The protection and safeguarding of cultural and architectural assets is a legal obligation in developed countries. Urban plans develop special protection plans for the conservation of old towns, their historic environment, their uses, activities, as well as traffic regulation. The Spanish Group of World Heritage Cities (GCPHE) groups together many cities, including Avila, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985. Many of the buildings of cultural interest in the city of Avila are susceptible to the threat of fire, as well as natural causes of deterioration, making their safeguarding and protection a matter of primary concern.
Since there are no existing documents that collect emergency plans, the research group TIDOP in collaboration with the City Council, the Fire Brigade and Civil Protection of Avila, have developed a new tool for the management and safeguarding of historic buildings in the World Heritage city of Avila.
The developed system represents a low-cost solution for the integration of cultural heritage information. For this purpose, conventional photographs, panoramic and aerial images were integrated into a spatial information system together with graphical and textual information on the primary characteristics of the objects located inside the buildings (sculptures, tapestries and other works of art) to facilitate the decision-making process.
