A Framework for Road Network Database Generalization

This paper presents a generalization methodology to derive multi-scale GEODATA through an evaluation of ESRI ArcGISTM software that was used as a testbed based on the principles of generalization. It focuses on integration and utilization of generalization operators in order to generalize a road network database and produce small scale maps at 1:500 000 and 1:1 000 000 from GEODATA TOPO-250K Series 2 data. The derived maps are satisfactory when compared with the existing small-scale road maps such as the Global Map at scale of 1:1000 000. It is suggested that a comprehensive evaluation of generalization systems and their performance is essential to marry the cartographic knowledge from experts and bring this into a generalization framework. Therefore, there is an opportunity to evaluate other generalization systems to derive a multi-scale database from a master database in future investigations to enhance the generalization methodology.