Mapping urban assemblages: the production of spatial knowledge

Abstract

This paper engages with the ontology and epistemology of urban mapping. While GIS and other digital technologies have long transformed the capacities for representation of urban data here we explore the capacity of mapping to produce new ways of seeing, understanding, planning and designing the city. With a primary focus on urban morphology, distinctions and overlaps between mapping, diagramming, planning and designing are articulated within a framework of assemblage thinking. Through cases drawn from urban design research we analyse the mapping of political conflict, transport flows, functional mix and informal settlement. It is argued that urban mapping is a form of spatial knowledge production that is often diagrammatic, embodying a spatial logic that cannot be reduced to words and numbers. Urban mapping constructs interconnections between the ways the city is perceived, conceived and lived; and it can reveal capacities for urban transformation -the city as a space of possibility.

Development and use of a geoinformation system for revealing urban problems

“…That is, in this case, the mapping of urban space should be described in terms of the theory of knowledge (epistemology and ontology [16]) with a focus on urban morphology, differences and overlap between perception and cartographic reflection, as well as logic of spatial relations. The mapping rules implementation is reduced to sets of ready-made symbols, methods of cartographic representation [30], and some completely prepared thematic maps with legends.…”

“…This is because they cover the epistemology and theory of urban mapping [16]. In [17], there is an attempt to rethink the urban core concept of a "region" in terms of spatial epistemology.…”

“…However, the GIS in the studies of these processes is used by a very limited number (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20) of researchers, who are cited, in particular, in [20][21][22]. Thus, the devised GIS is intended to be included into analyzing urban processes.…”

Weeds, Pheasants and Wild Dogs: Resituating the Ecological Paradigm in Postindustrial Detroit

“…DeLanda's () extension of the assemblage concept specifically employs ecosystems as examples that contain material, non‐material, territorializing and deterritorializing components. Dovey and Ristic (: 2) reference DeLanda in describing an assemblage as ‘a whole whose properties emerge from interconnections, interactions, flows and synergies between different parts. The places, buildings, neighbourhoods and identities that are the most visible parts of cities are the emergent effects of these productive processes’.…”

Which Spatial Knowledge Supporting Smart Governance? Two Experiences in Castilla y Leon and Veneto

“…The 'spatial knowledge' (Paris, De las Rivas, 2017;Limonta, Paris, 2016) is an expression promoted by the author to describe the output of a methodology based on geographic contributions, processual approaches (Kitchin et al, 2012;Kitchin et al, 2009), digital techniques and performative readings (Perkins, 2009) developed during several recent research collaborations. Within these experiences, territorial representations contain those logics logic that «cannot be reduced to words and numbers and … describe interconnections between the ways the city is perceived, conceived and lived» (Dovey, Ristic, 2017). This practice relies in the construction of a stock of alternative maps, diagrams and schemes, in which the space is represented re-combining sectoral-thematic information, statistical models and geographic data (De las Rivas et al, 2014).…”