Theoretical Models of Time-Space: The Role of Transport Networks in the Shrinking and Shrivelling of Geographical Space - Methods for Multilevel Analysis and Visualisation of Geographical Networks - page 54

From this perspective, time-space anamorphic cartography is the first application
in which one moves the locations to represent time-distances more effectively.
An example is given by Shimizu, showing the contraction of Japan due to the
development of the high-speed train networks between 1962 and 1992 ( Shimizu ,
1992 ). In the field of the representation of distances, anamorphosis aligns with
the type of cartography defined by Bunge as simpler distances on a complicated
map. The two elements of information on time-distances can be found from such a
representation: the overall space contraction and the local deformations produced
by high-speed lines. If the new transport networks had been characterized by
homogeneity and anisotropy, the shape of the external borders of the country would
have remained unchanged, and only size would have been reduced. All of the
distortions from the normal and conventional shape of Japan indicate directions
privileged by the shape of the networks. The literature on networks has abundantly
expressed the idea that modern transport provokes heterogeneity in space ( Castells ,
1996 ; Dupuy , 1991 ; Graham & Marvin , 2001 ; Knowles , 2006 ).
However, this model is subject to limitations. The major criticism of the
application of anamorphosis to the representation of distances is the fact that if
two locations, such as two cities, are becoming closer due to a new transport link,
this does not mean that the space between the cities is also growing in accessibility.
Toll roads are examples of the “tunnel effect” of some infrastructures where the
limited access points reduce the accessibility growth to a set of subspaces and are not
distributed evenly along the line ( F. Plassard , 1976 ). This phenomenon is even more
pronounced in the case of the high-speed rail ( Mathis , 2007 ; Murayama , 1994 )and
is one of the major characteristics of air transportation ( Haggett , 2001 ). Providing
an illustration of this limitation, the phenomenon of spatial inversion cannot be read
from the anamorphic map because of the principle of the preservation of the order
of proximities, which can be found in most methods developed in the literature
( Clark , 1999 ; Kotoh , 2001 ; Shimizu , 1992 ; Spiekermann & Wegener , 1994 ).
Displacing the locations on the map is not the only way in which distances can be
represented. The idea of drawing transport lines between places in such a way that
different distances are shown was introduced in the 1980s ( H. Plassard & Routhier ,
1987 ; Tobler , 1997 ). In the example proposed by Tobler, the location of cities and
network nodes remains unchanged, when compared to their normal cartographic
position. The length of the roads between the nodes is displayed in the form of
a spring: the intensity of the tension indicating the sinuousness of roads unevenly
distributed in the mountainous area in western Colorado. In this model, one can
obtain the information on the difficulty of linking two places by observing the visual
length of the links. The notion of visual length was introduced ( L'Hostis , 2003 )to
describe the capacity of a map reader in extracting the information on the length of
a route from the analysis of the path's shape. A straight segment can be converted
in kilometers through the direct use of the scale, while a sinuous curve indicates a
longer road. This principle is used in the spring map to express the idea of privileged
and handicapped directions (Fig. 4.2 ).