Case Study of Spatial Pattern Description, Identification and Application Methodology

In this case study the authors created and tested a configurable and expandable spatial patterns (SP) description, identification, and application methodology (SPDIAM) and an SP identification algorithm. SPDIAM allows urban planning and design (UPD) practitioners to describe SP in a computerized manner, identify SP automatically and then apply them in the UPD domain. SPDIAM is based on the space syntax (SS) method and normalized spatial and non-spatial measures and can be used with the statistical social, economic, and environmental indicators, which are related to the urban sustainability and spatial capital. The goal of the case study experiment was to proof a concept of SPDIAM and to identify the rules and the values of the measures used for the SP identification. For this City Layout SP was identified in the vector data of 12 European, North American, and African cities. The experiment results confirmed that SPDIAM is appropriate to describe SP and identify them automatically. The use of the normalized measures enables the comparison of different SP and reduces the degree of the subjectivity of the UPD solutions. SPDIAM no longer relies on statistical information but forms SP based on the probabilistic complex modelling of a city, which lets SPDIAM indicate possible directions of SP future transformation. SPDIAM uses the newly offered measures CENTER and URBAN COMPACTNESS INDEX to identify SP automatically and can add quantitative and qualitative improvement to the spatial network analysis tools in Geographic Information Systems.