Abstract
An isochrone is a measure of urban mobility. It estimates how far one can get in a fixed amount of time from a given point in urban space, utilizing given means of transportation. For example a 15 minutes public transport isochrone from Sapienza estimates how far one can get in 15 minutes taking all means of public transportation, starting near the given location. As part of our work, we have translated this measure of urban mobility to the cultural studies. The measure of cultural connectivity that we created may be referred to as “isolex” (the name is derived from “isochrone” and “lexicon”). An isolex estimates the cultural connectivity of a given point in geographical space. For example, a 15-sentence isolex from Sapienza is calculated by opening all books in a given library to the sentence where they mention Sapienza, and reading 15 sentences from that point. The locations that are found in these selected sentences make up an isolex. Figuratively, rather than taking public transport as a means to move through space, one takes books. We present a digital tool that automatically computes isolexes. We also discuss potential applications and the research paths they open in the humanities.
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Civic, Political, and Community Studies
KEYWORDS
Isochrone, Isolex, Cultural Connectivity in Urban Space, Text Mining
