University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Retromapping: conceptual outline of a novel method for visualizing and exploring urban spatial evolution in the digital environment

Matkovszki, Ilona

Content Files
MATKOVSZKI-THESIS-2016.pdf

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/95625

Description

Title
Retromapping: conceptual outline of a novel method for visualizing and exploring urban spatial evolution in the digital environment
Author(s)
Matkovszki, Ilona
Issue Date
2016-12-09
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Williams, Kate
Committee Member(s)
Smith, Linda
Department of Study
Information Sciences
Discipline
Library and Information Science
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Level
Thesis
Date of Ingest
2017-03-01T17:02:11Z
Keyword(s)
  • Digital humanities
  • Urban spatial history
Abstract
Maps have long been used for visualizing and studying urban spatial information. For the early phases of urban development in most cities, however, there are usually few maps due to the high cost of map making. These temporarily widely spaced early city maps document the evolution of cities as a series of “slides” frozen at particular points in time and provide no information on the smaller-scale, gradual changes that had occurred over time and had ultimately produced the spatial configurations we see on historic maps. This shortcoming severely limits the utility of historic city maps as information sources both for the visual documentation and for the investigation of early urban spatial history. This thesis introduces a novel method and conceptual framework for visualizing and querying information on early modern urban evolution in the United States using an alternative form of mapping in the digital environment, which corrects this shortcoming and substantially enhances access to information on urban spatial history. The thesis demonstrates the practical application of the new method using the early history of the City of Urbana, Illinois as working model.
Graduation Semester
2016-12
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/95625
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2016 Ilona Matkovszki

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