Mapping Spatial Quality of Slow Routes With a Gis-Based Method A Comparative Assessment of Alternative Routes

Abstract

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> In the field of cultural tourism, slow routes, especially pedestrian and cycle routes, are considered important resources for sustainable, social and economic development of the territories. The cultural routes, defined by the Council of Europe, have extended the notion of conservation and valorization of cultural heritage to a wider territorial perspective, that allow to join tangible and intangible heritage dimensions, natural and built heritage, in a whole. In this framework, cultural routes, mainly used to rediscover the territory through slow-travel experience, need to be documented and ranked as a system of cultural heritage spread over the territory, by innovative and effective tools. The SQISR method (Spatial Quality Index of Slow Routes), at territorial level, allows to analyze the spatial features of slow routes through GIS-based mapping techniques, but also to compare alternative routes on the base of a set of heterogeneous indicators. The SQIRS method has been applied to evaluate two alternative itineraries of the Monks Route, that cross the agricultural landscape in southern Milan, with aim to document their spatial features and rank them in relation to their spatial quality. The SQISR method, that is based on a quantitative approach, allows to visualize the outcomes by different ways: graded GPS tracks, graphs, diagrams.</p>

Image Segmentation Procedure for Mapping Spatial Quality of Slow Routes

“…The GIS approach, by exploiting the zenithal point of view, which is typical of the maps, enables the mapping of landscape features on large scale contexts. The measurement of the spatial quality of slow routes through GIS has been successfully tested in the area crossed by the Monks route by the SQISR method, by exploiting the potential of geodatabase [Scandiffio 2019]. In the framework of the current research, the GIS approach has been applied to map the three selected landscape features along the Monks route, by using the available datasets on the Lombardy Geoportal.…”

“…The method refers to procedures of mapping, meant as a specific creative process for the definition of maps which we consider here as a sort of output of the mapping [Abrams, Hall 2006] through methodologies that are able to accept at the same time information of an objective nature, which adopt a point of view that is not only conceptually external, on the part of experts (or so called outsiders), according to a top-down logic, integrating them with more subjective information, related to the perceptual sphere and according to a logic capable of receiving contributions from users (insiders), according to a bottom-up logic. This methodology has already been developed in previous research experiences, in particular on the topics of the Spatial Quality Index of Slow Routes (SQISR) [Scandiffio 2019], of mapping with image segmentation analysis with identification of significant elements using Mapillary Segmentation [Bianchi et al 2020;Rolando et al 2021] and here a more precise definition of the method in landscapes where no GIS top-down information is available and how to implement them with bottom-up techniques.…”

A View from the Track: Measuring Spatial Quality of Slow Mobility Routes. Possible Integration of GIS and Machine Learning Based Methods

“…1), that can be measured through quantitative GIS operations, based on the processing of spatial entities (points, lines and surfaces) [Scandiffio 2019a]. The SQISR method allows to compute a score for each cell (500 m x 500 m), that is crossed by the route, in the scale 0-10, that corresponds to the sum of the measured values for each indicator per each cell [Scandiffio 2019b]. The SQISR method is able to measure the spatial composition of the landscape crossed by the route, by using a top-down approach, that belongs to the map-making process (looking from above).…”

Tourism routes: a scoping review

“…Other research paths should address methodological and statistical analysis improvements for a land classification method along a cultural route, in terms of the study area, criteria, and data collection (Diti et al, 2015), or for a tool for the analysis and the documentation of spatial features of the slow route (Scandiffio, 2019).…”