Interactive Web-Map of the European Freeway Junction A1/A4 Development with the Use of Archival Cartographic Sources

Abstract

In the article, authors have analyzed cartographic materials presenting the spatial development of Gliwice with the use of multimedia tools. The materials prove that this area has played an important part in the road system of the region, country and even part of Europe since the 19th century. The six maps from the studied area were analyzed e.g., the Urmesstischblätter map, polish topographic maps, and the OpenStreetMap. Based on these maps and their legends, vectorization of the main roads of the analyzed area was carried out. The evolution of the main road corridors on the six maps was analyzed with respect to the location of the European freeway junction (A1/A4), constituting a basis for the web map. According to the authors, the use of the interactive web map is the most comprehensive method of all technologies used by modern cartography. Spatial data collected from different cartographic publications (from the first half of the 19th century till the present) consider the most significant aspects of changes in the road network of the analyzed area in a detailed and user-friendly way.