Street maps and private-sector map making: a case study of two firms.

The indexed urban street map is a cartographic medium used by many people for way-finding and route-planning. Communication models addressing only map design and cognition ignore the flow of geographic information from government agency to map publisher to advertiser or retailer to user. Competition and territorial expansion in private-sector map making also affect the cost, accuracy, and graphic quality of street maps. 'Who maps what cities?' may be as significant a focus for cartographic investigation as traditional concerns about graphic symbolization. -from Author