Cartographic Generalization - The Baltimore Phenomenon

The Baltimore Phenomenon

The Baltimore Phenomenon is the tendency for a city to be omitted from maps due to space constraints while much smaller cities are included on the same map simply because space is available to display them. This phenomenon gets its name from Baltimore, Maryland, which, despite its large population, is commonly omitted on maps of the United States because there is not enough space in the surrounding area of the map. Larger cities surrounding Baltimore take precedence. In contrast, much smaller cities in other geographic locations are included at the same scale because the level of competition for map space may not exist in that particular area.