Chronologies of a (sub)urbanized territory: Reimagining (sub)urbanization processes in southwest Flanders, Belgium

Abstract

Chronologies of a (Sub)urbanized Territory explores how the depth and scope of an atlas can be increased through a careful engineering of the interplay between its constituent maps. This research aims to develop a structure for an atlas that can include the plural and often very diverse historical processes affecting the territory without jeopardizing the coherence of the atlas as a whole. Chronologies of a (Sub)urbanized Territory explores the perpetual reproduction of the heavily (sub)urbanized territory in southwest Flanders. The atlas is comprised of three diachronic map series: Frames, A Classic Chronology and Interrelations. Each series pictures the passage of time in a specific way and therefore offers a distinct 'take' on the history of the region. Perpendicular to these three diachronic map series, synchronic readings of the territory can be composed: the variation between the three series in terms of scale, and in the categories that are displayed, enable the reader to gain a multi-angled perspective on specific spatial phenomena at delimited periods of time. The different components of the atlas, and how they interrelate, are clarified by a metamap. The metamap is not merely a top-down organizational tool, but is intended to form the basis from which the reader can start to construct his or her own interpretations of the territory.'Phenomena intersect, to see but one is to see nothing.' Victor Hugo (as cited in Jarvis 1997)

Designerly mapping practices at the crossroads of cartography and urbanism: a processual account of three re-cartographies of southwest Flanders

“…The somewhat abstract challenges and difficulties described in the introductory paragraph will be rendered tangible via a brief excursion into three re-cartographies of southwest Flanders: Chronologies of a (Sub)urbanized Territory (Cattoor et al, 2013), Figures Infrastructures (Cattoor and De Meulder, 2011) and E17 Motorway Landscapes (Cattoor, 2015). The three re-cartographies were either produced in close collaboration with, or commission by, Leiedal (the intercommunal planning and development agency).…”

“…The three re-cartographies were either produced in close collaboration with, or commission by, Leiedal (the intercommunal planning and development agency). The figure illustrations in this text are extracts taken from larger atlases (Cattoor 2015;Cattoor and De Meulder, 2011;Cattoor et al, 2013). These atlases inscribe themselves, in turn, within an even larger body of work entitled Atlas Southwest Flanders, a project initiated by De Meulder and Dehaene (2001) [for an overview see Cattoor and De Meulder (2010)].…”

“…The three re-cartographies are discussed by means of one or two cartographic extracts from larger works (Cattoor, 2015;Cattoor and De Meulder, 2011;Cattoor et al, 2013). Each of the re-cartographies is an attempt to reimagine the landscape in different terms.…”

Summary of activities 2015

“…Hennemann, 2013), alternative representations (e.g. Cattoor, 2013), treemaps (e.g. Slingsby, Wood, & Dykes, 2010), cartograms (e.g.…”

A relational and processual re-cartography of infrastructure: E17 Motorway Landscapes

“…Exploring the spatial capacity of infrastructure through re-cartography This research, developed in an urban design context, explores the spatial capacity of a motorway through re-cartography (for a discussion on re-cartography as a practice at the intersection cartography and urbanism, see : Cattoor, in press;Cattoor & Perkins, 2014). The subject of investigation is the 26-km long stretch of the E17 European Route that crosses the heavily urbanized Lys-Scheldt interfluve between Waregem and the Franco-Belgian border (for a cartographic discussion of this context see Cattoor, Louwette, & Thomsen, 2013). E17 Motorway Landscapes (Main Map) remaps the E17 as a contextual motorway landscape shaped by ongoing processes.…”