Bíonn siúlach scéalach (walkers have stories to tell)

Walking as well as being an excellent way to get around, is a way of understanding our cities and our surroundings. It allows the city to be read. At a time when so much of life is mediated through screens, nudged along by algorithms that thrive on keeping us annoyed and distracted.

Walking is a quiet antidote to that. It reminds us that, more often than not, people tend towards decency rather than extremity. A nod or a brief smile, a small human acknowledgement from a stranger can have a disproportionate impact (Web designers would call these IRL Micro-interactions).

Health isn’t just physical. In cities especially, social isolation is a growing health issue. Wayfinding that encourages walking supports everyday mobility, but it also creates the conditions for connection, for familiarity, and for social wellbeing.

In that sense, wayfinding isn’t just about a nicely designed map. It’s about shaping how people move through the city day to day. To be fair to them, Dublin City Council has done some positive work in this area. The pedestrianisation of Capel Street and Parliament Street, and the widening of the footpaths on Francis Street, are all quietly transformational. As Dublin, and cities like it, continue to adapt to more mixed ways of getting around, walking, cycling, and hopefully decent public transport, good wayfinding gives people the confidence to walk more. It helps lay the foundations for smarter transport policy, better use of data, and a more meaningful commitment to health and wellbeing, rather than just paying it lip service.

The seanfhocal above, Bíonn siúlach scéalach, loosely translates as walkers, or travellers, have stories to tell. I first came across it during a wayfinding, placemaking and art project we worked on with the artist Michelle Browne back in 2014 (see the video 5:48). Hopefully, in the years ahead, we’ll all do a bit more walking, gather a few more stories, and take the time to share them with one another.

*The video above was shot by Paddy Cahill as part of his Dublin Cycling Stories, Paddy was a documentary director primarily making films about art and architecture.