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Columnist Independent perspectives on the ideas and institutions shaping everyday life.

Independent publication

Cities

The Work of Keeping a City Legible

Signs, maps and small acts of maintenance determine whether a place feels navigable or indifferent.

The Work of Keeping a City Legible

Legibility is a public service delivered in small pieces: a sign before the junction, a map that admits where you are and a pavement repaired before the detour becomes permanent.

These details rarely lead a budget speech. They shape daily confidence in a place nonetheless.

A city communicates its priorities through what it helps people understand.