This is an update on the last post. I am creating more maps based on the last one. I also separated the layers of the different “instant” visual information within the map itself.
Greenspace is depicted in green. Coastline and water in blue. Buildings in gold. Streets in gray. Topography (concrete) in white.
The map size is 1km square or 1’000,000 meters squared.
Green spaces sum up to 39,150 meters squared, or 3.9% of the total area.
Water covers 27,427 meters squared, or 2.7% of the total area.
Streets represent around 192,366 meters squared, or 19.2%.
Buildings take up 2’040,902 meters squared. Double the area of the map itself or the topography available.
It was a Thursday around ten at night, and the next day I needed to show and explain advancements in my research. By this time I already had a presentation, but I felt it didn’t quite explain all the work or mind processes that I’ve been doing or were in my head.
So, I decided to create a Fantasy City, a one place-discussion focus that could showcase of all the relevant subjects and explorations I was working with.
A crossroad depicting the New Small Street exploration.
In this case I decided to use the city-building simulation game Cities: Skylines. This allowed me to access thousands of resources and mods from the player community, and I was able to depict my explorations very quickly.
A Small Green Space within a very dense area.
I took every insight I had and somewhat plug it in. Some of them I haven’t made an exploration, like Small Green Space. I used the Grid exploration to allocate services and needs. I used the New Broadway exploration for the roads of the city, giving me a unique view of a city with a less car-centric street approach.
The map of the Fantasy City, the purple areas show small green spaces. The encircled area is a big park. The different shades of brown to blue in buildings showed how “happy” the residents were.
But the most interesting thing about using this platform, was the various map views that gave me with information needed, in order to achieve the many goals the game has.
This inspired me to create the current exploration I am working on: maps of cities that can inform designers where are the opportunities for urban design improvement.
