INTRODUCTION
Some thoughts on the questions discussed at the joint meeting of three ICA commissions

István Klinghammer-László Zentai

(Published in Proceedings of the Seminar on Electronic Atlases, ICA-ELTE, Budapest, 1993. ed.: Zentai László, Ferjan Ormeling, Klinghammer István)

It seems to me that cartography has consolidated its position as science. This young science has a relatively firm path and after the adaptation of the latest digital techniques, cartography is standing before a decisive change. Maybe, cartography is now on the eve of a new future, its development will not only affect the map makers products, but the consequences will also have great influence on the theoretical aspects of cartography.

Not only the economical, political and social conditions change rapidly, but also the professional objectives. Through the collection, storing and processing of systematical digital information the main field of interest increasingly concentrates on the process of designing the cartographic information.

The changes do not leave the definition of map or atlas compilation untouched. Namely, while the spatial information is digitally processed, this process functions as a spatial model too that gathers knowledge.

The following definition of the map is worth consideration: the map is a reduced (scaled) and organized (generalized) structural model of spatial information about the real world.
The model nature of the map is generally characterized by three features.

  1. According to the projection feature, the maps are always models or reflections and they represent natural or perceived intelligible entities.
  2. Reduction feature. The models normally do not contain all the original attributes, but only those that are important for the model maker (cartographer) or the model applier (map user). In this context, it is unimportant whether the information is traditionally or digitally processed.
  3. Pragmatical feature. The construction of the model depends on the question: about what, for whom, when and for what purpose has the map been made? The map is a model of reality produced by a cartographer for a map user in a given moment and for a specific intention.
Even until recently cartographers regarded it as an axiom that the map was a product mainly characterized by its pure graphical outlook. Nowadays, however, we have to raise the question whether the classical definition of the map can satisfactorily and sufficiently describe the present and rather the future potential of the cartographic information transfer.

This question becomes clear if the term, "cartographic information transfer" not only refers to the final product, but is also used in the intermediate levels of map compilation.
The necessary relationship is evident at once if we consider

In cartography the following trend is becoming dominant: the traditional maps graphically represent the digitally stored information.
The growing importance of digital cartographic models eliminates a disproportion that was unknown until the development of digital techniques made it evident traditional maps have excellent qualities of communicating information, but when we think of the density, the changing nature and the relationships of information, they are already inadequate tools as information carriers or data stores.

The main challenge for cartography is not the application of computers, but the development of such systems that can handle spatial data structures, the rapid increase of the capacity of these systems, and the flexible adaptation of cartographic models and computer-oriented thematic methods.
We also have to consider the expansion and specialization of map users. The cartographers always have to cope with the problems of qualitative and quantitative development of map use.
In parallel with the spread of digital techniques, the growing use of maps draws our attention again to the role of harmony and aesthetics in today`s cartography.

Although painters and map-makers use the same formal and colour elements of representation, the artist is intuitively subjective and emotionally free to use these elements according to his ideas. The cartographer, however, is limited by the obligation of locating the knowledge in a coordinate system, by the relationships between objects and their values, and by the projection rules of scale and generalization.

Several indications can be derived from computer graphics for the present and future aesthetics of cartography. Graphical forms and the distribution of map symbols as well as the execution of lots of colour variations can be done by plotting programs. The final selection can be made through changing the parameters and analyzing the outcome. The spread of computer graphics in cartography led to the problem of statistical and formal understanding of symbols that aesthetically affect the map reader. This effect can be evaluated with the help of psychological and sociological group tests.
The systematical production of simulated cartographic models gives us the opportunity of experimenting with rational map aesthetics and gaining new ideas. In aesthetics, harmony is defined as a balanced and moderate relationship between the parts of the whole.

The answer to the question what a balanced and moderate relationship means, depends on the individual's personal experiments, routine and attitude towards art. Naturally, the answer is also conditioned by the observer`s habits and emotions as well as by his momentary state of mind.

There are no generally set or fixed rules about harmony for practising cartographers. No cartographer can work without giving his personal answer, if he wishes to bring the exactness of scientific data in harmony with his own sense of harmony. Although we are aware that there are differences in the manner how the individuals feel about aesthetics, we must not force the others to accept our ideas.

It is interesting to look at the "outer effects" of present days on cartography. In the past centuries, the changes on the face of the landscape and the development of methodology and technology were relatively slow and had a stable speed. This statement is justified by the study of the historical character of cartography. On the contrary, the speed of recent changes of the landscape and in the technology is very high, the needs of map users for updated map content as well as their ways of perception change quickly.

The characteristic effects of changes can be classified into three groups.

  1. Professional impacts, which have the following major expectation: The length on the cartographic "intervention" in meeting the professional demands may range on a very broad scale, for instance, weather forecast charts may need a few hours, while the historical maps, compiled on the basis of fixed scientific results, might require several years.
  2. Perception and psychological impacts. In their study we should mainly deal with visual habits, the intensity of graphical effects, the rate of visual understanding, the evoking of associations, the problems of aesthetical values etc.
  3. Politics, which can have a major influence on the distribution and restriction of information in some professional fields. These impacts do not simply originate from the fact that some of the military and economic data are secret; often, they are consequences of the concepts of certain political groups or professional lobbies (e.g. the intentional emphasis or neglect of certain information in the map).
At the moment it is impossible to estimate the future problems from the above effects if we consider the statistics on population, health or economy. The ways of handling important information about the state of the national policy and economy.

The problems of map use were already touched upon with the question of aesthetics in cartography. In this context, the major problems arise from the thematic information, the attitude of the map user and from the self-knowledge of the cartographer. Let us examine them!
We must not neglect the fact that in several scientific areas the thematic map content is often an abstract professional content - what is more, these maps represent quantitative data. Relevant examples are the transitional areas in impact and distribution maps, the changes of land use, the regional characteristics of development types, statistical relations and trends, the representations of planning concepts. Understanding the content of the above maps is much more difficult for the map user than reading a common tourist map or road map.

Certain signs indicate that the increasing requirements set before the map users for understanding the more complicated maps are opposed by the decreasing level of their ability to interpret the maps. This sentence is a surprising statement in an age when the people receive more and more optical and visual stimuli, but the people seem to react in a way that they limit their answers to strong stimuli and short, generalizing observation intervals. Nevertheless, self-knowledge from the map maker is an essential requirement.

It sounds a commonplace that the method of map compilation and its production technology are determined by the demand for the legibility of the map.
We must realize that a wide circle of map users are much less experienced in reading and interpreting maps than the map maker is; in addition, they may have certain scruples due to their lack of experience too. For them the effect of the map image and graphics is important, and not the refined technology.

The following thought from Jacques Bertin can be used as a motto by every cartographer. "The map is only useful from the moment when the reader can locate the represented area in his own mental map."