The city and its cartographic representations

Maps are models for representing cities, primordial on the development of urban studies, projects, and plans. The production of maps requires technical and artistic knowledges. Otherwise it would lead to a distorted reading and interpretation of urban phenomena and processes, as well as to non-adequate urban proposes. This paper aims to present and discuss the limits and possibilities of Cartography to represent cities. Initially it is done a brief review of the concepts of maps, considering their types and applications. Then it is analyzed the characteristics of four basic cartographic elements applied in the representation of cities: coordinate, symbol, scale, and projection. In the end, it is made some comments about the relationship between representation and reality.


For more details see the complete version of this paper published on the new edition of the online scientific journal HUMANAE.