Towards a Digital Atlas for Cultural Landscape: Framework Design and Mobile Application Development for Documenting Tangible and Intangible Heritage

Ozlem Kevseroglu; Rifat Kurban

doi:10.55630/dipp.2026.16.22

Authors

Ozlem Kevseroglu Department of Architecture, Abdullah Gül University, Sümer Campus, Erkilet Blvd., 38080 Kocasinan, Kayseri, Türkiye
Rifat Kurban Department of Computer Engineering, Abdullah Gül University, Sümer Campus, Erkilet Blvd., 38080 Kocasinan, Kayseri, Türkiye

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55630/dipp.2026.16.22

Keywords:

Cultural Landscape, Digital Heritage, Mobile Application, Collective Memory, Kayseri

Abstract

This paper introduces the Kayseri Digital Atlas project, a mobile application built with Flutter and supported by a web interface, created to document both the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Kayseri’s Cumhuriyet Neighbourhood. Through a custom data-entry system, the project has systematically collected more than 2,000 archival and oral history records, establishing a well-structured platform that can serve as a foundation for future efforts such as AI-driven classification and digital reconstruction.

References

Çayırdağ, M. (2001). Kayseri tarihi araştırmaları [Kayseri historical researches]. Kayseri Büyükşehir Belediyesi Yayınları.

Connerton, P. (2019). Toplumlar nasıl anımsar? [How societies remember?] (3rd ed., A. Şenel, Trans.). Ayrıntı Yayınları.

Eryazıcıoğlu, E., & Cengiz, H. (2018). An evaluation model for a human rights-based cultural heritage system. Megaron / Yıldız Technical University Faculty of Architecture E-Journal, 13(4), 636-650. https://doi.org/10.5505/megaron.2018.57441.

Espina-Romero, L., & Guerrero-Alcedo, J. (2022). Fields touched by digitalization: Analysis of scientific activity in Scopus. Sustainability, 14(21), Article 14425. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114425

Halbwachs, M. (1980). The collective memory (F. J. Ditter & V. Y. Ditter, Trans.). Harper & Row.

Halbwachs, M. (1992). The social frameworks of memory. The University of Chicago Press.

Hou, Y., Kenderdine, S., Picca, D., Egloff, M., & Adamou, A. (2022). Digitizing intangible cultural heritage embodied: State of the art. Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, 15(3), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1145/3494837

Kevseroğlu, Ö., & Ayataç, H. (2023). An integrated cultural landscape assessment approach for collective memory: The case of World Heritage Cultural Landscapes. In Architectural sciences and Cultural Heritage – Traces of the history (pp. 139–173). Iksad Publications.

Kevseroğlu, Ö., Ayataç, H., & Baturayoğlu Yöney, N. (2021). Understanding intangible aspects of cultural landscape: Living cultures of northeast Kayseri Valleys. Milli Folklor, 17(130), 185-203. https://izlik.org/JA75TY83BZ

Kevseroğlu, Ö., & Kurban, R. (2024). Re-exploring the Kayseri Culture Route by using deep learning for cultural heritage image classification: Cultural heritage image classification by using deep learning: Kayseri Culture Route. In Proceedings of Cognitive Models and Artificial Intelligence Conference AICCONF ’24 (pp. 196–201). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3660853.3660913

Kümbetoğlu, B. (2019). Sosyolojide ve antropolojide niteliksel yöntem ve araştırma [Qualitative method and research in sociology and anthropology]. Bağlam Yayıncılık.

Nora, P. (1989). Between memory and history: Les lieux de mémoire. Representations, (26), 7–24. https://doi.org/10.2307/2928520

Pappa, D., & Makropoulos, C. (2022). Novel ways of discovering, capturing and experiencing cultural heritage: A review of current state-of-the-art, challenges and future directions. In Heritage - New Paradigm. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99170

Portelli, A. (1991). The death of Luigi Trastulli and other stories: Form and meaning in oral history. State University of New York Press.

Qin, Q. (2023). Research on the design of cultural and creative products based on Lingnan intangible cultural heritage in the age of artificial intelligence. Applied Mathematics and Nonlinear Sciences, 9, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.2478/amns.2023.2.01396

Sauer, C. O. (1925). The morphology of landscape. University of California Publications in Geography, 2(2), 19–53.

Stoyanova, P. (2024). Digital cultural heritage as a strategic resource for innovations. Strategies for Policy in Science and Education, 32(1s), 108–115. https://doi.org/10.53656/str2024-1s-8-dig

Tozoğlu, A. E. (2008). Bir muhafazakâr modernleşme laboratuvarı olarak Kayseri: Orta Anadolu'da kent belleğinin değişimi [Kayseri as a conservative modernization laboratory: The change of urban memory in Central Anatolia]. Mimarlık, 344, 34–38.

UNESCO. (2008). Operational guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. UNESCO World Heritage Centre. https://whc.unesco.org/archive/opguide08-en.pdf

Usul, D. (2023). Kayseri in Turkey's Seljuk period Silk Road. Erciyes Akademi, 37(4), 1782–1799. https://doi.org/10.48070/erciyesakademi.1379715

Xie, R. (2021). Intangible cultural heritage high-definition digital mobile display technology based on VR virtual visualization. Mobile Information Systems, 2021, Article 4034729. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/4034729

Yang, C., Han, F., Wu, H., & Chen, Z. (2019). Heritage Landscape Information Model (HLIM): Towards a contextualised framework for digital landscape conservation in China. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLII-2/W15, 1221–1227. https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W15-1221-2019