Five arterial routes of Belfast: commercial signage photographed within the context of the built environment

Abstract

This thesis investigates signage in the built environment to determine how it may be representative of underlying socio-economic and cultural themes of place. Using a multi-sited case study, it examines commercial signage in five arterial routes of Belfast; the Antrim Road, Falls Road, Lisburn Road, Newtownards Road and Ormeau Road. The research evaluates signage from the macro level of the built environment, through the meso level, aggregates of signs, to the micro level, qualities of signs, demonstrating how they work together to create the perceived environmental image of place.

Findings demonstrate a correlation between observations on signage, the built environment and socio-economic and cultural themes of place. The research contributes to an existing body of knowledge and ongoing investigations into urban signage, demonstrating that alongside its primary functions of naming places, defining spaces, directing, warning, and generally making the urban environment legible, it is also a plentiful, accessible and reliable environmental indicator of the nature of urban places. Findings have the potential to impact on policy and practice, informing them of the value of retaining place-specific semiotic codes on commercial signs.

This interdisciplinary investigation has resulted in a body of knowledge and visual archive which an analysis of signage as an isolated artefact would not have done. The methodology has the potential for application to cities globally and could prove useful to urban researchers from many fields, who may align these methods to suit extraction of data pertinent to their needs. The images used, more than a thousand in total, provide a lasting historical archive of the city, against which future research may be positioned.

Date of Award	May 2015
Original language	English
Supervisor	John Mc Millan (Supervisor), Liam Mc Comish (Supervisor) & Ian Montgomery (Supervisor)