ESPON 2013 DATABASE Malmö Seminar, 2-3 December 2009

ESPON 2013 DATABASE

Malmö Seminar, 2-3 December 2009

What is a good map?

Christine Zanin and Nicolas Lambert

UMR Géographie-cités – UMS RIATE

Just Ugly Just Ugly oror Bad Bad andand Good Good??

Source : Espon DataBase 2013, Technical report Mapping guide, 2009

There is not a good or a bad map

There is a map that express a message

Maps are never value-free imagesMaps are never value-free images

  Maps gain their value in three ways: Maps gain their value in three ways:

• As a way of recording and storing information

• As a means of analyzing locational distributions and spatial patterns

• As a method of presenting information and communicating findings

Cartography as CommunicationCartography as Communication

• Cartography is closely related to graphical communication

• Maps are symbolic abstractions--"generalizations" or "representations“ of reality

What Is an efficient Map?What Is an efficient Map?

• What is the motive, intent, or goal of the map?

• Who will read the map?

• Where will the map be used?

• What data is available for the composition of the map?

GDP per capita atNUTS 0 level

(ratio)

=

Internationaldisparities

4 Wealthy countries

Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark

and Ireland

Which map ? Which message ?

Source : AIRE project 2009

GDP per capita atNUTS 2/3 level

(ratio)

=

Regionaldisparities

Which map ? Which message ?

Source : AIRE project 2009

GDP atNUTS 0 level

(stock)

=

Internationaldisparities

4 Wealthy countries

Germany, UK,France, Italy

Which map ? Which message ?

Source : AIRE project 2009

GDP atNUTS 1 level

(stock)

=

Economic weightof regions

Which map ? Which message ?

Source : AIRE project 2009

GDP atNUTS 2 level

(stock)

=

Economic weightof regions

Which map ? Which message ?

Source : AIRE project 2009

GDP atNUTS 2/3 level

(stock)

=

Economic weightof regions

Which map ? Which message ?

Source : AIRE project 2009

GDP atNUTS 3 level

(stock)

=

Economic weightof regions

Which map ? Which message ?

Source : AIRE project 2009

GDP per capita atNUTS 0 level(stock+ratio)

=

Put in perspective the level of

wealth per capita by showing what is the importance

of concerned population

Which map ? Which message ?

Source : AIRE project 2009

GDP per capita atNUTS 1 level

(Discontinuites)

=

Disparites betweenEst and West

Which map ? Which message ?

Source : AIRE project 2009

GDP per capita at40km (Grid)

=

Eliminate influence of administrative

divisions

Which map ? Which message ?

Source : AIRE project 2009

GDP per capita at40km

(Potential)

=

Visualisation ofEconomic

concentrations

Which map ? Which message ?

Source : AIRE project 2009

GDP per capita at80km

(Potential)

=

Visualisation ofEconomic

concentrations

Which map ? Which message ?

Source : AIRE project 2009

GDP per capita atNUTS 2 level

(Anamorphosis)

=

Spot more easily populated and rich regions as Ile-de-France or populated and poor as Sicily.

Which map ? Which message ?

Source : AIRE project 2009

Source : Mapping territorial cohesion, French presidency of the EU, 2008

One or two maps ? One or two maps ?

Source : Espon DataBase 2013, Technical report Mapping guide, 2009

Maps are a tool of communication Maps are a tool of communication for ESPON DB 2013for ESPON DB 2013

• The biggest strength of maps is to allow an effective and relevant communication of the information.

• The first question when mapping is related to a question of choices: how to simplify, generalize, represent and symbolize spatial relationships?

7 fundamental goals need to be identified 7 fundamental goals need to be identified to realize a good map: to realize a good map:

• Identify the goal of the map; • Identify the audience of the map and where it will

be used; • Identify the information to be communicated; • Identify the geographical reference (point, line or

area?); • Choose the base map (map projection and scale); • Choose the visual variable (symbolic graphic

language); • Choose layout and identify all the elements to be

added

Thank you for your attention !