IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jahrfr/v42y2022i2d10.1007_s10037-022-00169-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Wider urban zones: use of topology and nighttime satellite images for delimiting urban areas

Author

Listed:
  • Andrea Spinosa

    (Sapienza Università di Roma)

Abstract

In the literature on the definition of urban areas, the methodological approaches are divided into formalist (aggregation by density thresholds) and functionalist (aggregation by commuting quotas). This paper proposes a mixed approach, in which the territorial density threshold from the lower-level administrative unit is combined with the brightness of nighttime satellite imagery, intended as a proxy variable for the functional links. The objective is to attain a method for the delimitation of urban areas, to be used by various States and Regions across the world in an iterative procedure, for the delimitation of urban areas as connected topological spaces. This represents an independent method, compared to the various standards adopted by national and regional statistics bureaus, which allows comparing the infrastructural, economic, and social data of different cities in the world. Such cities are hence described in terms of the “real” dimension of the urban areas, partially correcting the bias related to the adoption of administrative perimeters as a “fact” when local authorities make decisions regarding them.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Spinosa, 2022. "Wider urban zones: use of topology and nighttime satellite images for delimiting urban areas," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 42(2), pages 141-159, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jahrfr:v:42:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s10037-022-00169-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10037-022-00169-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10037-022-00169-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10037-022-00169-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pierre Hansen & Brigitte Jaumard & Christophe Meyer & Bruno Simeone & Valeria Doring, 2003. "Maximum Split Clustering Under Connectivity Constraints," Journal of Classification, Springer;The Classification Society, vol. 20(2), pages 143-180, September.
    2. Sukkoo Kim, 2007. "Changes In The Nature Of Urban Spatial Structure In The United States, 1890–2000," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 273-287, May.
    3. Gilles Duranton, 2015. "Delineating Metropolitan Areas: Measuring Spatial Labour Market Networks Through Commuting Patterns," Advances in Japanese Business and Economics, in: Tsutomu Watanabe & Iichiro Uesugi & Arito Ono (ed.), The Economics of Interfirm Networks, edition 127, chapter 6, pages 107-133, Springer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dingel, Jonathan I. & Miscio, Antonio & Davis, Donald R., 2021. "Cities, lights, and skills in developing economies," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    2. Dascher, Kristof, 2019. "Function Follows Form," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 131-140.
    3. Zębik Grzegorz, 2011. "Typology of Suburban Communities in Poland," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 16(16), pages 173-188, January.
    4. Jordy Meekes & Wolter H. J. Hassink, 2023. "Endogenous local labour markets, regional aggregation and agglomeration economies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(1), pages 13-25, January.
    5. Paolo Veneri, 2018. "Urban spatial structure in OECD cities: Is urban population decentralising or clustering?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 97(4), pages 1355-1374, November.
    6. David Cuberes & Rafael González-Val, 2017. "The effect of the Spanish Reconquest on Iberian cities," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 58(3), pages 375-416, May.
    7. Rui Fragoso & Conceição Rego & Vladimir Bushenkov, 2016. "Clustering of Territorial Areas: A Multi-Criteria Districting Problem," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 14(2), pages 179-198, December.
    8. Juan Esteban Carranza & María Marta Ferreyra & Ana Maria Gazmuri, 2023. "The Dynamic Market for Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs," Borradores de Economia 1265, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    9. Eric A. Hanushek & Kuzey Yilmaz, 2015. "Land-use Controls, Fiscal Zoning, and the Local Provision of Education," Public Finance Review, , vol. 43(5), pages 559-585, September.
    10. Moreno-Monroy, Ana I. & Schiavina, Marcello & Veneri, Paolo, 2021. "Metropolitan areas in the world. Delineation and population trends," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    11. Douglas M. King & Sheldon H. Jacobson & Edward C. Sewell & Wendy K. Tam Cho, 2012. "Geo-Graphs: An Efficient Model for Enforcing Contiguity and Hole Constraints in Planar Graph Partitioning," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 60(5), pages 1213-1228, October.
    12. E. V. Antonov, 2021. "Labor Markets of Urban Agglomerations in Russia," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 187-198, April.
    13. A. G. Makhrova & R. A. Babkin & P. L. Kirillov & A. V. Starikova & A. V. Sheludkov, 2022. "Temporary Mobility and Population Pulsations in Space of Post-Soviet Russia," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 36-50, March.
    14. Ikeda, Kiyohrio & Onda, Mikihisa & Takayama, Yuki, 2017. "Bifurcation theory of a square lattice economy: Racetrack economy analogy in an economic geography model," MPRA Paper 78120, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Anna Busłowska & Jacek Marcinkiewicz, 2023. "Social Cohesion of Functional Urban Areas (Example of Eastern Poland)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 451-473, June.
    16. Francis Ostermeijer & Hans R A Koster & Jos van Ommeren & Victor Mayland Nielsen, 2022. "Automobiles and urban density [Urban spatial structure]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(5), pages 1073-1095.
    17. Carlos Mendez & Erick Gonzales, 2021. "Human Capital Constraints, Spatial Dependence, and Regionalization in Bolivia: A Spatial Clustering Approach," Revista Economía, Fondo Editorial - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, vol. 44(87), pages 115-145.
    18. Hernán D. Rozenfeld & Diego Rybski & Xavier Gabaix & Hernán A. Makse, 2011. "The Area and Population of Cities: New Insights from a Different Perspective on Cities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(5), pages 2205-2225, August.
    19. Cuberes, David, 2011. "Sequential city growth: Empirical evidence," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 229-239, March.
    20. Arribas-Bel, Daniel & Garcia-López, M.-À. & Viladecans-Marsal, Elisabet, 2021. "Building(s and) cities: Delineating urban areas with a machine learning algorithm," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jahrfr:v:42:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s10037-022-00169-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.