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Mental maps are imaginary diagrams people use to navigate through physical space (neighborhoods, cities or countries). These are simple images of “where things are” or “what places should be avoided.” Although resembling to a certain extent physical geography, mental maps are often inflected by preconceptions, values and emotions. In mental maps physical distances are distorted, being under or over estimated according to the subjective importance of the destination point. In addition, geographic spaces are “colored” in people’s mind according to what people believe about the inhabitants, reputation or other social characteristics of those geographic spaces. For example, desirable areas might appear as "green"/"no problem" spaces, while feared areas might appear as "red"/"don't go" zones. Although a promising tool for understanding how people find their way in geographic space, until recently mental maps were cumbersome to use as a research tool. By their very nature, mental maps are qualitative representations. That is, they are pictures, unique configurations, hard to express in measurable units. However, combining most recent computer advances in the field of cartography with a novel approach to conceptualizing mental mapping Copyright
Sorin A Matei, 2003 |
Two-dimensional
collective mental map of Los Angeles resulted from 215 individual
maps drawn by residents selected from 6 ethnic neighborhoods.
It indicates that the area most feared in Los Angeles is Watts. The colors can be further transformed into an imaginary landscape, red areas becoming canyons and valleys and green areas mountains and peaks. Click on the buttons below for a demonstration. 
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