Form follows feedback: rethinking cartographic communication

Communication was the first paradigm to gain widespread acceptance amongst the international cartographic community. Drawing on aspects of information theory to rationalise the process of transferring knowledge from the map-maker to the map-user, its aim was to optimise ‘map effectiveness’ by treating the map as a vehicle for communication. From the emergence of the first map communication models of the late 1960s until their demise by the early 1980s, arguably no paradigm has since unified the goals of cartographic theory and practice as successfully.

This paper offers a fresh critical appraisal of the cartographic communication paradigm and re-examines its relevance at a time when social media are widely used for disseminating maps and generating feedback – a crucial element of any communication system that received limited attention in earlier map communication models. By proposing a new map communication model, the paper calls for greater convergence between cartographic theory and practice, together with new insights for educating future map-makers.