An in-depth look at the application of GIS for industrial heritage documentation

Conservation of industrial and technological heritage Conservação de património tecnológico e industrial in Press ARTICLE / ARTIGO CONSERVAR PATRIMÓNIO XX (20xx) xx-xx · https://doi.org/10.14568/cp28708 · ISSN 2182-9942 ARP · Associação Profissional de Conservadores-Restauradores de Portugal · https://conservarpatrimonio.pt 1 An in-depth look at the application of GIS for industrial heritage documentation PATRICIA FERREIRA LOPES 1,2,3 * JORGE MOYA MUÑOZ 4 MANUELA PIRES ROSA 5 1. Instituto Andaluz de Patrimonio Histórico (IAPH), Av. de los descubrimientos, 41092 Sevilla, Spain 2. School of Architecture, Universidad de Sevilla, Av. Reina Mercedes 2, 41012 Sevilla, Spain 3. Universidad de La Rioja (UNIR), Av. de la Paz 137, 26006 Logroño, La Rioja, Spain 4. University Institute of Architecture and Building Sciences (IUACC), School of Architecture, Universidad de Sevilla, Av. de la Reina Mercedes 2, 41012 Sevilla, Spain 5. Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-Being and Institute of Engineering, Universidade do Algarve, Campus da Penha, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal *[email protected] Uma análise detalhada da aplicação dos SIG para a documentação do património industrial Abstract The use of geospatial technologies to identify and document architectural heritage, with the associated benefits for managing information, is already relatively widespread. However, there has been little discussion about the difficulties, decision-making process and problems encountered when using GIS to digitize data, identify and document this heritage. This study sets out to propose a conceptual work to explore the relationship between immovable industrial heritage documentation and GIS application on the basis of case studies, in particular: the identification and documentation of the industrial heritage in the Eurocity of Guadiana and the olive mills in Écija. After discussing the workflow developed, the difficulties and problems encountered, and how these determine the structure of the GIS model, the decision-making process and the results, this paper concludes that further progress is still necessary to acquire a more pragmatic vision of the use of GIS in the field of industrial archaeology. KEYWORDS Immovable industrial heritage Industrial archaeology GIS applied in heritage documentation Information management Decision-making process Safeguarding of industrial heritage Resumo A utilização de tecnologias geoespaciais para identificar e documentar o património arquitectónico, com os benefícios associados à gestão da informação, está já relativamente difundida. No entanto, tem havido pouca discussão sobre as dificuldades, o processo de tomada de decisão e os problemas encontrados na utilização dos SIG para digitalizar dados, identificar e documentar este património. Este estudo pretende propor um trabalho conceptual para explorar a relação entre a documentação do património industrial imóvel e a aplicação dos SIG com base em estudos de caso, em particular: a identificação e documentação do património industrial na Eurocidade do Guadiana e dos moínhos de azeite (Écija). Após discutir o trabalho desenvolvido, as dificuldades e problemas encontrados, e como estes determinam a estrutura do modelo SIG, o processo de tomada de decisão e os resultados, conclui-se que são necessários mais progressos para adquirir uma visão mais pragmática da utilização do SIG no domínio da arqueologia industrial. PALAVRAS-CHAVE Património industrial imóvel Arqueologia industrial SIG aplicado na documentação do património Gestão da informação Processo de tomada de decisões Salvaguarda do património industrial P. Ferreira Lopes, J. Moya Muñoz, M. P. Rosa CONSERVAR PATRIMÓNIO XX (20xx) https://doi.org/10.14568/cp28708 2 Introduction Industrial archaeology is defined as the multidisciplinary study of the tangible evidence of social, economic, technological and scientific development of the period since industrialisation [1-2], usually considered to stretch from the mid-eighteenth century until the 1960s. The timeline for the process of industrialisation may vary according to the country or even a particular region. In the case of Portugal and Spain, the differences are regional. For example, in Spain industrialisation had a greater impact in Catalonia and the Basque Country, while the same is true of the north-west Lisbon-Porto region in Portugal. In this context, industrial heritage may be defined as the movable, immovable and intangible assets that bear witness to past and ongoing industrial processes related to production, the extraction of raw materials, their transformation into goods and the associated energy and transport [3]. However, some authors consider that the timeline defined by the Industrial Revolution merely “facilitates” the study of evidence but does not reflect the historical reality, and they therefore believe that the definition should include assets from periods before the eighteenth century (proto-industrial heritage) [4]. Despite the lack of a general consensus on the timeline, there is broad agreement that industrial archaeology implies the use of methods derived from the discipline of archaeology as well as from anthropology, geography, architecture, history, economics, engineering, etc. [5-6]. This interdisciplinary nature is also accompanied by approaches based on collaborative projects and, more recently, by the use of digital methods. The field of digital humanities is a core component of the case studies presented here, insofar as they are exploratory projects that generate empirical hypothesis models and testing models aimed at finding alternatives to the methods traditionally used to record and study industrial heritage. Spatial information science, and GIS (Geographical Information Systems) in particular, currently offer several applications for the field of cultural heritage [7-8]. GIS permits the analysis of cultural heritages in continuous spatial scales considering historical buildings, courtyards, historical towns, archaeological sites, and landscapes [9-10]. Also, they have been used for heritage management to achieve better planning and preservation [11]. The GIS “model” used is defined according to the characteristics and objectives of the study or project in question [12]. The purpose of these models is to simplify the reality by incorporating the necessary data to observe a particular phenomenon. This ranges from a simple visualisation of specific attributes, to more complex spatial analyses that include diachronic and synchronic studies, the interaction with pre-existing elements, the transformation of the landscape or asset, etc. This work examines two case studies focused on immovable industrial heritage: the Guadiana Eurocity and the olive mills in Écija. The main objectives of this paper are:  present the methods and materials used in the workflow to identify and document the industrial heritage;  highlight the difficulties and problems encountered in the development of both cases;  identify the impact of the difficulties and problems on the decisionmaking process and the product generated. It is important to reiterate the complexity of managing an industrial heritage asset and the impact of the physical environment in which it is located, which is essential for carrying out the industrial activity. Analyses related to these two case studies conducted from different disciplines (anthropology, architecture, history, etc.) confirm that the industries and their associated activities did not only play a role in the anthropisation of the built landscape. They were also instrumental in transforming the lifestyles and characteristics of their communities and their identity. In the case of Eurocity, among others, we could cite the relevance of: studies about woman workers in Ayamonte [13], the canning industry in Algarve [14-15], the industrial An in-depth look at the application of GIS for industrial heritage documentation CONSERVAR PATRIMÓNIO XX (20xx) https://doi.org/10.14568/cp28708 3 urbanization of Vila Real de Santo Antonio [16-17] and historical and territorial approach [18]. In the case of Écija, the studies carried out previously include, among others: in the field of preindustrial archaeology [19-21], territorial planning [22] and industrial landscape [23]. The Guadiana Eurocity The aim of this case study was to generate a preliminary inventory of the immovable industrial heritage in the Guadiana Eurocity, recognised as a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation in 2018, as the basis for the construction of guidelines for developing sustainable cross-border cultural tourism. The territorial scale adopted for this case study is regional– inter-municipal. Specifically, the Guadiana Eurocity has a cross-border, trans-national intermunicipal scale encompassing the Portuguese municipalities of Castro Marim and Vila Real de Santo Antonio and the Spanish municipality of Ayamonte (Figure 1). Together, they form an area of approximately 500 Km2. The three municipalities are mainly connected by an industrial past centred around fishing and salt production, while the river Guadiana is the physical link that has enabled them to share knowledge, techniques, people and goods since time immemorial. The industrial elements were largely associated with these two productive activities that were carried out in what is now the Eurocity from the mid-nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth-first century. Despite the inter-connections in the development of these industries, such as the resulting landscape, few studies have treated the Eurocity as a single entity. The predominant tendency has been to carry out isolated studies related to a particular discipline, topic or place. We were able to identify 138 elements: 57 in Vila Real de Santo Antonio, 9 in Castro Marim and 72 in Ayamonte (Figure 2). Figure 1. Map showing the location of the Guadiana Eurocity. P. Ferreira Lopes, J. Moya Muñoz, M. P. Rosa CONSERVAR PATRIMÓNIO XX (20xx) https://doi.org/10.14568/cp28708 4 Figure 2. Examples of assets in the Guadiana Eurocity: a) and b) canning factories (Ayamonte); c) canning factory (Vila Real de Santo Antonio); d) salt marsh (Castro Marim). Olive mills in Écija The second case study takes place on the historical olive mills in Écija, a rural town in the Sevilla province with an olive oil tradition dating back hundreds of years. These buildings, which had beam and weight presses, were the main oil production units for centuries. Their presence was documented as early as the seventeenth century when a population census in 1640 identified 240 mills [24]. Bundles 358 and 908 at the Écija Archive of Notarial Records contain the plans of two olive presses at sixteenth-century mills whose spatial and functional structures are the same as those found in the other mills identified in the field visits. This figure remained practically unchanged until the mid-twentieth century [25], when many units fell into disuse and began to disappear. The mills formed part of a complex process associated with the agro-industrial activity, from picking the fruit to shipping the end product to national and international markets. In our view, the mills should therefore be considered in a holistic manner with all the elements of the olive groves: the type of cultivation; the road transport and communication system; the water collection, transfer and storage system; and the facilities associated with the agricultural and domestic activity of the mills. However, in this paper we focus solely on the mills. The scale considered for this case study was determined by the jurisdictional boundaries of the municipality, approximately 980 Km2 (Figure 3 and Figure 4). a b a c d An in-depth look at the application of GIS for industrial heritage documentation CONSERVAR PATRIMÓNIO XX (20xx) https://doi.org/10.14568/cp28708 5 Figure 3. Situation of Écija in the Agricultural Region of the Guadalquivir Depression in Andalucía, Spain. Figure 4. Charcón mill in Écija. It still contains the robust counterweight tower characteristic of beam and weight presses. Materials and methods Intrinsic to industrial archaeology, the chain of processes involved in heritage work includes conservation, with view to preserving the heritage, as well as actions designed to enhance its value: identification, research, dissemination and protection. Heritage “value” emerges when we can identify cultural assets, so it is therefore crucial to understand the value of these assets and how to enrich it [26]. Since research and management are lengthy processes, for the two P. Ferreira Lopes, J. Moya Muñoz, M. P. Rosa CONSERVAR PATRIMÓNIO XX (20xx) https://doi.org/10.14568/cp28708 6 case studies we have adopted as our basis the “value chain”, defined as a sequence of interrelated phases that provide a holistic view of the heritage. These are: 1) identification; 2) documentation and recording; 3) assessment and implications; 4) intervention; 5) dissemination and socialisation; 6) economic impact and reflection [27-28]. In this paper we focus primarily on the aspects and issues related to the first two phases of the “value chain”, which according to the Nizhny Tagil Charter play an important role in the assessment and knowledge of heritage [2, 29]. The Faro Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society [30] changed the path of legislation by focusing on the elements that give value to cultural heritage through a peoplecentred approach. It defined the European cultural heritage as elements connected to a context of common remembrance, identity and healthy cultural diversity. In consequence, knowledge and use of heritage form part of the citizen’s right to participate in cultural life. Heritage is seen as a resource for human development, the enhancement of cultural diversity and the promotion of intercultural dialogue, and as part of an economic development based on the principles of sustainable resource use. Having embarked on the study of the social and cultural aspects connected to the local industry, we focused on immovable industrial heritage as the first phase of our research of the built past. The two case studies share the main objective of documenting and recording the immovable industrial heritage through the same methodology and the application of the GIS. Method for identifying and documenting the immovable industrial heritage As the method for identifying and documenting the immovable industrial heritage assets in the two case studies mentioned above, we defined the same workflow comprising six phases that impact the architecture of the GIS model: 1) identification of the heritage type and time frame; 2) selection of sources and data collection; 3) design of the geodatabase; 4) data processing and digitalisation; 5) data visualisation; 6) output package (Figure 5). Regarding the GIS’s tools used in the institutions, we find a similar scenario. In Portugal, the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (DGPC) is the organization in charge of the protection and care of the national heritage. For the inventory of architectural heritage, the DGPC uses a relational database linked to a spatial data infrastructures (SDI) called SIPA [31]. The DGPC uses ArcGIS software as a base tool, and its public visualization uses ArcGIS online [32]. In Andalusia, the Andalusian Institute of Historic Heritage (IAPH) is the organization in charge of the protection and care of the regional heritage [11]. The information system called Guía Digital del Patrimonio Cultural de Andalucía [33] provides structured semantically enriched data and a map viewer of the assets. The Guide is an open and public platform and its linkage with the IAPH’s internal relational database management system [34], and an internal SDI. For the updating and management of the SDI, ArcGIS is also used. However, unlike in Portugal, the public geographic viewer provided is through Mapea [35]. Both case studies used ArcGIS software during phases 3 to 6. The Eurocity case also used QGIS and Tableau software for phase 5. Figure 5. Workflow for the identification and documentation. An in-depth look at the application of GIS for industrial heritage documentation CONSERVAR PATRIMÓNIO XX (20xx) https://doi.org/10.14568/cp28708 7 Definition of the heritage type and time frame For the Guadiana Eurocity case study, the project focused on the industrial assets that were mainly used between 1840 and 1960 (mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century). The fishing and salt production activities carried out in this geographical area translated into numerous canning and salting factories as well as salt marshes. The initial inventory work identified 21 different types of industrial heritage in eight sectors. In the case of the Écija olive mills project, the research identified seven different types in three sectors, including the elements from the proto-industrial period, with a temporal arc stretching from the sixteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. The olive oil production boomed in the sixteenth century due to the demand for oil from the Americas [19]. This historical aspect, coupled with the existence of a plan in the Écija Archive of Notarial Records (APNE) of a sixteenth-century mill with the same functional layout as the mills studied, suggests that constructions of this type proliferated in that century (Table 1). Table 1. Industrial heritage types. Sector Type Guadiana Eurocity Écija Agri-food Flour factories Salting factories Canning factories Ice factory Jam factory Warehouses Windmills Tide mills Oil mills Warehouses Olive oil production waste pond (bejinero) Transport Railway buildings Railway stations Transport infrastructures Railway buildings Railway stations Transport infrastructures* Energy Hydraulic infrastructures: Dams Mining and quarrying activities Salt marshes - Salt pans Construction, ceramics and glass Earthenware factory Cork, wood and furniture, paper and graphic arts industry, leather and footwear industries Printing: Lithographic workshops Industrial urban planning, housing and social facilities Housing for large landowners, workers' housing Refectories Housing for seasonal workers Other elements Market buildings Fresh-fish market (Lonja) * Roads from the olive grove to the mill and from the mill to a main. Selection of sources and data collection Both cases studies required the consultation and selection of primary sources, mainly historical documents with unstructured information (comprising historical, economic, architectural and other data), plans and old photographs. The main secondary sources were published articles, books and/or institutional documents about the object of study or its historical context. In both cases, fieldwork played an important role for gathering data about the assets. The territory itself is a living and dynamic source of documentation in which it is still possible to identify and visualise material witnesses and remains of the industrial past. In this case, we are not only talking about built material witnesses but also the cultural landscape of each area of study. In the case of the memory of the production culture, these industrial landscapes have left a still visible trace on the territory and, in the case of the Eurocity, there is still the living memory of those who worked in the old factories and salt marshes. The contact and collaboration with various local stakeholders in Spain and Portugal were crucial in this respect. As regards the use of existing layers, in both cases we employed feature layers and raster layers (aerial photographs) from public institutions and international servers. This facilitated both the fieldwork and the generation of new records (Phase 4 – Data processing and digitalisation) (Table 2). P. Ferreira Lopes, J. Moya Muñoz, M. P. Rosa CONSERVAR PATRIMÓNIO XX (20xx) https://doi.org/10.14568/cp28708 8 Table 2. Sources for data collection. Case study sources Guadiana Eurocity Ecija Primary sources Documents, photographs, maps and plans from the following archives, libraries and institutions: Vila Real de Santo Antonio Municipal Archive; District Cuncil of Vila Real de Santo Antonio; Vila Real de Santo Antonio Muncipal Library; Andalusian Virtual Library; Ayamonte Municipal Archive; Faro District Archive; Huelva Provincial Archive; Map Catalogue of the National Geographical Institute (IGN), the Andalusian Institute of Statistics and Cartography (IECA); Catalonian Cartographical Institute and Simancas General Archive (AGS); Digital Periodical and Newspaper Library of the National Spanish Library. Documents, photographs, maps and plans from the following archives, libraries and institutions: Cartographic Archive of Geographical Surveys of the Geographical Centre of the Army; Seville Cathedral Archive; APNE; AGS; Nobility Historical Archive; Écija Municipal Archive (AME); Murcia Municipal Archive; Santa María de Écija Parish Archive; Hispanic Digital Library; Spanish Digital Library; Royal History Academy Digital Library; Spanish National Library; Andalusian Virtual Library; Bibliographic Heritage Virtual Library; French National Library; Strasbourg National and University Library; Map Catalogue of IGN; IECA; Seville University Ancient Collection; Catalonian Cartographical Institute; Écija Institute of Secondary and Vocational Education. Secondary sources Papers, books, monographs, etc. Papers, books, monographs, etc. Fieldwork We visited on several occasions to the assets. 18 routes subdivided into 43 sections [25] where we identified the mills as well their service infrastructure. Layers sources (raster, vectorial and servers) For the layers of the physical environment of Andalucía we used the feature layers of DERA100 of REDIAM. For the context layers in the Algarve, we used OSM. Aerial photographs of the US Army flight (Series B 1956-57) of the IGN, the interministerial flight (1977-1983) of REDIAM, of the IGN; World Imagery from Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics, and the GIS User Community. Écija Municipal Council supplied a shapefile of the mills, but it was incomplete. The transport layers were obtained from the IGN while the ones related to the physical environment were obtained from REDIAM. Aerial photographs of the US Army flight (Series B 1956-57) of the IGN, the inter-ministerial flight (1977-1983) of REDIAM, the SIGPAC flight (1998-2003) of the IGN and the latest PNOA orthophotos (2019) of the IGN. Stakeholders Governance Laboratory of the Guadiana Eurocity, Vila Real de Santo Antonio Municipal Council, researchers of Algarve University, researchers of Huelva University, technicians of the Vila Real de Santo Antonio Archive, technicians of the Ayamonte Archive, residents of Ayamonte, residents of Vila Real de Santo Antonio, residents of Castro Marim. Researchers of Seville University, researchers of the TUTSOMOD Project, technicians of the Écija Notarial Records Archive, technicians of the Écija Municipal Archive, Écija Municipal Council. Design of the geodatabase The use of GIS enables us to present many different layers of information. This means that we can have different thematic layers for a given area which enhance our understanding of it. The first step to creating a model was to define the geographical feature type (a feature associated with a real location on Earth) for both case studies to generate a feature vector (point, line and/or polygon). The aim of generating feature vectors is to represent real-world phenomena, in our case the immovable industrial heritage. The data structure designed for each case study corresponds to the objectives pursued. In the case of the Guadiana Eurocity, the objective was to create a preliminary inventory of the immovable industrial heritage in the three municipalities, including both demolished and existing assets, to generate an information model of the industrial memory of the Eurocity and record its current state of conservation. This model would subsequently form the basis for the heritage classification and management and for the development of cross-border industrial tourism guidelines. We used the IAPH Thesaurus to ensure a controlled vocabulary in the table of attributes and facilitate subsequent interoperability with public administrations. For the Écija olive mills, the principal aim was to identify all the olive oil mills that had ever existed in the municipality, including those now lost, and then to drill down to a more detailed level in order to provide two outputs: a source of knowledge for the classification of the mills contemplated in the Écija general land use plan; and a heritage management tool (Table 3). An in-depth look at the application of GIS for industrial heritage documentation CONSERVAR PATRIMÓNIO XX (20xx) https://doi.org/10.14568/cp28708 9 Table 3. List of data structure fields. Field/Attribute Case study Eurocity Écija Shape (point/line/polygon) × × Province × × Municipality × × Municipal code × × Name × × Other name × × State of conservation × × Level of protection × × Historical period × × General type × × Specific type × × Activity × × Historical description × × Architectural description × × Geographical coordinates × × Sources × × Owner × × Date founded × - Date closed × - Address × × Old Address × × Registration - × Village/Zone/Plot - × Year disappeared - × Data processing and digitalisation: creation of the feature layers In both case studies the spatial database was constructed by vectorising the immovable assets. This process consisted in creating point, line or polygon feature layers for the geographical location of each asset. Viewing and comparing aerial photographs and maps from different periods of the areas of study played a vital role in this phase. In the Guadiana Eurocity, we used point and line layers as well as polygon layers. The points were used to represent certain longitudinal infrastructures and assets, specifically the dams and salt marshes found in the municipality of Castro Marim. We also had to generate line layers to represent the railway tracks that had been vital for the entire industrial production system in the area. The polygon layers contain the most records since these were used to represent industrial and infrastructure buildings as well as the houses of the workers’ and large landowners. We also worked with the three types of feature vector in the case of Écija. We treated the asset as a polygon due to the scale of both the architectural asset and the mill habitat, while for larger territorial scales we worked exclusively with points. This circumstance was repeated in the case of the infrastructure associated with the mill, whereas the elements of the water storage, collection and transfer system were represented according to their geometry. Lastly, the communication and transport system were represented with lines and the olive grove with polygons. Data visualisation Once we had created the feature layers and organised them in the GIS table of contents, we were able to visualise the vector files using any of the pre-existing maps as the base layer. The graphical representation of the vector files can also be used to visualise one or more of the assigned attributes, such as the state of conservation, timeline, building type or level of protection (Figure 6 and Figure 7).