ABSTRACT
One of the main difficulties highlighted by the Forestry Commission study is that much of the research on wayfinding has taken place in the context of the built environment and indoor places such as airports and hospitals. There is consequently a lack of understanding about whether these principles apply equally to outdoor settings. In addition, there is a lack of practical knowledge about how wayfinding understandings relating to the wider outdoor environment may be used effectively for environmental planning and design purposes. It seems that if design is to play a role in improving wayfinding ease in a place, the wayfinding activity needs to be understood in terms of the physical and operational environments in which it occurs (Carpman and Grant, 2002). However, a fundamental characteristic of environmental wayfinding is that it is both a physical activity and a psychological process.
