From the Mosaic to the Patchwork Metaphor in Digital Cartography—A Response to the Article by Hong et al. (2025)

ABSTRACT In their recent article entitled Root metaphors in cartography bridging critical and quantitative approaches , Ruizhe Hong, Bo Zhao and Shangyi Zhou (2025) highlight how metaphors can be used as a heuristic tool to renew critical approaches to digital cartography. Using Anne Buttimer's Four Root Metaphors (1982)—mosaic, mechanism, organism and arena—they explore the link between cartographic representation, socio‐spatial inequalities and spatial justice in the context of technological developments marked by recent advances in spatial data science and geospatial artificial intelligence. While acknowledging that other metaphors could be used, the authors encourage readers to build on this exercise to further develop ‘a mapping practice that is as diverse and dynamic as the landscapes it seeks to represent’. I have decided to seize this stimulating opportunity to propose a fifth metaphor which I call the patchwork metaphor. More specifically, I argue that the ‘mosaic metaphor’ creates an illusion which fuels neo‐positivist visions of cartography that persist to this day. I therefore prefer the metaphor of ‘cartographic patchwork’ as I believe it is particularly effective in revealing the digital divides that characterise today's geospatial world.