Georeferencing and digital databases are being used increasingly as tools for the identification, visualization, and management of cultural heritage sites. Likewise, typological models are useful for classifying buildings and structuring knowledge about historic urban districts. The merging of these two approaches provides increased spatial awareness of the built fabric, especially when studying entire neighborhoods whose character is yet to be formally defined. The historic preservation survey of the historic center of Planaltina, a nineteenth-century town in central Brazil, provided a test case for this combination. The site boundary as well as the defining character of the site had to be derived from the survey itself. To achieve this, the survey team recorded on a relational database each building lot as an assemblage of morphological features. Each database record was then linked to the lot’s spatial location using a Geographic Information System. This setup delivers dynamic maps providing direct visual assistance for the team in defining the limits and dominant character of areas of historic interest within the site. In turn, the results assist in the definition of values to be preserved as well as design regulations to be enacted for interventions and infill projects in each area.