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Methodology Matters: Measuring Urban Spatial Development Using Alternative Methods

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  • Daniel E Orenstein
  • Amnon Frenkel
  • Faris Jahshan

    (Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel)

Abstract

The effectiveness of policies implemented to prevent urban sprawl has been a contentious issue among scholars and practitioners for at least two decades. While disputes range from the ideological to the empirical, regardless of the subject of dispute, participants must bring forth reliable data to buttress their claims. In this study we discuss several sources of complexity inherent in measuring sprawl. We then exhibit how methodological decisions can lead to disparate results regarding the quantification and characterization of sprawl. We do so by employing three GIS-based methods for quantifying the amount and defining the configuration of land-cover change from open to built space in a 350 km 2 area in central Israel over a five-year period. We then calculate values for a variety of spatial indices commonly associated with urban sprawl. Our results reveal that some urban growth patterns are so robust that multiple methods and indices yield similar results and thus lead to similar conclusions. However, we also note that many divergent and even contradictory results are produced depending on the measurement method used and the index selection.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel E Orenstein & Amnon Frenkel & Faris Jahshan, 2014. "Methodology Matters: Measuring Urban Spatial Development Using Alternative Methods," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 41(1), pages 3-23, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirb:v:41:y:2014:i:1:p:3-23
    DOI: 10.1068/b38017
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Swinton, Scott M. & Lupi, Frank & Robertson, G. Philip & Hamilton, Stephen K., 2007. "Ecosystem services and agriculture: Cultivating agricultural ecosystems for diverse benefits," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 245-252, December.
    2. Michael P Johnson, 2001. "Environmental Impacts of Urban Sprawl: A Survey of the Literature and Proposed Research Agenda," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 33(4), pages 717-735, April.
    3. Evelien Van Rij & Jasper Dekkers & Eric Koomen, 2008. "Analysing The Success Of Open Space Preservation In The Netherlands: The Midden‐Delfland Case," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 99(1), pages 115-124, February.
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    1. Cesare Feliciantonio & Luca Salvati & Efthymia Sarantakou & Kostas Rontos, 2018. "Class diversification, economic growth and urban sprawl: evidences from a pre-crisis European city," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 1501-1522, July.

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