Spatial Representation

Abstract

Chapter 2 argued that the main goals of ontology of geography includes developing a formal theory of spatial representation, with special reference to geographical phenomena. This chapter undertakes to offer an introduction to the theoretical tools needed for advancing such a formal theory. First, we show that the list of tools can include mereology and topology as well as the geo-ontological distinction between classical and non-classical geographies. Second, following Casati et al. (1998), we argue that classical geography describes a robust way of tiling regions in the presence of three general axioms: (1) Every single geographic entity is located at some unique spatial region. (2) Every spatial region has a unique geographic entity located at it. (3) If two entities are located are at the same spatial region, then they are the same entity. Third, we maintain that any geography can be considered as non-classical if it drops and/or adds axioms to those of classical geography. Finally, we showcase some possible issues emerging from the application of the distinction between classical and non-classical geographies to the cartographic representation.