hi, some crit-geog'ers might be interested in some critical mapmaking.
cheers
martin
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Mapchester: Making an open-source map for Manchester
Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th May, 2006
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Mapchester
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"When bands like the Happy Mondays stalked the Hacienda, Manchester was
dubbed 'Madchester'; now, a new generation of phreaks are in town,
renaming the city 'Mapchester', showing that it isn.t just music that puts
the city on the map."
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We are organising a weekend mapping workshop - 'Mapchester' - to generate
a new kind map of Manchester produced by collective, community effort that
will be completely copyright-free. We are seeking volunteer citizen
cartographers to participate in mapping the city for free.
Our goal is to bring together as wide an array of different people who are
interested in mapping and get them to walk / cycle / drive / bus / train /
skate / etc / along city streets recording GPS tracks and noting down road
names. These tracks will then be put online in the OpenStreetMap database
and edited into map features. We hope that collectively people will work
to completely map whole quarters of the city over the weekend.
Getting involved:
* How: Just come along and choose an area of central Manchester to
map. Head out with a GPS and notepad to record street names and other
notable features. You can map for the whole day or just for a few hours.
No prior mapping experience needed - intro briefings and equipment
training will be provided.
* When: Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th May, 2006. Welcome briefings
will be held at 10am and 2pm on both days.
* Where: Mapchester HQ, Lower Ground Floor, 117-119 Portland Street,
Manchester M1 6ED, see http://manchesterdda.com/article/12/ . (The space
has been generously provided by the Manchester Digital Development Agency
and they are also helping in signing people up to take part.)
* Registering: if you are interested in participating please send an
email: [log in to unmask] or call Jo Blackwell on tel: 0161 255
8111. (Please indicate on what days you want to participate and whether
you have your own GPS / laptop.)
* Refreshments: Drinks and a sandwich lunch will be provided for
participants.
* What to bring: If you have it please bring your own mapping equipment
(GPS, laptop, camera, notepad + pencil, etc). If you don't have a GPS
receiver, don't worry, there will be a number of extra units available on
each day. If you have never used a GPS receiver, don't worry either, hands on training will be provided.
* Further questions: please contact Martin Dodge ([log in to unmask]).
Some background:
Mapchester is an experiment in 'citizen cartography' that we hope will
make a significant contribution to wider efforts in so-called open-source
mapping. This an emerging and rapidly growing cartographic activity,
driven in part by technology (cheap GPS equipment and online collaboration
tools, like OpenStreetMap.org), but also by a very different ethos to
knowledge production. Under open-source models the right of authorship is
de-centred and the ownership of knowledge is seen as a common resource
that can be freely distributed and re-used without restriction or license.
As such, opening up mapmaking has real potential to empower people to
create their own local knowledges and encourage the re-use of cartographic
resources in novel, creative ways.
The map data produced for central Manchester will contribute to
OpenStreetMap.org, one of the leading projects in the open-source mapping
field. Currently, OpenStreetMap has mapped 25,000 kilometres of roads in
the UK, including all motorways. However, thus far the majority of this
data is for London and Birmingham and many other major cities are hardly
mapped at all. It is hoped that an intensive effort to build a map of the
whole of a city in a weekend will inspire others and be important to build
momentum across the country.
All the map data generated for Mapchester will be free to view, edit and
use via the OpenStreetMap platform. An editable map will also be created
and used as a test-case festival guide for the Futuresonic International
Festival, held in Manchester in July 2006.
Mapchester mapping weekend is supported by:
* University of Manchester, School of Environment and Development
(http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/geography/)
* Manchester Geographical Society (http://www.mangeogsoc.org.uk/)
* Manchester Digital Development Agency (http://www.manchesterdda.com/)
* Future Everything / Futuresonic International Festival
(http://www.futureeverything.org/)
Mapchester organising committee:
Steve Coast (OpenStreetMap.org); Drew Hemment (Futuresonic); Mick Lockwood
(Salford University); Martin Dodge & Chris Perkins (Geography, University
of Manchester).
Please spread the word about Mapchester and forward this invitation to
come and map Manchester to other people who might be interested.
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Martin Dodge
Geography,
School of Environment and Development,
The University of Manchester,
Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
[log in to unmask]
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