Towards large-scale analyses of settlement patterns in urbanizing landscapes—findings of first studies for India, Egypt, and China

Improved ability to assess and categorize the spatial characteristics of settlement patterns is required for a deeper understanding of how urbanization is driving land use and land cover transformation and its effects. Two approaches to the globally available settlement maps of the World Settlement...

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Published inScientific reports Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 25782 - 9
Main Authors Nguyen, Thanh Thi, Esch, Thomas, Hoffmann, Ellen, Zeidler, Julian, Gruber, Lorenz, Kaiser, Dennis, Buerkert, Andreas
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group UK 28.10.2024
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
Subjects
639/705/258
704/172
704/445
704/844
Automation
Environmental conditions
Fractal analysis
Fractals
Graph
Humanities and Social Sciences
Land use
multidisciplinary
Rural-urban transformation
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Settlement pattern
Spatial analysis
Urbanization
China
Egypt
India
Automation
Graph
Rural-urban transformation
Settlement pattern
Fractal analysis
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Summary:Improved ability to assess and categorize the spatial characteristics of settlement patterns is required for a deeper understanding of how urbanization is driving land use and land cover transformation and its effects. Two approaches to the globally available settlement maps of the World Settlement Footprint 3D support a detailed assessment of spatial characteristics of settlement patterns in rural to urban landscapes and across scales: graph-based spatial network analysis and elements of fractal theory. Based on first comprehensive tests for the Punjab (India), the Nile Delta (Egypt) and the North China Plain, the results of our study suggest that the presented methods allow a quantitative and qualitative characterization and comparison of settlement patterns between different regions of the world. The approache allows to generate standardized baseline data for arbitrary regions in the world to analyze structuring principles of settlement hierarchies (e.g., self-organized fractal geometries) and their dependence on - or interaction with - cultural, political, socioeconomic, or environmental conditions.
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ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-74678-w