Assignment 2 guidelines

Assignment 2 Guidelines (finalized)

This assignment involves the manipulation of georeferenced maps using QGIS in order to evaluate the differences in built urban space, naming of streets and monuments, as well as the choices of map makers. Remember that every map "lies" in its own way and is an approximation of what we find in real space and is full of many shortcomings. This exercise might be thought of as a "time machine" using historical maps to peer back into old layers of a city.

The exercise:

Pick at least two historical maps of Tunis of your choice, download them as tiff files from the shared drive in the folder marked for Assignment 2, and overlay them in QGIS. There are two folders in the drive, one with the tiff files with the geographical information and the other with regular image files.

Study a portion of the map of interest to you which has details which are different on the maps you chose. Remember that georeferencing is an inexact process and there will be a lack of correspondence between the spatial representations of the different maps. Using your eyes, and changing the transparency layers, "peer through" one layer to another and to OSM or the Wikipedia layer to assess what is different. street names, neighborhood names, building markers, transport lines, etc. I would suggest using OSM or Google Maps or a map such as this map along side where the Arabic has been transliterated.

Steps for loading in the maps (images below):

• download QGIS (the long term stable version)

• loading a map base: I would suggest using either the OpenStreetMap or Wikimedia labelled layer which come shipped with QGIS: Browser > XYZ Tiles > OpenStreetMap or Wikimedia Labelled layer

• loading your tiff files Layer > Add Layer > Add Raster Layer. When you load this layer, you may need to zoom to the place it is found on the screen. Use the magnifying glass with three arrows to do that.

• make sure that your Layers are in the right order at bottom left.

• turn on all relevant layers (adjusting their transparency as needed right/control click on the tiff layer > properties > transparency and use the slider) and start.

Guiding questions for your response:

What seems to have changed between the different maps? Make sure that you identify clearly what maps you are dealing with (map A from year XXXX).

What do the different cartographers seem to have cared most about in their image?

Are there patterns to changes which you can identify? You may have to do a little historical research to understand the significance in the name changes.

What screenshots can you make in which you draw attention to what you consider to be relevant changes? Be sure to include at least three or four while clearly captioning them.

Due: 30 November

Relevant Screenshots from QGIS