ShELP, another view from above, a map!
As hinted at by Colin in ‘ShELP, a view from above’ a map is another way of (re)presenting the landscape. Here we have a screenshot from that wonderful bastion of free mapping OpenStreetMap (OSM), go, look and add to it. Whilst the satellite picture was a direct representation of part of Sheffield it was, in one respect, quite naturalistic. One can see roads, trees and houses which although seen from a strange angle are more or less recognisable. This map on the other hand is an abstract representation.
Some people believe the map is one of the best expressions of capitalism (Pickles 2003). A scale map shows a place that is depicted primarily by distance/area as referenced in Euclidean space into which are drawn the features of that landscape also correspondingly drawn to the same spatial scale. This prioritises the neutrality of space over other values (Harley 1989), heritage or beauty for example which can then be commodified.
This map then shows a part of Sheffield as seen by the bureaucrat’s eye. A place existing in a net of Cartesian coordinates ready to be measured and built upon (or knocked down) by engineers and suveyors. Is this what it means to you or do you find it a useful way of navigating around? Would it only be useful the first few times you walked around here or would you still have a look at a local map of an area you know well?
Harley, J.B. 1989. Deconstructing the map. Cartographica, 26(2): 1-20.
Pickles, J. 2003. A History of Spaces: Cartographic Reason, Mapping, and the Geo-coded World. London: Routledge.
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