Mapping Cities: the Bologna Self-Mapping Project (original) (raw)

The aim of this essay is to discuss maps, as a concept, and their evolution, which is contemporarily cognitive, cultural and perceptual. Today, such transformations are particularly relevant to maps of cities and urban spaces. Mapping represents a universally shared global experience, belonging, in everyday life, to the vast domain of popular culture (from Google Maps, to GPS and GIS use in sports, holidays etc.). As a consequence, the very concept of the map has changed. In this essay we shall attempt to describe how it has changed, introducing the notion of place and situated experience in relation to mapping transformations. On the basis of these considerations, we will then present the results of the initial stage of Self-Mapping, a winning research project in the ISA Topic 2010 competition sponsored by the Institute of Advanced Studies of the University of Bologna.