A method for calculating an occupancy representation of cells adjacent to a cell of an environment map, wherein the environment map is a data structure which comprises cells as sub-units, wherein the cells are each associated with a portion of the environment of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle detects the occupancy of the portions of the environment by obstacles with the aid of sensors and stores the information regarding the occupancy of a portion in the corresponding associated cell, wherein the occupancy representation is a sequence of binary storage units, wherein each position of the binary sequence is assigned an adjacent cell, wherein a binary storage unit is designed to assume two states: activated and inactivated, wherein each adjacent cell is assigned a sequence of binary storage units, that is to say binary patterns, wherein the binary patterns are selected in such a way that each two binary patterns differ in at least one state at the same point of the particular sequence, wherein a selection list is provided which comprises two entries or selection masks, wherein each entry comprises a sequence of binary storage units, wherein the storage units of the first entry all have the first state and the storage units of the second entry all have the second state, wherein the method comprises: providing a preliminary occupancy representation which is based on a predefined starting value; for each adjacent cell, performing the following method substeps: determining whether the occupancy of the adjacent cell satisfies a predetermined criterion; selecting a selection mask from the list depending on the satisfaction of the criterion; linking the selected selection mask and the binary pattern assigned to the adjacent cell in orderto obtain an intermediate result; linking the intermediate result with the preliminary occupancy representation; if all adjacent cells have been considered: providing the preliminary occupancy representation as occupancy representation. activated and inactivated, wherein each adjacent cell is assigned a sequence of binary storage units, that is to say binary patterns, wherein the binary patterns are selected in such a way that each two binary patterns differ in at least one state at the same point of the particular sequence, wherein a selection list is provided which comprises two entries or selection masks, wherein each entry comprises a sequence of binary storage units, wherein the storage units of the first entry all have the first state and the storage units of the second entry all have the second state, wherein the method comprises: providing a preliminary occupancy representation which is based on a predefined starting value; for each adjacent cell, performing the following method substeps: determining whether the occupancy of the adjacent cell satisfies a predetermined criterion; selecting a selection mask from the list depending on the satisfaction of the criterion; linking the selected selection mask and the binary pattern assigned to the adjacent cell in orderto obtain an intermediate result; linking the intermediate result with the preliminary occupancy representation; if all adjacent cells have been considered: providing the preliminary occupancy representation as occupancy representation. determining whether the occupancy of the adjacent cell satisfies a predetermined criterion; selecting a selection mask from the list depending on the satisfaction of the criterion; linking the selected selection mask and the binary pattern assigned to the adjacent cell in orderto obtain an intermediate result; linking the intermediate result with the preliminary occupancy representation;