Wayfinding: The Geospatially Driven Growth Engine Every City Needs
An Upgrade You Can't Ignore......
When most people hear the word wayfinding, they picture signs that point from point A to point B. And that’s not wrong, those systems help people get where they need to go. But that’s only a fraction of what’s possible. True wayfinding isn’t just about navigation. It’s about connection and storytelling, helping people understand where they are, what’s around them, and how their journey fits into the larger story of a place.
Inspired by T-Kartor and their success with City Wayfinding in cities like London, Toronto, New York, and Cleveland, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what’s next. The conclusion I’ve come to is simple: most cities are just scratching the surface. Wayfinding isn’t something that happens to a city, it’s something cities and communities build together.
Fragmented Journeys, Missed Opportunities
Too often, cities approach wayfinding as a series of disconnected efforts. Transit systems design their own signage. Convention centers publish separate visitor maps. Local businesses create their own marketing materials, each working in isolation. Individually, these tools may work fine. But together, they create a fragmented experience.
The result is a city that feels disjointed. Residents get frustrated. Visitors feel lost. Local businesses miss out on valuable foot traffic. Mid-sized cities fall behind global leaders like London, Paris, Seoul, and New York, not because they lack energy or culture, but because moving through them doesn’t feel connected. And that fragmentation doesn’t just affect convenience. It directly impacts economic growth, tourism, civic pride, and a city’s ability to compete globally.
Cities as Connected Ecosystems
Now imagine something different. A city where every journey to work, to school, to shop, to explore, feels seamless, intuitive, and inspiring. A city that empowers residents, captivates visitors, and attracts businesses ready to invest and grow.
In a truly connected city, every pathway tells a story. Streets become corridors of discovery. Districts pulse with local identity. Information isn’t just displayed, it’s shared, interpreted, and alive.
When wayfinding is done right, it becomes much more than a collection of signs and maps. It pulls people toward the shops, parks, museums, and restaurants they love. It fuels economic growth by linking people to local businesses. It reveals a city’s character, its culture, creativity, and charm. And it builds pride, creating places that people want to live in, invest in, and return to repeatedly.
My Vision: A Whole-Systems Approach
The cities that thrive tomorrow will be those that embrace whole-systems thinking, uniting physical and digital, public and private, local and regional into one coherent experience.
This is more than signage or smart-city technology. It’s about creating a shared language that connects people to place. Imagine airports, transit networks, schools, cultural institutions, businesses, and public services working together to deliver one seamless journey. Imagine information that doesn’t just exist, but empowers, helping residents and visitors to move confidently, aiding emergency response, and giving civic leaders the insights to shape smarter growth.
Every sign, map, and digital touchpoint becomes part of a living story, one that deepens understanding, sparks curiosity, and celebrates what makes each city unique.
Why It Matters
When cities invest in integrated wayfinding, the impact is profound:
Economically, it attracts more visitors, extends their stays, and channels more revenue to local businesses.
Socially, it creates a more inclusive, accessible experience that builds confidence and pride.
Operationally, it strengthens safety and resilience by ensuring critical information is clear and coordinated.
Strategically, it positions the city as forward-thinking — ready for innovation, growth, and global competitiveness.
Ultimately, wayfinding makes information meaningful. It transforms movement into experience, and experience into connection.
An Invitation
These ideas come from the mind of a lifelong geospatial practitioner who believes geography, spatial science, and technology have a marketing problem, and this is our moment to fix it.
Let’s reimagine wayfinding not as an afterthought, but as strategic growth engine. Let’s bring together the public and private sectors, cultural institutions, transit agencies, businesses, and residents to build systems that connect people to the places and spaces they love.
Let’s create cities that are easier to navigate, richer to experience, and stronger in identity. Because when a city tells one clear, unified story where everyone finds their place.