Analysis of Urban Road Networks to Support Cartographic Generalization

Abstract

When a human cartographer designs a map, the symbols represent objects in a way that attempts to convey geographic process occurring at a given scale. The skill is in abstracting patterns of process and representing them in a context at an appropriate scale. The cartographer conveys the essence of the phenomenon by capturing the essential characteristics of a feature. In order for automated cartographic systems to match this subtlety in design and this ability to characterize, they must have cartometric techniques that enable the same abstraction of pattern to take place; techniques that take into account the phenomenological aspects of features. This article utilizes an algorithm for urban space pattern analysis and illustrates how it can be applied to capture the essence of urban settlement in order to generate objective, intermediate design solutions for the representation of urban settlement at a range of scales. Such an algorithm is considered to be one of a growing set of generalization operators th...