A sense of place: The cartographic branding of English and French coastal towns in the Transmanche Region

Maps have long served a role in marketing products and places, as well as providing basic spatial information. Some purely functional maps achieve iconic status as representative of a locality (e.g. the London tube map), while others are deliberately designed to evoke a ‘sense of place’ and attract business or visitors.

‘Place branding’ has become increasingly important to towns and cities competing in a global market place in what might be termed ‘a struggle for attention’. This is especially true for places that have suffered the decline of certain industries and services. Maps can play an important role in place marketing and (re)branding, first, by providing clear information about the services and ‘attractions’ and by evoking positive associations with a location, for example with its cultural heritage.

The Transmanche (cross-channel) Region of England and France has seen the widespread decline of a number of its coastal towns, through the loss of port and harbour functions, including defence, decline in fisheries, and the waning fortunes of its resorts. This coastal region contains significant pockets of social deprivation and employment problems, with particularly serious issues in once vibrant resort towns such as Margate, Folkestone and Calais.

This paper examines the denotative and connotative functions of visitor maps available in seaside resorts within the Transmanche Region. The extent to which the maps ‘work’ to evoke an affirmative ‘sense of place’ focuses on the three key heritage themes of this region: the fishing industry, coastal defence and invasion, and former resort functions.