Itálica and the Representation of the Movement Throughout Territory: Cartographic Analysis for a GIS-Assisted Design of Cultural Itineraries

Abstract

The cartographic analysis has been frequently applied by architects and urbanists to comprehend the evolution of the architecture and the urban tissue from a territorial standpoint as the basis of an architectural intervention at these scales. The archaeological site of Italica, which is awaiting to be assessed to enter in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List, is currently decontextualized because of the unprogrammed growing of the city of Seville and those settlements in its metropolitan area. The maximum development and decadence of Italica, nowadays partially buried under the late-medieval urban tissue of Santiponce, can only be understood if we consider Italica’s position on the territory and the evolution of the infrastructures of mobility and natural courses in its buffer zone. Cultural itineraries are presented as a strategy of territorial design that contributes to the restoration of the dynamics of cultural landscape formation in the framework of an integrated plan of territory. Cultural itineraries in turn promote the articulation and valorization of territorial heritage necessary to guarantee its self-sustaining future exploitation. A three-step, GIS-assisted work methodology is propounded. The focus is put on the historical research as it is considered to be a solid starting point to later conduct an advanced spatial analysis. This paper inquiries into the possibilities of including the historiographic analysis of cartography, maps, and other graphic representations into a GIS-assisted work methodology to design cultural itineraries.