GEOREFERENCING OF HISTORICAL MAPS: GIS TECHNOLOGY FOR URBAN ANALYSIS

Raffaella BRIGANTE, Fabio RADICIONI

ABSTRACT: Mapping methods have undergone substantial changes over the centuries, going from representations based on subjective perceptions and reconstructions to actual scale reproductions of the land. The creation of a GIS in which to store georeferenced historical maps for a given area is essential for assessing its evolution and its changes due both to natural development and to catastrophic events such as earthquakes. More specifically, in this experimentation, starting from a historical research of the maps available, we want to create a GIS for a specific area of central Italy (Municipality of Foligno – Perugia) struck by an earthquake in 1997 that caused extensive damage. Analyzing the various maps available (raster and vector), georeferenced in the same datum and regarding different periods, we want to identify the changes in the area being analyzed, especially in reference to urban development and to the damage caused by the earthquake. We also want to evaluate the possibility of using historical maps as an aid for other types of investigations, such as to search for possible causes of the collapsing of sections of ancient city walls, as occurred in Amelia, an Umbrian town in the province of Terni.

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