Introduction to the map

This position paper emerged from discussions around the challenge of mapping a mapless city. Given a blank slate on which to draw, how does one create a map which serves the need of the local population? What is the most appropriate means to make the city readable? Working with unmapped spaces provides a scope for thinking differently about how to represent the city.

A traditional street map is useful for creating a ‘rational’ view of a space and is the most common form of mapping. However, the reality is that people do not experience the space in true geometry. The functional mental map the people carry with them is determined by both their experience of place and the visual representations on which they draw (Lynch 1960). The present proposal intends to draw both the experience of individuals in the city to produce the map, and to use the map to produce a more readable city. The actual physical layout of a city or the geographic distance between landmarks may be irrelevant to capture the properties of the shared mental map of a city, that is shaped by a variety of social factors (Vertesi 2008).

The ways in which people negotiate space is mediated by time, which is fundamentally shaped by mode of transport. Janelle (1968) noted how advances in transportation technologies had altered the times and costs of travelling, effectively bringing places closer together as travel time between these places was reduced. This time-space convergence model provides an entry point for examining how people actually use and understand the urban spaces that they occupy. This project aims to provide a representation of “real” distances in the city according to different modes of transport. Using fixed reference points and collected travel times of journeys we can create a time-dependent map of a city for display in the exhibit. The map within the exhibit will be interactive and will distort according to travel times across the city using different modes of travel.

This project has two outcomes with two distinct objectives and target groups. The map as an exhibit The map itself will function as an interactive resource that distorts according to travel times between points using different modes of transport at different times of the day and from different starting points. It is also possible that snapshots from the distorted map may be used as a poster for the exhibition to draw attention to the themes of mobility, urban transformations and technologies.

Within the exhibit the map will be used to draw attention to the differential access to urban spaces in the city, by demonstrating the distorting effect of mode of transport of experience of distance, drawing on Hagerstrand (1976)’s ideas of “Time Geography”. Time should be seen in this light as a resource that people draw on, but also as a resource whose access is mediated by authority and a variety of social constraints. This is particularly important in societies characterized by social inequalities, as in these societies the choice of transport modes (and their effects on time as a resource) is likely to be determined by social position. The present proposal aims at understanding how the mental image of a city changes as a function of travel distance time and how this in turn is affected by a number of social phenomena. This demonstration of differential access may ultimately change citizens perception about the relationship between places and the meta-geography of the city.

The map as an artefact

After the exhibit, versions of the map will be produced as hard copies that can be used by citizens to direct the most efficient routes through the city according to their transportation capacities. It is also possible that an electronic version may be available, which would allow people to submit their starting point and destination and receive guidance on the best route via their mobile phone. Making the map. In order to map a city with limited formal cartographical materials available and with focus on travel distances, this project proposes to use crowd-sourced data generated through cellphone technology. Google Earth will provide a base map that we can use to trace key routes from which to run the distortion exercise. The distorted map itself will be produced from crowd-sourced data generated by research participants who will identify/tag places and submit travel time data.

Tagging places

The first prerequisite to implement this project is to assign unique identifiers to locations who are perceived by users as relevant landmarks for travelling purposes. We propose that this task should be crowdsourced by allowing users to visit a location and request to a central server a unique identifier for this location. The next challenge is for each unique identifier to be shared and easily accessible to other participants. Submitting travel time data Each time participants travel across the city they will submit to the central server information about their travel, i.e. the departure location and time, the arrival location and time and the transport means (bus, minibus taxi, bicycle, walk, private care).

Recruitment of participants

Recruitment strategies need to be developed in order to reach a critical mass of participants needed for identifying/tagging place and submitting travel time data. It will be necessary to create awareness of the project and incentivise participation. We therefore propose a promotion campaign to be launched using local community radio (e.g. Bush Radio in Cape Town - www.bushradio.co.za), local commercial radio stations, local print media and through local higher education institutes. Where possible Facebook and Mobile Instant Message (e.g. chat rooms in MXit) will be used. We aim to encourage participation through framing the project as a social game (e.g. a Facebook application or MXit game) in order to support viral diffusion among potential participants.

Once participants have been recruited it will also be essential to incentivize data generation. These may be tangible benefits such as free bus transport, free airtime credits, food vouchers etc. There may also be social rewards, such as publishing rankings of top contributors. This would both incentivize continued involvement and would draw attention to the project. If participation is incentivized through both tangible and intangible benefits, it will be essential to develop means to maintain the integrity of the data. There is a danger that people may submit partial or false data to qualify for benefits, thus leading to poor and misleading data. Technical aspects Participants will generate and submit data via cell phone technology. Once the Points of Interest (POIs) have been identified and tagged with unique IDs, participants will be able to travel via various routes and send the data for collection to a central server. The participants will send an SMS (or MXit message) to a short code with their first POI ID and their mode of transport. On reaching their second POI they would send a second message with the POI's ID. Given that messages are automatically time stamped, the server will be able to compute the travel time and produce data for the map. For those with higher technological capacity it will be possible to have a GPS-based version of the data collection exercise. This will involve some basic training for participants on geo-coding techniques using Open Street Maps and Google Map Maker. The GPS enabled phones are able to geo-code locations and transmit this information using GPRS/EDGE/3G. A custom mobile application for a smart phone could then be created to collect data on departure and arrival positions, mode of transport and server time-stamps on departure and arrival. The actual production of the map will be based on the grid-based cartogram approach used by the WorldMapper website (Henning et al 2009).

References

Hagerstrand, T. (1976) Geography and the study of interaction between society and space, GeoForum 7, 329-334

Henning, B. D., Dorling, D. & Ramsden, M. (2009) Re-Drawing the World: An Approach towards a gridded World Population Cartogram, 17th Annual GISRUK Workshop, Durham 1-3 April 2009

Janelle, D. G. (1968) Central Place development in a time-space framework, The Professional Geographer 20, 5-10

Lynch, K. (1960, June). The Image of the City. The MIT Press.

Vertesi, J. (2008) Mind the gap: The London Underground Map and users' representations of urban space, Social Studies of Science 38 (7) 7-33