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.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural landscape
• peri-urban areas
• heritage
• geographical information systems
• sustainable development

Acknowledgments

We thank the Documentation and Studies Centre of the Institute of Historical Heritage of Andalusia for the heritage information provided. We are also very grateful to the reviewers of this journal for their constructive feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research has been supported by the Consejería de Economía y Conocimiento of the Junta de Andalucía through the project ‘GISPARQ. Gestión Inteligente y Sostenible del Patrimonio ARQuitectónico: innovación digital y gestión integrada para la conservación, el turismo y la economía de la cultura’ (US-1263780). Marina López Sánchez would also like to thank the Spanish Ministry of Universities for financial support via a research grant: ‘Formacion del Profesorado Universitario’ (FPU16/02768);Junta de Andalucía [US-1263780]; Ministerio de Universidades [FPU16/02768];

Notes on contributors

Marina López Sánchez

Marina López Sánchez is an architect (School of Architecture, University of Seville 2016) and currently a PhD candidate in the Doctoral Programme in Architecture of the University of Seville. Her thesis explores innovative heritage management mechanisms argued from the standpoint of and towards the landscape and based on historical interpretation, cartographic analysis, mapping and digital documentation through GIS. In 2017 she received financial support for her research via the grant ‘Formación del Profesorado Universitario’ of former Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. She teaches architectural design in the Higher School of Architecture of Seville.

Mercedes Linares Gómez Del Pulgar

Mercedes Linares Gómez del Pulgar is Associate Professor Doctor of Architectural Graphic Expression in the University of Seville. She is a specialist in Historical Heritage and a researcher of nineteenth-century Architecture, City and Landscape. Her research has been awarded by Archivo Hispalense (2014) and she received the Extraordinary Doctorate Award of the University of Seville (2013–14). She has won numerous national and international awards for her architectural work with TEJEDOR_LINARES & Asociados (www.tejedorlinares.com).

Antonio Tejedor Cabrera

Antonio Tejedor Cabrera is Full Professor of Architectural Projects in the University of Seville. Extraordinary Doctorate Award US 1997–98. He is a specialist in sustainable interventions in Historical Heritage and Cultural Landscapes, he has been a consultant for the Andalusian Institute of Historic Heritage (1990–2001) and a member of the Andalusian Commission of Archeology (1997–2003). He has received the following international awards: Vote of Louvor from the University of Lisboa (2012); PRAM International Award for Restoration and Mediterranean Architecture (2013) and Finalist (second classified) in II MEDITERRANEAN LANDSCAPE AWARD (2007).