Road Signs: Geosemiotics and Human Mobility

Abstract

In order to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art developments, this thesis presents a theoretical lens that is used to anchor the subjects of the studies of ‘people’, ‘road signs’ and ‘built environment’ through the theories of geosemiotics and mobility. The fields of geosemiotics and mobility are important aspects of this research; they provide another theoretical challenge in the form of merging these two disciplines in the analysis in order to enhance a dialogue between the fields of urban design and graphic design practices. Thus, the interrelation between the two theories will help to answer the question of whether road signs have significant impact on human behaviour when moving in an urban environment. Selected cities in Denmark and Scotland were used as study areas in this research project. The methods were conducted within urban settings as well as controlled settings that emphasised the interaction between the participants and the visual representations of road signs. The key contribution of the findings in this research project is the methodological triangulations of qualitative data used in the field observations, photographic documentation and focus group interviews which were adapted from geosemiotics and mobility empirical studies. This thesis aims to be used as a guideline for the urban planning of a Malaysian road traffic sign system in the future