Digital Historical Maps in Physical Planning

Background The historical maps have become a more common and important source of information in administrative work within the cultural heritage sector in Sweden. The usage of historical maps has also increased in untraditional sectors, such as infrastructural planning, as the interest in environmental issues has increased in past years. The character of the historical map is that of;  knowledge based background facts  historical source  indicator to environmental phenomena; biotic or manmade influences  input to landscape analysis As an artefact the map is easier to understand than commonly agreed values of culture heritage or environment. Authorities that are engaged in physical planning has introduced geographical information systems (GIS) in order to process geocoded data. The historical map must be in digital form to fit in with the other data sources. This paper describes how the historical maps are turned into digital form with scanning techniques. It discusses when the digital process is necessary and why digital historical map should be used in physical planning.