Representing territory from the perspective of local inhabitants. Experiences of social cartography in Bahía Blanca

Abstract

This article analyzes social experiences of social cartography developed in the city of Bahía Blanca, Argentina, based on the systematization of workshops conducted in educational, academic, and community settings. The aim is to reflect on the potential of social cartography to represent territory from the perspective of those who inhabit it, as well as on the methodological decisions that shape this process. Adopting a qualitative, descriptive-interpretative approach, six case studies were selected addressing a range of topics such as urban emotions, environmental risk, community trajectories, territorial imaginaries, issues related to lived space, and marketing and distribution circuits. The findings show that social cartography constitutes a flexible tool for generating territorial knowledge, making situated knowledges visible, and fostering spaces for collective reflection. Furthermore, its potential lies both in the mapping process and in the resulting cartographic product. Finally, challenges related to the systematization of these experiences are identified, as the final map does not fully capture the complexity of the meanings constructed during the mapping process.