Anamorphic Visualization of the Space-Time-Paradigm by Geodetic Network Adjustment

Abstract

The steadily increasing urbanization results in a continuous areal expansion of urban agglomerations and generates the need for effective intra- and inter-urban mobility. In fact, travel time plays the key role for daily commuters, not necessarily the distance between residence and work. Thus, the space-time-ratio is a quality measure for the respective traffic network. This study explores the spatio-temporal distance ratio between 97 German cities along the current road and railroad infrastructure by the help of geodetic network adjustment methods. The method bases on a highly dynamic network of 9312 connections and estimates new locations for the cities with respect to their geographic location and the required travel time. Cartographic design methods are applied to generate a non-central spatio-temporal cartogram. The resulting anamorphic map clearly denotes urban agglomerations with outstanding transport infrastructure, but also cities that are not adequately integrated in the national mobility network. This approach provides insight information with a high impact on future transport infrastructure planning.