Santa Claus Travel Time Map - Europe

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‘Memorable’ year (for mapping too) To quote many a commercial from 2020, this year has been “different” and “unprecedented” for all of us. With the Covid-19 pandemic changing our lives, it would be remiss to not mention the impact it has had on us and thank the tireless work key workers have done to protect and take care of us. Data and mapping has come into its own during this time, helping to track the spread of the pandemic, and where possible, to help plan and protect us. Data and mapping has also been vital to perhaps the other two major news headlines – theRead More →

EU Ref 2016 and 2019 UK General Election Ma

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How we got here On the 31st January 2020, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is set to withdraw from the European Union – marking the end of the beginning of ‘Brexit’ – something which whether ‘remain’ or ‘leave’, has dragged on for some time. It is this sentiment, that seemed to bear out for voters during the UK general election back in December 2019. Regardless of your opinion on the matter, the withdrawal deal is signed and it is all but inevitable Brexit will happen. It hard to remain balanced, and if you follow my Twitter, you probably have a senseRead More →

UK 2019 Pre General Election Map Cartogram

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For the many (maps) not the few   You can associate many things with politics. Tiresome. Frustrating. Distrust. Divisive. Controversial.  But there are more positive things which always come around during election time – maps and cartograms (graphical representations of geographical realities). The turbulent nature of British politics has led to another general election on 12th December 2019, which on the one hand has been exhausting and depressing, regardless of political allegiances. However, on the other hand it does provide an opportunity to create some maps and explore political geography of the UK, which is a reflection of socioeconomic histories. Every election, particularly with recentRead More →

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I sense your presents… Wintertime in Western culture is known for the religious and pagan traditions of gift-giving, merriment and feasting around Christmas. Commonly across many cultures, it is considered Santa Claus delivers gifts. Last year we asked, ‘where’ does Santa come from? This year we are looking into ‘how’ – namely how does Santa Claus (or whichever gift-bringer) navigate and deliver their gifts? Using a map of course! We can only guess on the actual map Santa uses – but I imagine that it could look like something like the stylised map below which I hope you enjoy. Several cultures have different figures whoRead More →

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Further depth Those who’ve explored this site in the past will know that I have analysed the geography of train networks on multiple occasions, particularly in the United Kingdom. Maybe it’s my bias being a rail commuter, but it’s a topic I’m returning to again! Access to train networks shapes many people’s lives – and is two-fold. Am I near to a station and are the trains reliable? To investigate ‘access’, we start by exploring the relationship between population density and station density in the UK. Are there ‘gaps’ in train station provision? Next we examine then the temporal and spatial patterns of train punctuality.Read More →

Music and Maps

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Maps and musicians – the B-side Following on from part one from our look at musicians links to maps, comes the difficult second album, as we look at five more artists and their relationships to maps. Without further ado, let’s get going again… 5) M.I.A. Born as Mathangi Arulpragasam in Hounslow to Sri Lankan Tamil resistance activists, being raised in both Sri Lanka, India and back to London – the artist known as M.I.A., was perhaps always going to have unique geographical take on the world. The Grammy winning artist, is known for her unusual sound sampling, provocative lyrics and subject matters in her work –Read More →

Music and Maps

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Maps – Wait, they don’t love you like I love you Music and maps. Geography and the arts. They may or may not seem like natural partners – music is about cultural and creative expression, and the general rhythm and tune to life; the other is about precision, accuracy and scientific understanding of the processes and reality of the world around us. However, as I’ve discussed in the past, there are very strong links between the two – the list is endless of number of songs that mention ‘places’ (e.g. London Calling, Born in the USA, Straight Outta Compton etc). That’s before we consider geography’sRead More →

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Vote for your Favourite Map! August for me has gone far too quickly, and Map of the Month has also come round again very quickly! Fortunately, as was the case last month, there’s been some great maps to explore over the dry summer spell. To follow up on last month, congratulations to Craig Taylor on winning the inaugural Map of the Month with his awesome #PlotmyPaws doggy themed data viz. From looking at recent activity, #plotmypaws is going from strength to strength. Back working on my #plotmypaws project this weekend, lots of #dog tracks coming in now! I want to believe they are somehow coordinatingRead More →

USA and Gun Ownership

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Right to keep and bear arms? The topic of firearms control and gun violence is one to approach with caution, given one, the fatalities involved, and two, that in the USA particularly, it can often stir strong debate and emotion on either side. However, following (another) mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida and the perhaps unprecedented public demonstrations following this in USA, and around the world, as part of ‘March For Our Lives’ – it is a topic which is hard to ignore. With the aim promoting tougher gun control legislation and raising awareness of gun violence, it has brought the debateRead More →

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Mapping of the Arctic region has historically proved to be a challenge for cartographers and geo-scientists, though as referred to in a previous article (see here),  local knowledge is valuable in contributing to knowledge of the often perceived ‘wilderness’ by ‘Westerners’. In many ways, as alluded to in Alastair Bonnett’s brilliant book, Off the Map, despite living in an age of digital mapping, there is much geographic knowledge still to be discovered. This is perhaps most relevant and important, given global warming, in the Arctic region, and two recent articles associated to this piqued my interest in this area, and thought it would be aRead More →