Exploring human dimensions of multifunctional landscapes through mapping and map-making

The question of the relationship between humans and their environment has been one of the geographers’ main challenges during this century. It has been approached from different geographical angles using various methodologies. Maps have always been present in geographical research and they constitute important means in research within other disciplines as well. Mapping and map-making, however, implies many theoretical questions, which have to be taken into account particularly when used in human landscape research. This article reviews the ways in which drawn maps as a mode of analysis and representation have been exploited especially in human geography and discusses how mapping might bridge human and natural sciences into landscape research. The focus is on three geographical orientations, namely behaviourism, humanistic and cultural geography. Additionally, two mapping techniques, mental mapping and concept mapping, are presented. So far, drawn maps, such as mental maps, have primarily been used in research on urban environments. Moreover, especially mental maps, which have been favoured by the behaviourists, have encountered severe critique by the representatives of humanistic and cultural geography due to the limited view on the relationship between humans and the environment. Still, I suggest there are many possibilities for the use of drawn maps in human landscape research to be further discussed and exploited in practice.