Urban Plot: Developing a Consistent Definition for Comparative Urban Studies

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss the problem of describing an urban plot and to propose a definition that can be used in comparative studies of historic towns. The need for a uniform definition results from comparative research using spatial databases and historical GIS (hGIS). The article discusses the problems in vectorization of plots for the purposes of hGIS analyses, as well as the methods of presenting urban plots on historical plans that have been used so far, on the example of the Historic Towns Atlas series. We compared the results of the analysis with the plot definitions appearing in the literature on urban studies. Based on the literature review and research discussed in the article, we developed and proposed a plot definition for the ontology of historical urban spaces.