Projects
Becoming Urban - Reconstructing the city of Graz in the long 19th century (BeUrb)
- Funded by: ÖAW (go!digital Next Generation)
- Duration of the project: 06-2019 to 06-2021
This project focuses on the development of the city of Graz in the "long 19th century" (1789-1914). A geographic information system will be established in order to analyze and visualize the transformation of the city through time as well as its perception thereof during the process of urbanization. Therefore, it combines maps with written sources (travel guides and reports), illustrative sources (postcards, images, graphic collection, early photography) as well as the latest historical research data, using existing digital assets, which will be complemented by not yet digitized sources. Thereby, BeUrb lays a solid foundation for the analysis of urban development in a period that is characterized by its rapid and radical changes.
Furthermore, the GIS provides a tool to identify places and structures, which had a strong impact on the city's evolution until today. Hence, the project not only gives an insight into the historical development but also provides approaches for a better understanding of the present-day city.
Apart from the scholarly use of such a system, the project will implement a web-platform which will also be open for private or touristic use, that can be accessed with mobile devices on site and will be implemented in future exhibitions of the City of Graz Museum. Thus, as a collaboration of the University of Graz, GrazMuseum and City Archive Graz, the project output will benefit scholarly research that reaches into society, but also further community engagement and the knowledge transfer to local schools and international tourists.