The use of GIS for studying cultural heritage and historical urban landscape: the case of Perm and Usolie (Russia)

Abstract

Perm and Usolie are cities in the territory of Perm region (Russia) which hold a rich cultural heritage. The historic urban planning of these cities is threatened due to anthropogenic and natural factors. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are an excellent tool for operating archival geospatial sources, dating back to the 18th – beginning 20th centuries. With the cooperation of the Department of Ancient and Medieval History of Russia at Perm State Humanitarian Pedagogical University and the Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics at Perm State University, geospatial models that contain information of monuments of history, architecture and urban planning in according to the national cultural heritage register of Russia were developed. Processing of cartographic sources through GIS allowed visualizing the lost historical buildings and to combine information about all objects of cultural heritage. It provides the management of historical data in the preservation of cultural heritage and development of urban-planning regulations.

Keywords

• cultural heritage objects
• gis
• geodatabase
• cartographic sources