Strategies for the correct contextualisation and management of drove roads in urban historic landscapes

ABSTRACT

Drove roads bear testament to the social and economic relations of many Mediterranean countries over a prolonged period of time. However, scant attention has been given to the heritage value of these routes.

This lack of attention is particularly significant in those historic urban landscapes that receive some type of protection as, in these cases, it would be possible to incorporate these trails as assets of heritage interest.

This paper defines a methodology to reconstruct the routes of these thoroughfares in areas of heritage interest and systematically analyse the treatment of these roads by the local institutions. The article also proposes a GIS cartography to collect all the information that the authorities should compile in relation to drove roads and outlines design strategies to allow the correct insertion of these routes in urban historic landscapes. Finally, the research establishes a Web Map platform for the enhancement of these ancient thoroughfares.

KEYWORDS:

• Drove roads
• historic town centres
• urban historic landscapes
• heritage
• urban planning

Acknowledgement

We would like to offer our sincerest gratitude to our colleagues, Dr Fco Javier Rodríguez and Dr José María Coronado, who have also supported this research.

A. Moyano would like to thank the University of Castilla La Mancha for their financial support through the programme ‘Plan Propio de Investigación’ [2018/11744], cofounded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER, UE).

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rita Ruiz

Rita Ruiz received her PhD in Civil Engineering (2014) from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) Spain, where she works as an associate professor. She is ICOMOS and CIIC member and she is currently collaborating in the elaboration of a Charter on Historic Roads. Her research is mainly on the heritage of civil engineering infrastructures, with special focus on roads built from the mid-eighteenth century. She has obtained several grants for research stays at the University of Bath, Newcastle University (UK) and at the National Park Service (EEUU) where she has acquired in-depth knowledge of territorial preservation

Amparo Moyano

Amparo Moyano holds a PhD in Civil Engineering (2018) from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), Spain. She is currently an assistant professor and researcher in the School of Civil Engineering at the same institution. Her main lines of research relate to urban planning and transport, especially focused on 1) territorial effects of main transport infrastructures and their influence on mobility patterns and 2) urban design and mobility analysis using GIS and new data sources (Big Data) and GIS.

María R. García-Duque

María R. García-Duque is Civil Engineer from the University Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), Spain. She collaborated as a researcher with the area of Urban and Landscape Planning in the Civil Engineering School of the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), Spain. Her research lines deal with the spatial impact in rural and urban areas of historic linear transport infrastructures.

Patricia Hernández-Lamas

Patricia Hernández-Lamas is an architect from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (ETSAM-UPM, 2003), MsC in Urban Planning and Master in Landscape and Gardening (UPM, 2004). She has PhD in Architecture and Heritage Program (Architectural Composition Department-ETSAM-UPM, 2017); obtaining Extraordinary Doctorate Award for her PhD dissertation: “The modern garden in Spain (1926-1980)”. She has been assistant professor in the School of Civil Engineering-UPM since 2013. She is director of the Miguel Aguiló Foundation, for the built landscape and heritage research.