Linking Wayfinding and Wayfaring

In this chapter we propose to expand and enhance the understanding of wayfi nding beyond the strictly “instrumental” (i.e., getting from point A to point B), to include the qualities and multi-sensorial inputs that inform and shape people’s movement through space. We take as a point of departure the concept of wayfi nding offered by Hunter and colleagues in the introductory chapter as “a process by which people use environmental information to locate themselves and fi nd the way from place to place” (see Chap. 1 , Sect. 1.2 ). Our contribution is to offer a widened understanding of the key notion of environmental information , which includes the embodied, multi-sensorial experience of moving through physical space. We base our examination
in part on the classic positions of the wayfi nding literature—for example,
Lynch’s seminal study, The Image of the City ( 1960 ). However, we also examine the so-called mobilities turn in which mobility is viewed as a complex, multilayered process that entails much more than simply getting from point A to point B (see Cresswell 2006 ; Jensen 2013 ; Urry 2007 ).The structure of the chapter is simple: We fi rst introduce the concepts that are key to linking wayfi nding and wayfaring. Then we explore the concept of wayfaring (Ingold 2007 , 2011 ) as a key to understand embodied, multi-sensorial qualities of
movement. We conclude by discussing the implications of a wayfaring perspective on wayfi nding research, design, and policy making.