Untangling Infrastructure Networks Through Critical Cartographies

Mapping the Port of Trieste, Italy

Bibliographic Data

ID3775836
AuthorsLeonardo Ramondetti (0000-0002-3548-7686, Politecnico di Torino, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume114
Issue8
Pages1805-1818
Publication date2024-09-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnnals of the American Association of Geographers (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2469-4452 • E-ISSN: 2469-4460
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/24694452.2023.2289985
OpenAlexW4391578240
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited28

This article illustrates how to research complex infrastructure networks using critical cartography. Maps, infographics, and datascapes are employed to study how contemporary flows of goods, people, and money are redefining a specific location. This topic has been widely investigated in science and technology studies; however, it has seldom been addressed by applying visual methods. Cartography, in particular, is generally regarded as a subject of analysis, rather than an investigative tool. Conversely, this contribution discusses the theory and explores critical cartography as a speculative and artistic practice for problematizing the spatialization of policies, financial interests, and trade flows. It adds another level of understanding to the field of inquiry, and can help in developing counternarratives. This method is adopted to investigate the Port of Trieste, Italy, where radical transformations have been driven by international investment and infrastructural programs. Critical cartography can help to unravel this tangle by unveiling the cross-scalar dimension of contemporary global trade and the complex landscape of infrastructural networks

Cartography · Epistemology · Geography · Regional science · Sociology · Spatialization · Engineering · Geographic Information Systems Studies · Urban Planning and Governance · Water Governance and Infrastructure

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