Open Data, GIS, Applicazioni mobili: una metodologia di analisi e rappresentazione per migliorare la qualità dello spazio

This paper aims at exploring specific procedures to integrate location based information and improve mapping techniques into mobile device applications in the field of cultural and landscape heritage knowledge, dissemination and valorization. The enormous quantity of georeferenced data, available on institutional web portal (Regional and Local government institutions) and on web (Open Street Map, Google Panoramio pictures, Gpx tracks shared by communities of bikers, hikers, tourists etc.) can be selected, combined and managed in a GIS platform in order to make new datasets for mobile device applications. Each of these institutions/organizations, that operates on the territory at different level and with different goals, make available georeferenced data with specific characteristics, that need to be organized, selected and managed with GIS before they are exported into mobile device applications. GIS allows to develop urban and territorial analysis, but also to generate new dataset (georeferenced data management by different sources) for mobile device applications, that area particularly effective to allow users to have an on field direct experience on the territory and to eventually contribute to refine and implement the dataset. In this paper a case study in Italy has been shown with the aim to test the method and the interoperability between open data and mobile device applications by mean GIS platform. Particularly the case that has been considered in this paper, shows innovative ways to increase the attractiveness of areas that, even though are localized in a fringe position respect the main infrastructure and cities, are characterized by an overall high spatial quality and where the cultural heritage is diffused, even if without specific highlights. In this sense, mobile device applications, as digital tools, can play an important role in the valorization process of places and their communities. In fact, mobile device applications can contribute to add value to users’ direct experience on the territory, making places more accessible, in a broad sense, physically and virtually. Especially for those places that seem to be physically less attractive and reachable, often just because of a knowledge gap, that can be easily bridged by digital tools, by providing dedicated web services to users. This approach refers to the “internet of places” concept, where the analogy between immaterial internet networks and material territorial ones (nodes and networks of infrastructure) that could modify space uses, organization and planning. At the same time mobile device application can be also used in a remote way, giving information about the places at distance. However, two aspects of this matter still need to be investigated deeper: the first one is more theoretical and it is about the effective role of open data validation in relation to cultural heritage and landscape valorization field; the second one is more practical and concerns with the process of selection, filtering and definition of shared values, that cannot barely result from data mining, but must be based on holistic and effective visualizations and representations.