in developing signage for the upcoming Noida International Airport.
"An efficient signage system should make the city legible to all users, including those who are not literate. There is a need for urban planners, urban designers, architects, and information designers to collaborate closely to enhance our cities’ legibility," he adds. Hingorani agrees, “ A good signage system empowers citizens, and influences the way individuals perceive, experience, and interact with a city,” he says.
Narasimhan suggests that rather than adopting a Western signage system, which most cities have done, the country should develop an indigenous one tailored to the distinct needs of the Indian urban context.
"Traditionally, Indians navigate through landmarks, highlighting the necessity for a wayfinding system that considers these factors,” he says. “It's essential to engage with all road users, including delivery personnel, who now represent a significant and unique road user group, to develop an efficient indigenous wayfinding system.”
Manoj Sharma is a member of the the HT Urban Affairs, which brings to you each week a story about where we live and how it affects the way we live.
