Southwark lovers have uncovered some juicy stories to amuse visitors passing through this part of London along the Thames. During London’s Festival of Architecture, Southwark was peppered with funny yellow signs telling visitors with phones connected to the Internet the neighborhood’s most interesting anecdotes.

Laminated yellow and blue panels hung from lampposts in front of places with unusual histories or where important events took place. Curious passerbys simply entered the code written on the sign via their phone at the dedicated website to find the corresponding information. No application to download, no flashcode to scan, a single phone connected to the Internet was the only thing needed to satisfy curiosities and access information geared to both Londoners and non-natives. While the supply of tourist-geared applications for smartphones is steadily increasing, City Insights offers an alternative formula. “This is a more egalitarian system that can be used by everyone, not just the owners of smartphones,” says Mike Gardom, one of the managers and initiators of the project.

Between Blackfriars Bridge and the historic street of Shad Thames, the City Insights team identified 44 points of interest, each of them with their own special story. Dr. David Berry, a historian and researcher has scoured libraries and met with specialists of the area to compile these stories: “the history of Southwark is so rich that it seems to almost ooze from the walls!” he exclaims.

Rehabilitating an unglamorous neighborhood

In the opinion of Mike Gardom, Southwark was chosen to test the idea, specifically because the neighborhood is not as prestigious as north London: “Many people go there on nice days to enjoy the banks of the Thames without knowing its history.” Indeed, the area’s relative dearth of tourism convinced developers of City Insights that it was just the spot whose truly rich history might need a bit of reinvigorating.

The major advantage of this service, which enhances local tourism and allows visitors to explore the area independently, is that it costs almost nothing, “you only need a website and signs that run about £ 3-4,” said Mike Gardom.

A boost from the London Festival of Architecture

The installation of the first panel corresponded with the London Architecture Festival, which began on June 19th and will go on for a period of six weeks. “We were told that the festival was a good opportunity to expose the project to the public and it also helped us get authorization to hang the signs on the lampposts,” recalls Mike Gardom.

The Southwark pilot project is going to end and the disks will come down from their posts. The City Insights team is working on alternative ways to keep the project alive, such as providing the public with printed maps, operating under the same principle as the signs, so that people can continue to follow the course. The team hopes they might “convince other cities of tourists’ interest in this system.” Mike Gardom also revealed that City Insight users, when probed, frequently felt that Paris and Barcelona would lend themselves well to the system. Perhaps the next City Insight tour will be continental?

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Translated by Genny Cortinovis

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