Mapping Heritage: Geospatial Online Databases of Historic Roads. The Case of the N-340 Roadway Corridor on the Spanish Mediterranean
<p>Project homepage: (<b>a</b>) as viewed on a desktop computer (<a href="https://n-340.org/" target="_blank">https://n-340.org/</a>); and (<b>b</b>) as viewed on a mobile phone (<a href="https://n-340.org/" target="_blank">https://n-340.org/</a>). Screenshots by the N-340 research team, January 2018.</p> "> Figure 2
<p>Area of study. Screenshot by the N-340 research team, January 2018 (<a href="https://n-340.org/proyecto/ambito/" target="_blank">https://n-340.org/proyecto/ambito/</a>). The historic path of the N-340 roadway is marked in red. The area of study is shaded in semitransparent orange. A corresponding map created in GIS software is available for download in PDF.</p> "> Figure 3
<p>System design.</p> "> Figure 4
<p>Bibliography database. Customized interface for researchers. Back-end view of the book chapter entitled “Documenting, cataloguing and protecting the architecture of the 20th Century: the research process, the institutional commitment, the educational transference”. Screenshot by the N-340 research team, January 2018.</p> "> Figure 5
<p>Back-end and front-end views of a heritage item. (<b>Left</b>) Heritage database: customized interface for researchers. Back-end view of the heritage asset of the corridor entitled “Urbanización Bahía Dorada”. (<b>Right</b>) Heritage database: interface for users. Front-end view of the same heritage asset (<a href="https://n-340.org/patrimonio/items-patrimoniales/malaga/estepona/conjunto-de-bahia-dorada/conjunto-bahia-dorada/" target="_blank">https://n-340.org/patrimonio/items-patrimoniales/malaga/estepona/conjunto-de-bahia-dorada/conjunto-bahia-dorada/</a>). Screenshots by the N-340 research team, January 2018.</p> "> Figure 6
<p>Custom multicriteria search engine. “Lister Pro”, a ProcessWire premium module, enables researchers to build their own personalized search engines. Any field present in the heritage database can be used, enabling complex searches and precise results, which can also be exported to an Excel-compatible format for further data analysis. In this example, a researcher found two results when searching for items in the city of Marbella built during the period 1951–1975 and in a poor state of conservation. Screenshot by the N-340 research team, January 2018.</p> "> Figure 7
<p>Tree structure. ProcessWire’s tree structure enables intuitive, logical content organization. This screenshot shows how the heritage database branch entitled “Ítems Patrimoniales” (number 1 in image) is structured: first by province (number 2), then by municipality (number 3), then by item or group of items (number 4). In this example, a researcher is accessing the heritage item named “Río Manilva”, located in the Manilva municipality, in Malaga province. Screenshot by the N-340 research team, January 2018.</p> "> Figure 8
<p>Simplified PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) code used to retrieve coordinates for a group of items in a branch below (e.g., items in a municipality or in a sequence). Screenshot by the N-340 research team, January 2018.</p> "> Figure 9
<p>Designing an itinerary. Building an itinerary is a simple matter of selecting pages from the tree. This screenshot of the back end shows how a researcher would add an item called “Puerto Deportivo Sotogrande” to the highlights of the first itinerary. An item can be removed by clicking on the trash icon, and reordered by dragging and dropping to the desired position. Screenshot by the N-340 research team, January 2018.</p> "> Figure 10
<p>Itinerary 1: Marismas Río Palmones—Río Guadiaro (Marshes of Palmones River—Guadiaro River). “The encounter of two seas, the frontier of two continents. Strategic vocation and space conflict in the Strait of Gibraltar”. The nine representative items along the N-340 road are shown on a Google map and summarized below.</p> "> Figure 11
<p>Locating an item in the back end. ProcessWire’s “Map Marker (Google Maps)” module enables researchers to enter latitude and longitude (or a street address) to quickly locate the item they are working on. Geocoding and reverse geocoding are supported through the Google Maps API. Screenshot by the N-340 research team, January 2018.</p> "> Figure 12
<p>Locating an item on a custom Google Map. Locating “Hotel Don Pepe” on the front end (<a href="https://n-340.org/patrimonio/items-patrimoniales/malaga/marbella/hotel-don-pepe/" target="_blank">https://n-340.org/patrimonio/items-patrimoniales/malaga/marbella/hotel-don-pepe/</a>). Screenshot by the N-340 research team, January 2018.</p> "> Figure 13
<p>Viewing a sequence/group of items. “Conjuntos” and “Secuencias” are groups of items that can be viewed together on a single Google Map. This screenshot shows the six items that make up the “Colonia Agrícola San Pedro Alcántara” (<a href="https://n-340.org/patrimonio/items-patrimoniales/malaga/marbella/conjunto-colonia-agricola-san-pedro-de-alcantara/" target="_blank">https://n-340.org/patrimonio/items-patrimoniales/malaga/marbella/conjunto-colonia-agricola-san-pedro-de-alcantara/</a>). Screenshot by the N-340 research team, January 2018.</p> ">
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Background: Limitations of Heritage Catalogues
- The isolated character of assets listed in traditional heritage catalogues. In the context of Spain, heritage catalogues included in urban development plans essentially consist of a collection of item cards displaying the heritage protection level, a photograph, a location map, and basic identification data, sometimes supplemented with historical detail. The format makes it difficult to attain a satisfactory integrated overview of the extent and cohesion of the heritage characteristics the city and territory have to offer.
- Although assets are generally indicated on a map, their general isolated itemization is worsened by a lack of systematized geographical information on the databases, thus hindering the process of establishing territorial relationships, locating areas of heritage concentration, and elaborating an integrated heritage reading of the study area. In the last decade, geographical information has been produced with specialized GIS software, accessible in most cases, however, only to experts, rather than researchers, institutions, and the general public.
- The rigidity of heritage databases systemizing cultural heritage in general, and architectural, urban, and archaeological heritage in particular.
1.2. Current State of the Research Field
2. System Design: Consistency in the Conceptual Methodology Applied to the Characterization of Heritage
- Sufficiently flexible to include all the different layers of heritage, while ensuring utmost rigor.
- A user-friendly work tool, while remaining coherent within the different fields of expertise involved.
2.1. Flexibility of the System: ProcessWire
2.2. A Secondary Database: A Specialized and Accessible Bibliographical Archive
2.3. Usability of the System: Instant Public Access to a Working Tool for Research Collaboration
3. Geospatial Heritage Characterization
3.1. Producing Geo-Information in the Heritage Database: The Different Scales: Heritage Item, Sequence, and Itineraries
3.2. Geo-Accessibility: The Use of Google Maps in Conjunction with GIS
4. Results
4.1. An Online Geospatial Heritage Database
4.2. Bibliographical Archive
4.3. The Development of the Itineraries
4.4. An Intuitive, Real-Time Collaborative Tool for Researchers
5. Discussion
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Loren-Méndez, M.; Pinzón-Ayala, D.; Ruiz, R.; Alonso-Jiménez, R. Mapping Heritage: Geospatial Online Databases of Historic Roads. The Case of the N-340 Roadway Corridor on the Spanish Mediterranean. ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2018, 7, 134. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi7040134
Loren-Méndez M, Pinzón-Ayala D, Ruiz R, Alonso-Jiménez R. Mapping Heritage: Geospatial Online Databases of Historic Roads. The Case of the N-340 Roadway Corridor on the Spanish Mediterranean. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 2018; 7(4):134. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi7040134
Chicago/Turabian StyleLoren-Méndez, Mar, Daniel Pinzón-Ayala, Rita Ruiz, and Roberto Alonso-Jiménez. 2018. "Mapping Heritage: Geospatial Online Databases of Historic Roads. The Case of the N-340 Roadway Corridor on the Spanish Mediterranean" ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 7, no. 4: 134. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi7040134