Cultural Mapping and re-Appropriation of Space: Examples from Spanish Urban Context

Abstract

This article observes the proliferation of cultural mapping practices that are developed in urban space, and combines elements of spatial theory and social practice to point at the different manners in which such practices contribute to its re-appropriation. In order to do so, firstly, a conceptual framework is built based on the idea of the production of space proposed by Henri Lefebvre. Secondly, the use in literature of the concept “cultural mapping” is reviewed, and three areas in which it is mainly developed are identified: cultural policy and management, artistic expression, and critical cartography. Thirdly, it is argued that potential for the re-appropriation of urban space – through claiming the value daily life, revealing hidden narratives and building new imageries – cross-cuts these three types of mapping. Some specific mapping initiatives developed in Spanish urban spaces are used as examples to illustrate this idea. Finally, some conclusions are drawn and some limitations are pointed out, both of this work and of the mapping processes themselves, in their function of urban space re-appropriation.