Reevaluating Historical Road Connections through Historical Cartography

The Italian province of Monza and Brianza faces challenges in preserving historical road connections. Rapid industrialisation and urban expansion have led to the neglect of the historical road system, minor widespread built heritage and landscape. Historic cartography was used to recover and reevaluate their qualities. Maps serve as valuable tools for synchronic and diachronic analysis, allowing the exploration of spatial transformations over time. They reveal the evolution of roads and their role in economic and religious development. Synchronic analysis, conducted through georeferencing and vectorising of historical maps within GIS, unveils the characteristics of roads in the past, while diachronic analysis demonstrates the current state and position of the remaining road network. The loss of contextual integrity due to landscape and urban changes led to the fragmentation of roads, their devaluation and disuse. While historical roads within centres maintained some original features and context, those outside the centre undergo substantial changes, being substituted by a modern street network, and interrupted by major infrastructure projects or buildings. Nonetheless, the historical road network is traceable in the peripheral areas, in the green ‘buffer zone’ where agricultural land persisted. The study underscores the significance of historical roads in territorial development and proposes the creation of green corridors for sustainable slow mobility. The approach reveals the condition of historical connections and their interrelation with cultural heritage and landscape. The preservation of natural and built settings remains crucial for enhancing the dual character of roads.