Mapping Environmental Quality: Making the Invisible Visible

Natural forces affect urban environmental quality aspects and the wellbeing of people in space. Visualizing the impact of these forces is not straightforward, and it tackles the invisible character of these elements. This is also the aim of the environmental analysis which makes use of quantitative and qualitative outcomes, in particular numerical outputs and visuals. These latter are mainly represented by maps, showing the impact of environmental aspects over the physical space. Most of these visual outcomes are conceptual images, i.e. forms of representation that do not exist in reality, but give back an interpretation of the investigated phenomena. These visual outcomes are conceived with different aims: firstly, by making the invisible visible, environmental maps can be used for communication purposes; secondly, visuals serve as observation devices to assess and interpret phenomena in space, enabling geo-referred considerations which would not be possible by referring to mere numerical outputs only; thirdly, they can be used as design tools to affect decision making in order to improve existing conditions or future performance of places (environmental simulation).