CARTOGRAPHY FOR TOWN PLANNING
Giorgio Bezoari* - Attilio Selvini*
* Dipartimento IIAR - Sezione Rilevamento - Politecnico di Milano
Summary
In this paper presented in honour of Professor Mariano Cunietti memorial day, we underline once again a
subject very close to the heart of the famous professor and researcher: which cartography for the general town
planning and for the trafic network.
A reorganization proposal of this subject ends this relation.
1 - Introduction
During the 70's there were many discussions, in
particular in the case of Milan and especially in our
former " Istituto di Geodesia, Topografia e
Fotogrammetria ", about the fate and the future of
tecnic cartography in Italy. We remember, at this
aim, not only some writings quoted in the
references (1), (2), (3), but also several meetings,
concerning this matter, of the " Commissione
Geodetica italiana ", that brought, before the
suppression of this commission, to issuing of two
"guides" for tecnical maps editing one for the
scales 1:10000 and 1: 5000,and one for 1:2000 and
1:1000..
In that decade, it seemed we were close to promote
the birth, in both tecnical and political areas, of a
"cartographic consciousness" that could lead Italy
again to the supremacy in that field as it had been
in the second half of the XIX century and in the
first fourty years of our century. Such an attitude
should have been able to avoid, in the most critical
phase of road development and town planning, the
most outstanding mistakes committed for example
in planning the motorway network at that time in
state of relay.
Mariano Cunietti was at that time the leader of this
informative activity, addressed in particular to
local institutions also considering the future
creation of the Regions.
He organized a National conference in Milan, with
the collaboration of the " Comitato Regionale per
la Programmazione Economica" held by Mr. Piero
Bassetti. The results of that meeting, that had an
unexpected resonance, have been depicted in
several publications (6); we are interested in
reporting here only some considerations that are
still topical some thirty years later.
Giuseppe Inghilleri said for example (6), in a
passionate speech, that the lack of suitable maps
for road and town planning, according to precise
and recent (at that time) investigations, led in the
United States, meant more expensive costs of
public works until 7 per cent.
The case of the "variante Umbro-Sabina"of the
"Autostrada del Sole", was recalled by Mr. Vanoni,
president of SPEA. It was wrongly traced for
political hurry on IGM maps at the scale of
1:25000, with higher costs of twenty billions lira
(at that time!).
It seemed (we were in 1969, and the following year
marked the birth of some Regions) that the so
invoked "national cartographic consciousness" was
ready to bom and to spread: but it came true just
the opposite, as any topographer feared.
Cartography became quickly conquest soil;
physicists, mathematicians, programmers,
unspecialized architects, graphic designers, and
even advertisers seized it.
The spread of the so called numerical cartography
and then the rise of SIT, GIS and other various
initials saw the political run-up of councillors, of
mayors and technicians to draw money from
public cases to endow the boards with more or less
useful cartographies.
We are asking now: is it possible to express a
general critique to the by now usual way of
proceeding, and give once again some suggestions
to explain? the planning and therefore give
reasonable statements in the employment of
cartography? This is the aim of this writing in
memory of our Master, always alive in us.
2 - The Italian cartographic disorder, facing the
year two thousand.
In the last twenty years, the activity for the creation
of technical maps has taken a frenzied rhythm.
On the other hand, the state official cartography is
almost forgotten: this is the case of IGM, that
survives from the 70's with a low organic,
