Graph analysis on street network in a web browser

Abstract

The paper presents a prototype of a system created to demonstrate the methodology for performing and visualising graph analyses on street networks in a web browser, using open standards (IIIF, Geospatial standards, web standards) for sharing and analysing cultural heritage information linked to geographical location.The main contribution is the creation of a tool that enables analysis of street networks from the very beginning, that is, the reconstruction of urban street systems based on archaeological site plans based on a variety of data obtained during archaeological research (invasive and non-invasive) to the visualisation of the network analysis results. The experiences of the carried-out analyses indicated both positive sides of the designed system and highlighted the limitations that must be taken into account when conducting network studies in the proposed workflow.In order to demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed system, the plans of four ancient cities were analysed: Priene, Olynthus, Dura-Europos, and Piraeus. Although the presented solution provided a research tool for comparing spatial layouts in ancient cities, it can be applied to much broader research objectives. A significant advantage of the presented solution was the creation of a simplified tool for the execution of the above processes in a web browser, to be used by users without advanced GIS knowledge or programming skills and without switching between different tools to perform such analyses.