This is the Crumpled City Map of London. Part of a series, including New York, Paris and Rome, and produced by an Italian company, the unique feature of the map is that it’s printed on a flexible tear-proof plastic sheet, allowing the map to be crumpled up into a ball for easy storage in a bag (or the little pouch that it’s supplied with) rather than needing to fold it up elaborately, as with most paper maps.
The data for the map is based on OpenStreetMap. The publisher has added their own points of interest onto the top. When I reviewed an earlier version of the map in January, there were quite a few spelling mistakes and other curiosities which suggested a lack of familiarity with the city. However, I was delighted to spot with this latest edition (1.3) that most of these have now been corrected. Russell Square now appears correctly, as does Paddington. The map’s cartography is still clear and uncluttered, but quite simple. It makes no distinction between roads and paths, or roads and bridges – and tunnels (including underground railways) don’t appear at all. Therefore, it is more useful to someone walking around the city, rather than cycling or using public transport.
Still, it is nice to see an OpenStreetMap map in a physical form, and on such a material that it is likely to survive being chucked in a bag and generally mistreated, so it is probably ideal for a walking visitor to the capital.
The map can be bought on Amazon.