Lyrics accompanying a city symphony: street names help us do more than just find our way

Street names tell of a city's character and story, rather than simply being a function to help us get around.

by Oliver Farry Published 5 June, 2015 - New Statesman

The famous boulevard Unter den Linden in Berlin. Photo: Getty

A mild source of annoyance for me is when I give directions to people who know the city in question as well as I do, using street names, and the directions are met with blank stares. Once you give them a little more detail, a cinema on the corner, a bar you have gone to together on a number of occasions, or a school whose pupils clog the pavement come four o’clock, their faces light up with recognition. “Is that what that street is called?” they invariably say.

One might assume that the practice of naming streets originated to distinguish them from one another and to make navigating cities easier but that is no guarantee the name will stick in people’s minds. Or even that people need those names – Londoners and citizens of other British cities were able to find their way around during World War II when nameplates were removed from streets to foil any would-be enemy visitors.

Similarly, in Beirut, a lack of up-to-date maps and an urban landscape changed by war and other social upheavals means locals ignore the names of streets, relying instead on colourful descriptions to tell people where to go. Even in well-charted cities, some people prefer this method – on numerous occasions people have instructed me over the phone to walk past a flyover, along a canal, take the fourth street on the right or cross a park to get to an appointed venue. Sometimes it seems rude to point out to them that I can just rely upon a map, given I have the address.
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