Knowing the past for managing the present: A comparison between historical cartography and satellite images for the study of Rome’s City Centre

Valerio BAIOCCHI, Keti LELO, Maria Vittoria MILONE, Martina MORMILE, Eride TANGA

ABSTRACT: The idea of this paper, develops from the consideration that, since the second half of the XXth century, urban planning of Italian historical centers seems constrained by the fear of compromising the architectures of the past. Rome’s city centre, today UNESCO site, gathers a built up heritage that witness its long and unique existence. The missing industrialization phase that, during the XIXth century, determined the urban transformation of the great European capital cities, has permitted to a large area characterized by highly stratified urban tissue to survive. The aim of this project is to exploit the geometric precision and descriptive detail, characterizing the “Nuova pianta di Roma”, published in 1748 by Giovanni Battista Nolli, fot studying the urban transformations at housing block level. The rigorous georeferencing of the historical cartography, allows for the spatial comparison with actual cartographies and with very high resolution satellite images, and the consequent analysis of the urban structure and its formal and functional contents.

Keywords: Rome’s City Center, georeferencing, historical cartography, spatial comparison. .

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