Mapping, both as a metaphor and as a method, is a crucial tool for the humanities and social sciences. In particular, it has a central position in the so-called spatial turn. In the article, I problematize spatiality in mapping concepts related to the spatial turn. Using the example of locating the centre of a city, I point out the complexity of a mapping-like spatial description, and the respective necessity to consider the variability of spatiality involved in descriptions and already present in the object domain; that is, in the sociocultural world. Positioning mapping in the wider and complex field of semiotic spatial modelling helps to clarify and improve the modelling capacity and adequacy of mapping as a method in social and cultural research.