Historic construction of diffuse cultural landscapes: Towards a GIS-based method for mapping the interlinkages of heritage

Abstract

The convergence of research on landscape and heritage holds great strategic potential for establishing novel connections between the heritage resources of a territory. This text reflects on the ability of the landscape to situate inherited assets within a framework of spatial coherence in relation to the peri-urban spaces of large cities, heritage areas of great historical depth that have been particularly aggressively exposed to the urban development dynamics of the second half of the twentieth century. In order to address these often forgotten spaces, this text presents a system for heritage management argued from the standpoint of and towards the landscape and based on historical interpretation, cartographic analysis, mapping and digital documentation. Geographic technologies and graphic expression are basic pillars to integrate historical information with the language and resources of the disciplines involved in landscape planning and design, advancing criteria for a forward-looking landscape-based heritage management.