This analysis discusses digital mapping's impact on navigation and education, suggesting how technology fosters diverse ecological approaches to cartography.
GPS and digital mapping allow unprecedented accuracy, and the precision of digital storage has replaced the vagueness of the cartographer’s pencil. We can dispense with sketch maps for tourism or how-to-get-here instructions instead using proper online maps. But a map is not just a miniature version of a landscape, but an instrument for navigation, education, stories, and experience – not all maps are ‘proper’ maps set on Cartesian grids. This paper discusses several maps of varying levels of propriety to explore the theoretical and practical world of cartography and suggest how digital technology can enable a diverse ecology of improper mapping.
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Alan Dix (2025) studied this question.
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