Geovisualization and geovisual analysis

This Chapter focuses on geovisualization and geovisual analysis. The two are not the same, but are sufficiently related to be discussed together. The aim here, as part of the Methods section of this book, is to demonstrate the power of geovisualization and geovisual analysis as a method when it comes to understanding socioeconomic processes. The Chapter begins by discussing the visualization of geographic data more widely, and by putting it into an historical context; an early reminder that very often what we think of as 'new' has been done before, and that today's geovisual work builds on a strong historical foundation. The question of how geovisual approaches can help us understand socio-economic processes is then explored. A key learning point here is that the purpose of geovisualization and geovisual analytics should always be insight, not maps. Following this, the example of commuting flows in the United States is then introduced in order to illustrate the power of geovisualization and geovisual analysis. In this example, we see how the daily travel to work patterns of more than 130 million Americans can be processed, visualized and analyzed geographically in a way that generates insights that would otherwise remain hidden from view. This is a useful demonstration of how a spatial approach to visualization can add significant value in terms of understanding. Some reflections on geovisualization within a social science context are then offered, followed by a reminder in the conclusion that regardless of the technology of the day, the principles of geovisualization and geovisual analytics remain the same. Today's cutting edge technology will always be tomorrow's old tech, but if the purpose remains insight rather than simply producing maps, we can often add value through a geovisual approach.