Urban war damage maps, reconstruction plans, maps in travel guides and other thematic maps are the focus of the UrbanMetaMapping research consortium. The historical documents are gathered from archives and library collections in Austria, Belarus, Germany, Poland, Romania and Moldova. As key source material on urban change, they are studied from different disciplinary perspectives: History of Urbanism, Cultural Heritage, History of Cartography, East Central European Studies, Cultural Studies, Social Cartography and Spatial Digital Humanities.

City maps are often designed to provide both an overview and orientation. During the Second World War, damage and destruction caused by heavy bombing made orientation increasingly difficult for residents, firefighters and administrators. The damage was therefore documented on city maps, which were then altered or overlaid to reflect further changes. After the war, they also provided existing residents and newcomers with a basis from which to start planning reconstruction. Reconstruction plans, together with damage maps, provide multi-dimensional documentation of how war and the early post-war years shaped cities and the lives of their inhabitants.