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Planarity and street network representation in urban form analysis

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  • Geoff Boeing

Abstract

Models of street networks underlie research in urban travel behavior, accessibility, design patterns, and morphology. These models are commonly defined as planar, meaning they can be represented in two dimensions without any underpasses or overpasses. However, real-world urban street networks exist in three-dimensional space and frequently feature grade separation such as bridges and tunnels: planar simplifications can be useful but they also impact the results of real-world street network analysis. This study measures the nonplanarity of drivable and walkable street networks in the centers of 50 cities worldwide and then examines the variation of nonplanarity across a single city. It develops two new indicators—the Spatial Planarity Ratio and the Edge Length Ratio—to measure planarity and describe infrastructure and urbanization. While some street networks are approximately planar, we empirically quantify how planar models can inconsistently but drastically misrepresent intersection density, street lengths, routing, and connectivity.

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  • Geoff Boeing, 2020. "Planarity and street network representation in urban form analysis," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(5), pages 855-869, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirb:v:47:y:2020:i:5:p:855-869
    DOI: 10.1177/2399808318802941
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    1. Boeing, Geoff, 2019. "Street Network Models and Measures for Every U.S. City, County, Urbanized Area, Census Tract, and Zillow-Defined Neighborhood," SocArXiv 7fxjz, Center for Open Science.
    2. Boeing, Geoff, 2020. "The Right Tools for the Job: The Case for Spatial Science Tool-Building," SocArXiv d267g, Center for Open Science.
    3. Olga L Sarmiento & Andrés F Useche & Daniel A Rodriguez & Iryna Dronova & Oscar Guaje & Felipe Montes & Ivana Stankov & Maria Alejandra Wilches & Usama Bilal & Xize Wang & Luis A Guzmán & Fabian Peña , 2021. "Built environment profiles for Latin American urban settings: The SALURBAL study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(10), pages 1-25, October.
    4. Sohouenou, Philippe Y.R. & Christidis, Panayotis & Christodoulou, Aris & Neves, Luis A.C. & Presti, Davide Lo, 2020. "Using a random road graph model to understand road networks robustness to link failures," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    5. Laura Alessandretti & Luis Guillermo Natera Orozco & Meead Saberi & Michael Szell & Federico Battiston, 2023. "Multimodal urban mobility and multilayer transport networks," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 50(8), pages 2038-2070, October.
    6. Sierdjan Koster; Francisco Rowe, 2019. "Fueling Research Transparency: Computational Notebooks and the Discussion Section," REGION, European Regional Science Association, vol. 6, pages 1-2.
    7. Geoff Boeing, 2020. "A multi-scale analysis of 27,000 urban street networks: Every US city, town, urbanized area, and Zillow neighborhood," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(4), pages 590-608, May.
    8. Wang, Shiguang & Yu, Dexin & Kwan, Mei-Po & Zheng, Lili & Miao, Hongzhi & Li, Yongxing, 2020. "The impacts of road network density on motor vehicle travel: An empirical study of Chinese cities based on network theory," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 144-156.
    9. Shiguang Wang & Dexin Yu & Mei-Po Kwan & Huxing Zhou & Yongxing Li & Hongzhi Miao, 2019. "The Evolution and Growth Patterns of the Road Network in a Medium-Sized Developing City: A Historical Investigation of Changchun, China, from 1912 to 2017," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-25, September.
    10. Geoff Boeing & Michael Batty & Shan Jiang & Lisa Schweitzer, 2022. "Urban analytics: History, trajectory and critique," Chapters, in: Sergio J. Rey & Rachel S. Franklin (ed.), Handbook of Spatial Analysis in the Social Sciences, chapter 30, pages 503-516, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Gerhard JB Bruyns & Christopher D Higgins & Darren H Nel, 2021. "Urban volumetrics: From vertical to volumetric urbanisation and its extensions to empirical morphological analysis," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(5), pages 922-940, April.
    12. Boeing, Geoff, 2019. "The Morphology and Circuity of Walkable and Drivable Street Networks," SocArXiv edj2s, Center for Open Science.

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