Urbanization between compactness and dispersion:designing a spatial model for measuring 2D binary settlement landscape configurations

Measuring spatial patterns is a crucial task in spatial sciences.Multiple indicators have been developed to measure patterns in a quantitative manner.However,most comparative studies rely on relative comparisons,limiting their explanatory power to specific case studies.Motivated by advancements in earth observation providing unprecedented resolutions of settlement patterns,this paper suggests a measurement technique for spatial patterns to overcome the limits of relative comparisons.We design a model spanning a feature space based on two metrics-largest patch index and number of patches.The feature space is defined as‘dispersion index’and covers the entire spectrum of possible two-dimensional binary(settlement)patterns.The model configuration allows for an unambiguous ranking of each possible pattern with respect to spatial dispersion.As spatial resolutions of input data as well as selected areas of interest influence measurement results,we test dependencies within the model.Beyond,common other spatial metrics are selected for testing whether they allow unambiguous rankings.For scenarios,we apply the model to artificially generated patterns representing all possible configurations as well as to real-world settlement classifications differing in growth dynamics and patterns.

Monitoring travel patterns in German city regions with the help of mobile phone network data

This paper discusses the possibility to use mobile phone network data to monitor spatial policies in land use and transport planning.Monitoring requires robust time series and reproducible concepts linking spatial policies to monitoring outcomes,a requirement differing from current literature where mobile phone data analysis is exemplified in selected areas with privileged data access.Concepts need to serve the evaluation of policy objectives,for example in regional or local area plans.In this study,we,therefore,extend the application of mobile phone network data to monitoring applications comparing urban settlement types and their characteristic mobility patterns.To accomplish this,we link mobile phone records with urban classifications and transport network data,using both visual and computational approaches to mine the data.The article presents comparisons of travel patterns for selected monocentric and polycentric city regions in Germany,testing hypotheses of transit-oriented regional development,as well as testing for congestion risks in the transport network.The results help us to gain a more detailed understanding of spatial and temporal patterns in mobility for different urban types and assess future potentials for monitoring spatial policies with mobile phone network data.