Post-Scarcity Web Mapping with Protomaps - Brandon Liu, Protomaps

Post-Scarcity Web Mapping with Protomaps Brandon Liu, Protomaps The Protomaps vector basemap is an open-source cartographic product designed for free reproduction and flexible customization. It synthesizes a few complementary technologies including a liberally licensed basemap schema based on Tilezen, the PMTiles file format for deploying tilesets, and the Planetiler Java library for fast, planet-scale generalization. Whole-earth, multiscale tilesets can be created from OSM, Natural Earth, and Overture by solo cartographers in hours and reproduced at zero marginal cost. When vector maps shift from a API-limited, usage-metered resource to a commodity, what new possibilities are there for vector web maps? What software tools and methods should emerge? And what cartographic challenges remain to be tackled? This presentation was made at the 2023 annual meeting of the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS). For more information on NACIS, check out http://NACIS.org.