subject: European Historic Towns Atlases and Geographic Information System (GIS)
period: 16 and 17 May 2018
cooperation: Institute for Comparative Urban History – IStG (Münster), Royal Irish Academy (Dublin) und Queen’s University (Belfast)
host: Royal Irish Academy

On 16 and 17 May 2018 the Royal Irish Academy hosted a workshop co-organised by Sarah Gearty (Royal Irish Academy, Dublin), Keith Lilley (Queen’s University, Belfast), and Daniel Stracke (Institute for Comparative Urban History – IStG, Münster). It was on the most important feature of the Historic Towns Atlases, the 1:2.500 base map each atlas in the European scheme features. It is the main map and primary source for analysis in urban morphological studies. The event was held to follow up on the more general meeting of the previous year hosted by the IStG in Münster reiterating the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the production of Historic Towns Atlases. Bringing together thirteen colleagues from Ireland, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Poland, and Germany, the group was small enough for a hands-on approach to the comparison of working methods.
Before the digital practices were explored, however, print copies of the 1:2.500 map were laid out on the table. Each atlas team reported on the sources they use to prepare the maps as well as their cartographic properties, elements, and styles. Drawing on further examples from the IStG collection, Daniel Stracke identified four basic approaches to realising this map which the discussion showed to be rooted in the individual traditions of the projects as much as in the historic sources used to produce them. The differences the large-scale maps display across the European Historic Towns Atlas are widely held to be a problem for comparative morphological studies.
On the following day, the Irish atlas team presented their map production process in detail with the other participants commenting on commonalities and alternative methods. Regarding the crucial steps of geo-referencing and vectorisation, considerable progress was made towards Best Practice solutions. Perhaps the most important result is that many of the differences in visualisation and map content are largely irrelevant on a data level. Thus, there are fewer inhibitions to the comparative use of the geodata than of the print maps which is beneficial to conducting urban studies based on GIS.
The workshop organisers are planning to submit the findings in detail in an article for the periodical Urban History to ensure their maximum visibility. They would like to thank the participants, Justin Colson (UK), Frank Cullen (IRE), Tobias Kniep (GER), Jennifer Moore (IRE), Rachel Murphy (IRE), Melanie Müller-Bering (GER), Agnieszka Pilarska (PL), Jacinta Prunty (IRE), and Magdolna Szilágyi (HUN) for coming to Dublin and offering their first-hand insights. Thanks are also due to the Royal Irish Academy for hosting the event and to Anngret Simms for her introductory remarks and contribution to the discussion.

D. Stracke

Am 19. März 2018 wurde im Drilandmuseum in Gronau der 10. Band des "Historischen Atlas westfälischer Städte" der Öffentlichkeit präsentiert. In diesem Werk lässt sich die Geschichte von Gronau und Epe anhand zahlreicher Karten, historischer Quellen und einem von Hartmut Klein verfassten, 35-seitigen Textheft nachvollziehen. Die Entwicklung des Ortes ist v.a. durch seine Grenzlage zu den Niederlanden und eine im 19. Jahrhundert aufblühende Textilindustrie sowie deren Niedergang in der 2. Hälfte des 20. Jahrhundert geprägt. Letzterer war von einer beispiellosen Stadtkernsanierung in den 1960er Jahren begleitet, wobei seit der Jahrtausendwende durch verschiedene Maßnahmen zur wirtschaftlichen Regeneration wie zur Aufwertung des Stadtbildes auf den Strukturwandel reagiert wird.

Einen ausführlichen Bericht über die Atlaspräsentation in den Westfälischen Nachrichten können Sie hier einsehen.