Exploring the 3D Spatial Distribution of Cultural Prints using Remote Sensing and Giscience: "Istanbul: The City on Seven Hills"

In the last century, specializing in Information Technologies became one of the growing trends which effected almost every sector and became a major tool for urban planners who need an integrated source of data. Digital data, both in vector and raster formats, made it quicker to match the spatial data with the land use which serves better city planning and sustainable development actions. Geophysical prospection, satellite remote sensing and GIScience can be considered as important modules for acquiring digital information regarding the cultural topography and landscape [1]. The goal of this paper is to propose a new methodology for mapping and visualisation the spatial distribution of cultural prints using the integration of remote sensing and GIScience. With this method, the damage given to the siluette and the land use will be analyzed. The new methodology will integrate the physical, socio-economic and cultural data. The method will be tested in historical peninsula district in Istanbul which is the only metropolis in the world situated on two continents and also went through an industrialization process that changed the socio-ecenomic structure of the district. In order to achieve sustainable development in historical peninsula, PCA, GIScience and 3D visualization techniques will be applied to multiple variables. Physical data will consist of information about buildings such as height, function, quality, construction material and year. A historical-urban classification algorithm will be applied on the IKONOS image data using these cultural prints and other socio-economic variables.