The Comprehensive Analysis of the Space Care Issue Through Controversy Mapping in Architecture Students

This chapter introduces controversy mapping as a tool within the Cartography of Controversy approach, which enables a comprehensive analysis of complex issues. It serves as an important dimension in the development of critical thinking, specifically in the Comprehensive analysis of problems of the ENCIC-CT model. This tool allows the analysis of social and environmental issues in a holistic way and facilitates the study of their complexity. In the process of controversy mapping, different actors and their relationships and interests in the issue are made visible, as well as how they are grouped to facilitate understanding and the proposal of solutions. This methodology was implemented with 17 students of the Degree in Architecture at the University of Malaga (Spain) to analyse the city’s issue of spaces for care. The degree of understanding of the complexity of the productions made by the students was analysed. The study shows that the students perceived the controversy mapping as a tool that helps them to improve their critical capacity on the issue and to develop the necessary skills for the comprehensive analysis of the complex issues through the arrangement, relation and reflection of ideas, as well as their visual representation.