Processes of generalization in analog and digital cartography

The review and analysis of existing methods of geodata generalization are presented and their specific features are revealed. The essence, determining factors, and content of the processes of spatial data generalization in the paradigms of analog and digital cartography are considered and compared. On this basis, the description of the concept of the property of variability of the generalization process is proposed, which, along with the properties of reversibility and alternative, is positioned as a starting point for creation of a unified methodology for reversible generalization of information objects.