Comparing Traditional Maps with Twitter-Derived Maps: Exploring Differences and Similarities

The paper describes the use of quantitative data obtained from the social medium Twitter to analyse urban patterns. A case study in the urban neighbourhood of Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, is described to show the outcomes of a comparative analysis with traditional data used in the urban and transport planning processes of the city. The maps derived from the elaboration of Twitter data are overlapped to traditional maps providing evidence of similarities and differences. The paper illustrates the outcomes of this overlapping and discusses the possibilities given by the use of freely and quickly available data instead of costly but official data.