Application of GIS Technology for Cultural Mapping: The Case of Havelis in Shahjahanabad

Despite the widespread prevalence of Geographical Information Systems (GISs) in areas such as urban and regional planning, transportation, environment and several allied fields, their use in heritage conservation remains limited in India. The recently initiated collaborative research between the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), Delhi, and Politecnico di Torino, Italy, envisages to address this gap by using GIS in not only documenting the havelis of the historic area of Shahjahanabad but also using this as a tool to arrive at planning and design decisions that can help in both preserving the structures as well as improving the quality of life of residents. Still in its preliminary phase, the research aims to create an open-source web-based platform which would enable anyone to get a variety of spatial data and information about havelis.