Envisioning the future of cartographic research

Abstract

This article introduces a special issue of the International Journal of Cartography that envisions the future of cartographic research. Following a process of collaborative ideation among International Cartographic Association (ICA) commissions, their members and other allied scholars and professionals, five articles have been crafted to highlight challenges and opportunities for cartographic research in the decades ahead. The first article characterizes the evolution of cartographic research through analysis of the activities of the ICA. Next, we present four new research agendas on persistent problems in cartographic research, big data and geovisual analytics, designing across map use contexts and use and user issues.