Chronologies of a (sub)urbanized territory: Reimagining (sub)urbanization processes in southwest Flanders, Belgium

Abstract

Chronologies of a (Sub)urbanized Territory explores how the depth and scope of an atlas can be increased through a careful engineering of the interplay between its constituent maps. This research aims to develop a structure for an atlas that can include the plural and often very diverse historical processes affecting the territory without jeopardizing the coherence of the atlas as a whole. Chronologies of a (Sub)urbanized Territory explores the perpetual reproduction of the heavily (sub)urbanized territory in southwest Flanders. The atlas is comprised of three diachronic map series: Frames, A Classic Chronology and Interrelations. Each series pictures the passage of time in a specific way and therefore offers a distinct ‘take' on the history of the region. Perpendicular to these three diachronic map series, synchronic readings of the territory can be composed: the variation between the three series in terms of scale, and in the categories that are displayed, enable the reader to gain a multi-angled perspective on specific spatial phenomena at delimited periods of time. The different components of the atlas, and how they interrelate, are clarified by a metamap. The metamap is not merely a top-down organizational tool, but is intended to form the basis from which the reader can start to construct his or her own interpretations of the territory. ‘Phenomena intersect, to see but one is to see nothing.’ Victor Hugo (as cited in Jarvis 1997 )