In 1826, Johann-Heinrich von Thünen published Der isolierte Staat ("The Isolated State") that included one of the first general models to describe the land use practices radiating out from a central market location in response to transport costs.  His approach became a foundation for research in regional economic geography and optimiztion modeling for understanding and predicting both agricultural and urban land-use change.

Cubism, method of portraying multiple dimensions onto a two dimensional canvas, is not unlike the task of the map maker in representing the earth in two dimensions. Parallels between Cubism and cartography are identified in this essay.

By mapping the incidence of cholera deaths, Dr. John Snow was able to trace the spread of Cholera in 1854 to the pump at the corner of Cambridge and Broad Street in London. Inference from the spatial pattern supported his argument that water contamination was a major source of causation of the disease and spread of Cholera, and it illustrated the value of spatial analysis in solving social problems.