Learning the past landscape of Yogyakarta city from historical maps

Abstract

Cultural landscapes reflect humanity's creative genius, social evolution, imagination, and spiritual life. The city of Yogyakarta in Indonesia is an ideal example of a cultural landscape reflecting the works of Hindu-Buddhist, Islamic, colonial, reform to contemporary civilization. Reconstructing historical landscapes and regions is critical for preserving historical memory. Geographical names are a possible way to build community identities. Our research aims to trace the multitemporal landscape from historical maps in Yogyakarta. This study conducted a comparative cartographic analysis of several historical maps of Yogyakarta City, focusing on some of the critical changes and phases during the era. We used topographic maps produced by the Topografische Dienst of the Dutch East Indies, the US Army Map Services, and the Indonesian Geospatial Information Agency to trace the historical landscape in Yogyakarta City. We digitized geographical names as they were presented on the historical maps. Indonesia Geographical Features Cataloging was followed to create a geodatabase. The results of this study showed how the dynamics of geographical names change based on historical map tracing. Additionally, there have been changes in the territory boundaries. This dataset of historical geographical names can serve as a database for preserving cultural heritage and as a basis for sustainable development in Yogyakarta City.