Livingmaps Network

LIVINGMAPS is an international  network of artists, activists and academics concerned to develop  the theory and practice of critical cartography . It was founded in 2013 and established as a not- for profit- company in 2015. We collaborate with a wide range of organisations,  from community  and youth groups, to museums, galleries and university research departments.

Our conceptual  approach is trans-disciplinary, bringing together  geographers, photographers and ethnographers , digital and environmental  activists, visual and performance artists  in common projects and discussions.… Read the rest

The Cat Sat on the Map: Some reflections on post human cartography

The city of cats and the city of men exist one inside the other, but they are not the same city. Few cats recall the time when there was no distinction: the streets and squares of men were also streets and squares of cats, and the lawns, courtyard, balconies, and fountains; you lived in a broad and various space. But for several generations now domestic felines have been prisoners of an uninhabitable city; the streets are uninterruptedly overrun by the mortal traffic of cat-crushing automobiles; in every square foot of terrain where once a garden extended or a vacant lot or the ruins of an old demolition, now condominiums loom up, welfare housing, brand-new skyscrapers; every entrance is crammed with parked cars; the courtyards, one by one, have been roofed by reinforced concrete and transformed into garages and movie houses or storerooms or workshops…

Italo Calvino, The Garden of Stubborn Cats

 

Calvino’s famous short story was written in 1963 as the post war boom in city rebuilding was taking off in Italy; a version of architectural modernism was transforming many historic urban neighbourhoods into up or down market versions of Le Corbusier’s dream of the city as a ’machine-for-living’.… Read the rest

Compass Webinar – Living Maps – June 17th

A Compass Webinar, in association with Living Maps
Pausing for Thought: Mindful Perspectives
on a Multiple Crisis.

Wednesday, June 17th 18:30 – 20:00    
Sign Up Here!

First there was Brexit. Then the Labour Party goes down to a historic defeat with its most radical Social Democratic agenda since 1945. Then widespread floods across the country presage an environmental apocalypse to come unless climate change is properly addressed.

… Read the rest

Citizens Atlas of London

We are developing a toolkit  of educational resources  to support a network  of citizen mappers located in the  ‘opportunity areas’, designated by the London 2050 infrastructure plan.The network will collaborate on the production of an online Atlas, mapping the past, present and future of  these regeneration areas and, outlining  an alternative vision  of the city. See the  film  for more information : YouTube Video on the Citizen’s Atlas.
… Read the rest

Our Kind of Town

Citizen Social Science, Participatory Mapping and the Struggle for a Just City

This is the text of a public lecture I gave to the Institute for Social Research at Birkbeck in October 2014.Thanks very  much  for the many useful comments  made in the discussion following the lecture, some of which have been taken on board in revising this text. I am especially grateful to Anna Davin for drawing my attention to Hugh Brody’s wonderful book about Inuit cartography :Maps and Dreams.… Read the rest

Lecture Series

A series of   public lectures  mapping issues of democracy and injustice in London’s past, present and future .

London has a long history of struggle for democratic rights. It has been the birthplace of many campaigns for social justice, and sustained a political culture in which refugees and immigrants have made vital contributions to the intellectual and cultural life of the city and the nation.

… Read the rest

Lights on for the Territory

John Wallett

The Citizens Atlas project has developed out of a narrative map produced by John Wallet for a book about East London and the Olympics by Phil Cohen published in March 2013. ( link?).The map itself includes a ‘Hall of Fame’ and depicts the cultural and political geography of the area, both in the past and present, with a nod in the direction of Iain Sinclair.
… Read the rest

East London Narrative Map

This project developed out of a narrative map produced by John Wallet for a book about East London and the Olympics by Phil Cohen published in March 2013.  The book and the  online resources that have been developed around provide the information and research base for work with schools and community groups in East London. A film  has been made exploring some of the conceptual and technical issues involved in making this map.… Read the rest